What It Could Mean and What to Do

Your eye is a complex structure. Light enters through your pupil and gets focused through the lens before hitting your retina at the back of your eyeball. Special cells in your retina convert light to electrical signals that are sent to your brain via the optic nerve.

Damage to any part of this delicate system can lead to vision problems. Vision problems also tend to become more common with age due to structural changes and an increased risk of developing conditions like diabetes that can damage your eyes.

Seeing yellow spots can have many causes that range from normal to medical emergencies. In this article, we look at some of the potential causes.

There are many reasons why you may be experiencing yellow spots in your vision. Here are some of the potential causes, but for a proper diagnosis, you should visit an eye doctor.

Nonmedical reasons you see yellow spots

Looking at bright lights

Looking at a bright light and then looking away can cause temporary blindness or the temporary appearance of spots or patterns in your vision. Bright light causes special cells in your retina to become saturated with pigment. Your vision should return to normal after a few seconds or minutes when these cells become unsaturated again.

You may notice this phenomenon when you move from a brightly lit area to a dark one or if you’re exposed to a sudden bright light like a camera flash.

Looking directly into the sun or at extremely bright lights like explosions can cause permanent sight loss.

Rubbing your eyes or putting pressure on your eyes

You may experience spots and random bursts of color in your vision after rubbing your eyes or putting direct pressure on your eyeball. These spots and bursts of color are called phosphenes. Phosphenes should go away after several moments and can appear as spots, bars, or random patterns of colorless or colored light.

They’re thought to appear because direct pressure on your eyeball tricks your retinal cells into thinking they’re being exposed to light.

Researchers can also create phosphenes by stimulating the part of your brain that controls vision with an electrical current called transcranial magnetic stimulation.

Drugs, head injuries, and radiation

Exposure to radiation

People exposed to radiation of their head, neck, or eyes commonly report changes in their vision, including seeing lights that aren’t there and colored spots. Radiation therapy used in cancer treatment is one common way people are exposed to radiation.

About 70 percent of people receiving radiotherapy for melanoma of the eye experience seeing light or colors that aren’t there during the procedure. The appearance of these lights or colors can vary but usually goes away once radiation stops.

Other vision side effects that may occur after radiation therapy include:

• blurry vision
• cataracts
• dry eyes
• loss of eyelashes
• glaucoma
• problems with tear ducts
• retinal detachment

Side effects of some medications and chemicals

Some medications can potentially cause spots or random patterns of light to appear in your vision. Seeing spots or random light patterns are one of the most common side effects of the medication ivabradine, used to treat some adults with heart failure.

Seeing spots and light patterns can also be stimulated by alcohol, hallucinogenic drugs, and other drugs.

Another heart failure medication called digoxin is known to cause vision with a yellow-green tint as a potential side effect.

Head injuries

A sudden force to your head can potentially cause random electrical impulses in the part of your brain that controls vision, called your occipital lobe. Your brain may interpret these impulses as spots or patterns.

Head injuries can also lead to structural damage of your cranial nerves, optic nerve tract, or other parts of your vision system.

Other common vision disturbances experienced after a head injury include:

• double vision
• blurry vision
• decreased peripheral vision
• blindness or partial blindness
• glare and light sensitivity

Vigorously sneezing, coughing, or laughing can also cause you to see phosphenes, possibly due to stimulating the cells in your retina with pressure.

Medical conditions

Migraine with aura

Migraine is a condition that causes reoccurring moderate to severe headaches. An aura is when migraine is paired with sensory changes. About 90 percent of people who experience migraine with aura also see spots, stars, or patterns of light. Other visual symptoms can include:

• blind spots
• lines in your field of vision
• seeing flashes of light
• vision loss
• changes to your vision

Retinal detachment and other retinal conditions

Retinal detachment is when your retina becomes partially or fully detached from the back of your eye. It’s a medical emergency that requires immediate attention. When your retina tears or detaches, your retinal cells may fire and lead you to see random spots or patterns of light and color that can potentially include yellow spots.

Other symptoms of a retinal detachment include:

• floaters (debris in your vision) that appear suddenly
• flashes of light
• blurry vision
• vision loss often described as a shadow moving across your vision

Other conditions that cause damage or inflammation of your retina can also potentially cause you to see yellow spots. Some conditions include:

• a rare form of cancer called retinoblastoma
• diabetic retinopathy
• retina infections
• solar retinopathy (damage from looking at the sun)

Transient ischemic attack (TIA)

A TIA is a mini-stroke caused by the blockage of a blood vessel. If it occurs in a blood vessel leading to your eye, it can cause loss of vision often described as a curtain falling over one eye.

it can cause you to see yellow spots or other patterns of light that aren’t there.

Symptoms can include:

• temporary blindness
• seeing spots or patterns of light that aren’t there
• double vision
• visual hallucinations
• afterimage

Eye melanoma

Eye melanoma is a type of cancer of the eyeball. Typical symptoms include:

• seeing floaters
• dark spots on your iris
• blurry vision
• a change in the shape of your pupil

A 2020 case study describes a person who developed seeing random spots and patterns in his left eye due to melanoma in and around his iris. In theory, it’s possible that some people may see yellow spots.

Seeing yellow spots on a white background may be due to the afterimage effect. The afterimage effect is when you see an image that’s no longer there.

You may experience this phenomenon when you stare at a colorful object or scene for a long time and quickly look away. In theory, if you stare at something yellow and glance away, you may see yellow spots or patterns. These spots should disappear within moments.

If you want to experience this phenomenon, you can stare at a brightly colored picture for about a minute and quickly shift your vision to a white piece of paper or white wall.

Seeing spots or patterns is also associated with:

• stress
• alcohol consumption
• emotional factors

These spots may be more noticeable when you look at something white.

Yellow spots that disappear soon after staring at a bright light or rubbing your eyes are normal and don’t require treatment. Treatment for other conditions involves targeting the underlying cause. Here are potential treatment options for some of the reasons you may be seeing yellow spots.

* Speak with your before stopping or changing the dosage of any medication you have been prescribed.

It’s a good idea to visit an eye doctor any time you notice changes in your vision. It’s especially critical to see a doctor if you started seeing spots after a sudden head injury or if you have other symptoms of retinal detachment or retinal disease.

There are many reasons why you may be seeing yellow spots. They may part of your eyes’ natural adaption to changing light conditions or they could be a sign of a potentially serious medical condition.

Seeing yellow spots without other symptoms doesn’t necessarily mean something is wrong, but it’s a good idea to visit an eye doctor if you notice a sudden change in your vision.

What It Could Mean and What to Do

Your eye is a complex structure. Light enters through your pupil and gets focused through the lens before hitting your retina at the back of your eyeball. Special cells in your retina convert light to electrical signals that are sent to your brain via the optic nerve.

Damage to any part of this delicate system can lead to vision problems. Vision problems also tend to become more common with age due to structural changes and an increased risk of developing conditions like diabetes that can damage your eyes.

Seeing yellow spots can have many causes that range from normal to medical emergencies. In this article, we look at some of the potential causes.

There are many reasons why you may be experiencing yellow spots in your vision. Here are some of the potential causes, but for a proper diagnosis, you should visit an eye doctor.

Nonmedical reasons you see yellow spots

Looking at bright lights

Looking at a bright light and then looking away can cause temporary blindness or the temporary appearance of spots or patterns in your vision. Bright light causes special cells in your retina to become saturated with pigment. Your vision should return to normal after a few seconds or minutes when these cells become unsaturated again.

You may notice this phenomenon when you move from a brightly lit area to a dark one or if you’re exposed to a sudden bright light like a camera flash.

Looking directly into the sun or at extremely bright lights like explosions can cause permanent sight loss.

Rubbing your eyes or putting pressure on your eyes

You may experience spots and random bursts of color in your vision after rubbing your eyes or putting direct pressure on your eyeball. These spots and bursts of color are called phosphenes. Phosphenes should go away after several moments and can appear as spots, bars, or random patterns of colorless or colored light.

They’re thought to appear because direct pressure on your eyeball tricks your retinal cells into thinking they’re being exposed to light.

Researchers can also create phosphenes by stimulating the part of your brain that controls vision with an electrical current called transcranial magnetic stimulation.

Drugs, head injuries, and radiation

Exposure to radiation

People exposed to radiation of their head, neck, or eyes commonly report changes in their vision, including seeing lights that aren’t there and colored spots. Radiation therapy used in cancer treatment is one common way people are exposed to radiation.

About 70 percent of people receiving radiotherapy for melanoma of the eye experience seeing light or colors that aren’t there during the procedure. The appearance of these lights or colors can vary but usually goes away once radiation stops.

Other vision side effects that may occur after radiation therapy include:

• blurry vision
• cataracts
• dry eyes
• loss of eyelashes
• glaucoma
• problems with tear ducts
• retinal detachment

Side effects of some medications and chemicals

Some medications can potentially cause spots or random patterns of light to appear in your vision. Seeing spots or random light patterns are one of the most common side effects of the medication ivabradine, used to treat some adults with heart failure.

Seeing spots and light patterns can also be stimulated by alcohol, hallucinogenic drugs, and other drugs.

Another heart failure medication called digoxin is known to cause vision with a yellow-green tint as a potential side effect.

Head injuries

A sudden force to your head can potentially cause random electrical impulses in the part of your brain that controls vision, called your occipital lobe. Your brain may interpret these impulses as spots or patterns.

Head injuries can also lead to structural damage of your cranial nerves, optic nerve tract, or other parts of your vision system.

Other common vision disturbances experienced after a head injury include:

• double vision
• blurry vision
• decreased peripheral vision
• blindness or partial blindness
• glare and light sensitivity

Vigorously sneezing, coughing, or laughing can also cause you to see phosphenes, possibly due to stimulating the cells in your retina with pressure.

Medical conditions

Migraine with aura

Migraine is a condition that causes reoccurring moderate to severe headaches. An aura is when migraine is paired with sensory changes. About 90 percent of people who experience migraine with aura also see spots, stars, or patterns of light. Other visual symptoms can include:

• blind spots
• lines in your field of vision
• seeing flashes of light
• vision loss
• changes to your vision

Retinal detachment and other retinal conditions

Retinal detachment is when your retina becomes partially or fully detached from the back of your eye. It’s a medical emergency that requires immediate attention. When your retina tears or detaches, your retinal cells may fire and lead you to see random spots or patterns of light and color that can potentially include yellow spots.

Other symptoms of a retinal detachment include:

• floaters (debris in your vision) that appear suddenly
• flashes of light
• blurry vision
• vision loss often described as a shadow moving across your vision

Other conditions that cause damage or inflammation of your retina can also potentially cause you to see yellow spots. Some conditions include:

• a rare form of cancer called retinoblastoma
• diabetic retinopathy
• retina infections
• solar retinopathy (damage from looking at the sun)

Transient ischemic attack (TIA)

A TIA is a mini-stroke caused by the blockage of a blood vessel. If it occurs in a blood vessel leading to your eye, it can cause loss of vision often described as a curtain falling over one eye.

it can cause you to see yellow spots or other patterns of light that aren’t there.

Symptoms can include:

• temporary blindness
• seeing spots or patterns of light that aren’t there
• double vision
• visual hallucinations
• afterimage

Eye melanoma

Eye melanoma is a type of cancer of the eyeball. Typical symptoms include:

• seeing floaters
• dark spots on your iris
• blurry vision
• a change in the shape of your pupil

A 2020 case study describes a person who developed seeing random spots and patterns in his left eye due to melanoma in and around his iris. In theory, it’s possible that some people may see yellow spots.

Seeing yellow spots on a white background may be due to the afterimage effect. The afterimage effect is when you see an image that’s no longer there.

You may experience this phenomenon when you stare at a colorful object or scene for a long time and quickly look away. In theory, if you stare at something yellow and glance away, you may see yellow spots or patterns. These spots should disappear within moments.

If you want to experience this phenomenon, you can stare at a brightly colored picture for about a minute and quickly shift your vision to a white piece of paper or white wall.

Seeing spots or patterns is also associated with:

• stress
• alcohol consumption
• emotional factors

These spots may be more noticeable when you look at something white.

Yellow spots that disappear soon after staring at a bright light or rubbing your eyes are normal and don’t require treatment. Treatment for other conditions involves targeting the underlying cause. Here are potential treatment options for some of the reasons you may be seeing yellow spots.

* Speak with your before stopping or changing the dosage of any medication you have been prescribed.

It’s a good idea to visit an eye doctor any time you notice changes in your vision. It’s especially critical to see a doctor if you started seeing spots after a sudden head injury or if you have other symptoms of retinal detachment or retinal disease.

There are many reasons why you may be seeing yellow spots. They may part of your eyes’ natural adaption to changing light conditions or they could be a sign of a potentially serious medical condition.

Seeing yellow spots without other symptoms doesn’t necessarily mean something is wrong, but it’s a good idea to visit an eye doctor if you notice a sudden change in your vision.

Yellow spots before the eyes, causes, symptoms, treatment.

Article updated – 23.12.2016

The appearance of yellow spots before your eyes means that you see objects that may look like specks or circles. Sometimes they swim. The color of the spots can be from flashing bright flashes to barely noticeable spots. Of great importance is the nature of the appearance of spots before the eyes: they appear from time to time or you see them all the time.

Most often, spots before the eyes appear as a single symptom. However, they can also be combined with other symptoms:

• flashes of light
• headache
• dizziness
• pain in the eye

Attention should be paid to symptoms that may indicate the presence of serious diseases of the eye:

• the appearance of blind spots (or loss of visual fields) along with spots yellow in front of the eye.
• blurred vision or double vision
• sudden increase in spots, flashing pattern of spots.

Causes of yellow spots before the eyes

• Migraine.
  The appearance of yellow spots before the eyes, combined with a severe headache and nausea, indicates the presence of a migraine. A characteristic feature in this case is the complete absence of this symptom in the period between attacks.

• Vitreous destruction.
  If the spots float before your eyes, then this is not an invention of your imagination. There are diseases of the vitreous body that can give a similar symptom. In this case, spots can have different shapes and sizes, change intensity depending on the illumination.

• Posterior vitreous detachment.
  In the case when bright flashes appear before the eyes along with floating spots, it indicates the presence of a posterior vitreous detachment. A very serious symptom. Requires attention, and visits to a specialist doctor.

• Macular edema.
  A condition in which fluid accumulates in the central part of the retina (macula) is called macular edema. The retinal tissue swells and thickens. Edema distorts central vision and a yellow spot appears in front of the eye. In addition, the ability to see at close range is lost. The causes are usually common diseases such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, taking certain medications.

• Macular hemorrhages.
  Violation of the integrity of the vessels inside the eye leads to the appearance of hemorrhages on the retina. When a hemorrhage develops in the macula, a person sees a spot in front of the eye that is yellow, brown or black. Cause of hemorrhage: head or eye injury, hypertension, diabetes mellitus. Requires urgent treatment.

• Macular degeneration.
  Another name is age-related macular degeneration. Typically, patients over 60 years of age are affected. There is a loss of central vision due to damage to the retina in the central section. The onset of the disease is accompanied by the appearance of small spots in front of the eye and a slight decrease in vision. The disease is steadily progressing.

• Retinal burn.
  Exposure to intense sunlight causes damage (burn) to the retina at any age. Often this condition develops after exposure to the sun during a solar eclipse. Often develops in climbers.

• Stargardt’s disease.
  Hereditary disease resulting from a genetic abnormality. Onset of the disease at the age of 6 – 12 years. Initial symptoms include: the appearance of yellow spots before the eyes, impaired color vision, decreased vision in the dark.

Treatment of yellow spots before the eyes.

The treatment of yellow spots before the eyes depends mainly on the cause that led to the appearance of this symptom. In the case of macular edema, it is necessary to identify and treat the underlying disease (diabetes mellitus or hypertension). With hemorrhages in the retina, drugs that absorb blood are prescribed.

In case of macular degeneration, treatment is mainly conservative, aimed at improving blood circulation and slowing down the process of retinal damage.
Only a specialist doctor will help identify the cause of the appearance of yellow spots before the eyes and prescribe a competent treatment.

Stars in the eyes: what does this symptom indicate?

07/01/2021 admin Blog

Asterisks, light reflections, flies, cobwebs, zigzags – patients describe this phenomenon in different ways. Under all these terms, the appearance of extraneous elements in the field of view is hidden. They can have a different shape and size – hence the difference in the explanation of sensations.

In this article we will analyze the most common phenomena and establish the possible cause of the disease.

Appearances before the eyes

• Brilliant snowflakes or stars in the eyes;
• Flakes;
• Sensation of blurred vision, films before eyes;
• Several rings with rim;
• Strips in various translucencies.

When stars appear

Stars often flash in the eyes during a sudden change in body position, sports and hard physical work. The reason for the appearance of foreign bodies in front of the eyes can be common diseases of the body that affect the visual analyzer. Often these phenomena are accompanied by changes in blood pressure. You may feel dizzy.

Why flies appear

The space between the lens and the retina is filled with the vitreous body, which is a gel-like structure. It consists of water, hyaluronic acid, protein, collagen fibers and other substances.

The most common cause of flies before the eyes is the destruction or liquefaction of the vitreous body. In this case, the correct ratio of elements is violated.

Vitreous destruction may be due to myopia, the natural aging process, surgery or eye trauma.

If the patient experiences flashes of light or flashes of light of any kind, these symptoms may be a precursor to an upcoming retinal detachment.

In cases where the appearance of stars is accompanied by blurring and decreased visual acuity, this may be a sign of an accomplished retinal or vitreous detachment. At risk are patients with myopia.

The appearance of large spots before the eyes may be due to microhemorrhage into the vitreous body, which is possible with diseases of the retina: retinopathy, choroiditis, retinitis, chorioretinitis. Vitreous hemorrhage can occur with general diseases of the body: hypertension, hypotension, diabetes mellitus, atherosclerosis, etc.

What do the stars in the eyes mean in the absence of concomitant diseases? The appearance of flies is possible with reduced pressure or during pregnancy.

Treatment of flies before the eyes

The main question that worries patients: what to do if stars appear in the eyes? In no case do not self-medicate and diagnose diseases via the Internet. This article is presented for informational purposes.

Consult a specialist. First of all – to the ophthalmologist. The doctor will determine visual acuity, examine the fundus, assess the condition of the retina and vitreous body using modern devices: an ophthalmoscope, a Goldman lens, an indirect binocular ophthalmoscope (NBO), an optical coherence tomograph (OCT, OCT).

Retinal detachment is treated with laser photocoagulation. Destruction of the vitreous body requires laser or drug therapy.

If necessary, the ophthalmologist will refer you to other specialists: this ailment is not always associated with ophthalmic diseases.