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I woke up this morning and I have a black line in my vision

 
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  • Answered by:Dr. Rick
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Customer Question

I woke up this morning and I have a black line in my vision it seems to come and go. I am on a number of medications for blood pressure and anxiety.

 

Optional Information:
Person's Gender: Female
Person's Age: 52

Already Tried:
nothing so far but what do you think it is?

Submitted: 284 days and 22 hours ago.
Category: Eye
Value: $38
Status: CLOSED
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Expert:  Dr. Rick replied 284 days and 22 hours ago.


Dr. Rick :

Hi. I'm online and happy to answer your question today.

Dr. Rick :

Is it just in one eye? (close one eye at a time and check)

Dr. Rick :

Have you noticed any flashes of light?

Dr. Rick :

Does this black line kinda float around in your visual field?

Dr. Rick :

I see that you are offline. I'll switch over to the Q&A system. This system works a lot like 'text messaging' but an email is sent to each of us anytime something is posted to this thread. We can continue to work on your question there..... :)

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Expert:  Dr. Rick replied 284 days and 22 hours ago.

Our chat has ended, but you can still continue to ask me questions here until you are satisfied with your answer. Come back to this page to view our conversation and any other new information.

What happens now?

If you haven’t already done so, please rate your answer above. Or, you can reply to me using the box below.

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Expert:  Dr. Rick replied 284 days and 22 hours ago.

We have been experiencing technical difficulties with the chat system. Please allow me to retype my chat here for your review:

Dr. Rick :

Hi. I'm online and happy to answer your question today.

Dr. Rick :

Is it just in one eye? (close one eye at a time and check)

Dr. Rick :

Have you noticed any flashes of light?

Dr. Rick :

Does this black line kinda float around in your visual field?

Customer replied 284 days and 22 hours ago.

so what do you think this is? its a black line in one eye right eye

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Expert:  Dr. Rick replied 284 days and 22 hours ago.

I was kinda hoping that you would provide more information per my questions above. This will allow me to give a more meaningful answer......

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Expert:  Dr. Rick replied 284 days and 22 hours ago.

To answer your question it sounds like you have experienced a posterior vitreous detachment.

You have a thick gel material in the middle of your eyes called the vitreous. Over time as it liquefies, this gel material collapses on itself, forms little clumps that you can see as dots, lines or bugs. As these clumps form the vitreous pulls away from the wall of the eye. In the process it can stimulate the retina -- causing the flashes that you may see.

It is recommended that you see your ophthalmologist to look at the retina to make sure there are no problems such as a retinal hole or tear. In most cases, there are no problems, but this exam is precautionary and allows for preventative treatment of any lesions that are found.

If you notice a sudden increase in floaters, flashes of light (like a lightning storm), or a shadow/veil in the periphery of your vision, this can be worrisome for a retinal detachment. You would need to contact your ophthalmologist promptly in that case.

What can you do about the floaters? Well, floaters don't go away, and they don't really get worse. Over time they tend to "sink" out of your central vision and you brain "filters" them out so you don't notice them so much anymore. They almost never cause significant visual problems except, of course, if they cause a secondary retinal detachment as discussed above. The only way to decrease or remove the floaters is with a major surgery called a vitrectomy. As a retinal specialist for almost 2 decades I've only done this procedure to remove floaters in a handful of cases.

Here is a video of the actual surgery to remove floaters:

http://www.retinavitreous.com/video%20files/intro_floaters.html



Does this make sense to you?

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