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Hello,
I'm an 18 years old woman, who, since half a year ago, began seeing light streaks radiating from any kind of light, be it lamps, on my phone, computer, sun reflection on cars or objects, like say a white chair etc... The thing is, these things only appear when my eyes are "half-closed", so basically every time I blink I can see these light streaks. They are different from starbursts, they are more like straight lines that stream downward from the light source.
The brighter the light source is compared to its "environment" and the worse it is, so I can't go to the cinema because everything is dark beside the screen but if everything around is well lit, I can mostly get by with minimal discomfort. So everything has to be the same brightness, for example, even in day, the sun reflection on cars is too much for me and most of the lighting used in stores too.
When I searched for this symptom I saw a few posts about it but none found the answer to what could cause it.
A lot suggested it was eyelashes because the light streaks stream downward when the eyelid margin, where the eyelashes reside, "block" the pupil when blinking, and also when I push my upper eyelid up, the streaks disappear magically even when I squint, but I quickly found out it wasn't caused by that because I also get "upper" light streaks from my lower eyelid if my pupil is near it, like when I'm squinting, and I have very few eyelashes on my lower eyelid but they have approximatively the same light streaks.
It's also not keratoconus or any kind of cornea problem because I got a topography done by a specialist.
I was really down in the dump, this problem decreased my visual quality a great deal, to the point where I can't drive or do things at night, but since doctors saw nothing at all in my eyes, most assumed it was because i was too stressed (even though just a little before this problem, my stress was at an all-time low).
But I actually think it could be from dry eyes.
For about one year, my eyes felt very dry and one day, I got a sudden onset of photophobia that gradually worsened + some ghosting, I scheduled an appointment with my usual ophthalmologist at the time but it usually took months for one and so, shortly before it, I got the light streaks.
At first, I really didn't think it was connected and since my doctor never heard of anything like that, he also dismissed it, but here's what I collected about it.
What makes them WORSE:
-Eyedrops: The principal reason why i thought they weren't connected. They give my eyes some relief but make my eyes watery, worsening the light streaks for a minute or two.
-Crying: Same as eyedrops
-High contrast situations: What I explained before, at first I thought the pupil size was the problem but since I also get them in the day, just less severely, I don't think the pupils are the problem but more so something connected to the eyelid.
-Clogged oil glands: Sometimes I get clogged oil glands under my eyelid, it's why I believe I have MGD (I'm currently searching for a dry eye specialist in Paris but it's not easy), and when they come, they sometimes last for days and during those times, I see more light streaks. The "extra" light streaks disappear when the clogged oil gland is not visible anymore under my eyelid.
What makes them BETTER:
-Holding up my eyelid : Maybe the tear meniscus can cause it? So separating it from my eyes eliminate the streaks?
-Blinking repeatedly: Blinking every second for a minute or two make them less bright/more transparent and shorter, but the benefit doesn't last long if I then blink like a sane person every 4 second or so. This also confirmed for me that it wasn"t the eyelashes.
-Rubbing my eyes: Seem to have the same effect as the one above, but I refrain from it since it's bad for your eyes.
-Closing my eyes for a long period of time: When I wake up I get no streaks for a very few seconds, then they come back in the periphery of my vision (like when I see directly the light source, no streaks are present but if the light source is seen from the corner of my eyes, I see them) and after a few minutes they're back to "normal". If I blink continuously I can delay a bit this process.
So, since blinking make them better, it could be dry eyes? But the thing is, some people mention dry eyes as an explanation for these symptoms but never the other way around. From what I gathered a lot have redness,pain, discomfort,photophobia, some ghosting, but light abberations never seem to get mentioned. So I figured that asking in a dry eye forum if any got this symptom seemed like the most straightforward idea. The most posts I found on this symptom was in forum related to visual snow, but I don't have it.
If you don't have these light streaks but read the whole thing, do you think it could be caused by this? I'm gonna keep searching for a specialist anyway even if it does not come from dry eyes for my other symptoms.
If you read this huge wall of text, thank you for your time.
I'm an 18 years old woman, who, since half a year ago, began seeing light streaks radiating from any kind of light, be it lamps, on my phone, computer, sun reflection on cars or objects, like say a white chair etc... The thing is, these things only appear when my eyes are "half-closed", so basically every time I blink I can see these light streaks. They are different from starbursts, they are more like straight lines that stream downward from the light source.
The brighter the light source is compared to its "environment" and the worse it is, so I can't go to the cinema because everything is dark beside the screen but if everything around is well lit, I can mostly get by with minimal discomfort. So everything has to be the same brightness, for example, even in day, the sun reflection on cars is too much for me and most of the lighting used in stores too.
When I searched for this symptom I saw a few posts about it but none found the answer to what could cause it.
A lot suggested it was eyelashes because the light streaks stream downward when the eyelid margin, where the eyelashes reside, "block" the pupil when blinking, and also when I push my upper eyelid up, the streaks disappear magically even when I squint, but I quickly found out it wasn't caused by that because I also get "upper" light streaks from my lower eyelid if my pupil is near it, like when I'm squinting, and I have very few eyelashes on my lower eyelid but they have approximatively the same light streaks.
It's also not keratoconus or any kind of cornea problem because I got a topography done by a specialist.
I was really down in the dump, this problem decreased my visual quality a great deal, to the point where I can't drive or do things at night, but since doctors saw nothing at all in my eyes, most assumed it was because i was too stressed (even though just a little before this problem, my stress was at an all-time low).
But I actually think it could be from dry eyes.
For about one year, my eyes felt very dry and one day, I got a sudden onset of photophobia that gradually worsened + some ghosting, I scheduled an appointment with my usual ophthalmologist at the time but it usually took months for one and so, shortly before it, I got the light streaks.
At first, I really didn't think it was connected and since my doctor never heard of anything like that, he also dismissed it, but here's what I collected about it.
What makes them WORSE:
-Eyedrops: The principal reason why i thought they weren't connected. They give my eyes some relief but make my eyes watery, worsening the light streaks for a minute or two.
-Crying: Same as eyedrops
-High contrast situations: What I explained before, at first I thought the pupil size was the problem but since I also get them in the day, just less severely, I don't think the pupils are the problem but more so something connected to the eyelid.
-Clogged oil glands: Sometimes I get clogged oil glands under my eyelid, it's why I believe I have MGD (I'm currently searching for a dry eye specialist in Paris but it's not easy), and when they come, they sometimes last for days and during those times, I see more light streaks. The "extra" light streaks disappear when the clogged oil gland is not visible anymore under my eyelid.
What makes them BETTER:
-Holding up my eyelid : Maybe the tear meniscus can cause it? So separating it from my eyes eliminate the streaks?
-Blinking repeatedly: Blinking every second for a minute or two make them less bright/more transparent and shorter, but the benefit doesn't last long if I then blink like a sane person every 4 second or so. This also confirmed for me that it wasn"t the eyelashes.
-Rubbing my eyes: Seem to have the same effect as the one above, but I refrain from it since it's bad for your eyes.
-Closing my eyes for a long period of time: When I wake up I get no streaks for a very few seconds, then they come back in the periphery of my vision (like when I see directly the light source, no streaks are present but if the light source is seen from the corner of my eyes, I see them) and after a few minutes they're back to "normal". If I blink continuously I can delay a bit this process.
So, since blinking make them better, it could be dry eyes? But the thing is, some people mention dry eyes as an explanation for these symptoms but never the other way around. From what I gathered a lot have redness,pain, discomfort,photophobia, some ghosting, but light abberations never seem to get mentioned. So I figured that asking in a dry eye forum if any got this symptom seemed like the most straightforward idea. The most posts I found on this symptom was in forum related to visual snow, but I don't have it.
If you don't have these light streaks but read the whole thing, do you think it could be caused by this? I'm gonna keep searching for a specialist anyway even if it does not come from dry eyes for my other symptoms.
If you read this huge wall of text, thank you for your time.
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