Since I was in my 40s, I've been plagued with retinal occlusions. These are when one or more blood vessels in the back of the eye (the retina) have clogged and are not getting oxygenated blood. This is like a mini-stroke in the eye. They are first noticed as a pinpoint of bright light in your vision, usually in one eye. Once the eye is damaged at that point, the damage is permanent. From that point on, your vision will be occluded in those spots. The bright spot will become a gray area in your vision. Luckily, none of mine have been in critical spots, such as where I focus when sighting a gun. In time, your subconscious will compensate for these spots, and you will ignore them. However, if you look at a sheet of white paper superimposed with a cross-hatch pattern, you can pick out the locations easily.
Being warned about this phenom, you can take steps to avoid it, and if caught early in the onset, you can stop further expansion of the occlusion.
When one of these first happened to me, I researched the cause and the preventive measures. The cause is almost always high blood pressure, so the first thing to do is to try to control your blood pressure. Even then, my eye doctor recommended a daily dose of baby (81mg) aspirin. This usually thins the blood sufficiently to preclude appearance of the occlusions. Do check with your doctor before undertaking any aspirin regimen, however.
Yesterday, while taking my morning shower, I noticed a bright spot of light in the vision of my left eye. I knew what to do from past research on this. With my eyelid closed, I put pulsating pressure on my left eyeball with my fingers - it's a lot like CPR on your eyeball. I then went to the medicine cabinet and chewed up and swallowed two regular-strength aspirin tablets. I continued the eyeball pressure until the bright spot subsided, with the aspirin therapy thinning the blood supply to that eye - about 1/2 hour. Today there is no sign of occlusion. If left unattended, it could have expanded and resulted in "gray blindness" in that part of the eye.
Thought I'd pass along this warning and the tips - it could help someday if you experience similar problems.
John
Being warned about this phenom, you can take steps to avoid it, and if caught early in the onset, you can stop further expansion of the occlusion.
When one of these first happened to me, I researched the cause and the preventive measures. The cause is almost always high blood pressure, so the first thing to do is to try to control your blood pressure. Even then, my eye doctor recommended a daily dose of baby (81mg) aspirin. This usually thins the blood sufficiently to preclude appearance of the occlusions. Do check with your doctor before undertaking any aspirin regimen, however.
Yesterday, while taking my morning shower, I noticed a bright spot of light in the vision of my left eye. I knew what to do from past research on this. With my eyelid closed, I put pulsating pressure on my left eyeball with my fingers - it's a lot like CPR on your eyeball. I then went to the medicine cabinet and chewed up and swallowed two regular-strength aspirin tablets. I continued the eyeball pressure until the bright spot subsided, with the aspirin therapy thinning the blood supply to that eye - about 1/2 hour. Today there is no sign of occlusion. If left unattended, it could have expanded and resulted in "gray blindness" in that part of the eye.
Thought I'd pass along this warning and the tips - it could help someday if you experience similar problems.
John
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