4. Seeing spots or flashes
If you follow a healthy lifestyle it’s not normal to see spots or flashes—your retina could be torn, bleeding or detached, which would cause you to see little blobs or flashing lights floating in your vision. If that’s the case, Dr. Andreoli recommends calling your eye doctor immediately.
“Those conditions are easy to fix if you can get on them right away,” she says, “but the longer that they’re there, the much more complicated treating them becomes.” A detached retina is considered a medical emergency because of the risk of permanent vision loss. The sudden onset of flashes of light, many new grey or black spots in your vision, or a dark shadow in your field of vision should cause you to seek medical care at the eye doctor or emergency room, according to the National Eye Institute.
Takeaway: If you start to see more flashes of light, call your eye doctor.
