Thank you for replying!

Yeah i’m definitely more aware of my vision now than I was before. I went to two different optometrists in the space of two weeks: the first one, three days after my injury, and the second one, a couple of weeks later. Both performed various tests and OCT scans. The first one asked me if I see more floaters than usual and I said no, although it must have affected me psychologically because after that appointment, I immediately started noticing floaters and couldn’t stop focusing on them—so much so that I convinced myself I had retinal detachment! So that prompted a second visit to a different optometrist, two weeks later. I described my injury to her and she performed a few scans (including a second OCT) on my retina and eye pressure etc. The findings were normal both times.

The starbursts are there both with and without my glasses and they are in both eyes. I doubt I would have noticed them had I not become so paranoid about my vision. I spend so much time just looking at my floaters, moving my eyes around, performing checks against white walls/lights etc. I feel like I am going slightly mad. I suffer from health anxiety and I feel like this post concussion syndrome has provided a minefield for my angst.

It sounds like you anxiety has caused you to become OCD about your floaters. That can be miserable.

I have very noticeable PVDs. I need to practice looking past them. If I look at them, they are very vivid. If I look past them, they will often disappear.

As your symptoms are in both eyes the likelihood of pathology is a minimal. However the most important self test you can do is to check your pupils. Haloes can be associated with raised intra ocular pressure (trauma induced acute glaucoma). Check your pupils in different lighting conditions. Are they round? Are they equal? Do your pupils react equally? Its harder to do this yourself as pupils constrict to focus at near. Get someone to help you. If one pupil is fixed or mishapen or unreactive, seek medical attention as that can be a sign of raised intra ocular pressure.

Thank you all so much for your informative replies.

OCD floaters and a pain...especially considering that my eye health tests were fine. I need to learn to ignore them again and give my brain a break.

My pupils are ok! I got them checked in the ER twice (25 days apart) and by my housemate the other day. They react the same way and I have no other visual symptoms apart from the slight starburst like halos around strong white lights (but not around yellow softer lights or traffic lights).

Just an update! I panicked and went back to the optometrists and asked for an eye health exam. Everything came back fine/healthy. Eye pressure, retina etc. They did another OCT and a slit lamp exam and had a good look—nothing wrong with my eyes. The filaments I see around lights could be a result of my astigmatism. I don’t remember lights looking like that before my concussion, so I assume the problem is with my brain rather than the eyes. Since it’s nothing serious or nothing that actually affects me on a day-to-day basis (unless I obsess which I often do and end up staring at lights like a mad person) I will try to stop focusing on it. It’s only been a month, maybe my brain just needs more time to heal and these random starbursts will get better/disappear.

The concussed brain often loses some of it's ability to filter out and ignore extraneous stimuli. Those visual and auditory stimuli that we would never notice because they were filtered out and ignored suddenly become noticeable. If we are also experiencing any anxiety, this problem is magnified.

When I suffered a concussion about 25 years ago, I suddenly saw all of the floaters. An ophthalmologist examined my eyes and gave the all clear diagnosis.

At this same time, I also became sensitive to sounds. I could hear echos that nobody else could hear. I've learned to ignore the visual issues of floaters and can even ignore, by choice, PVD clutter. But, I struggle with echos.

btw, My PVD makes it so it is like I am looking through a sort of bird's nest in the early stages. Strings or hairs in a C shape with some clumps and knots.

I think I have this issue too. I’ve had floaters since I was a kid but always ignored them (or looked up at the sky so I could see them for fun). I’m 27 now and feel like I’ve got so many that I don’t know what i will do once they increase with age. I need to train my brain to ignore them again.

It makes a lot of sense that the brain will become more sensitive after a mild injury. I feel like I focus so much on how I can see that I end up not really seeing anything and straining my eyes!

I’m sorry you had a hard time with echoes, it must get exhausting. Anxiety makes everything so much worse.

I wish you all the best!

Hey Merope,

I'm sure your optometrist was delighted to see you again!

Time to move on with your life. Check out the following image.

NGC 1435, Merope Nebula, in the Pleiades

Best wishes

Atty

Thank you for the wonderful image!

I promised my optometrist I won’t be back next week, but I don’t know if he believed me!