NHS urges optician appointment if you have one of 7 eye symptoms

The NHS is warning people to get an urgent optician’s appointment booked if they have issues with their eyes – specifically if you have one of seven key symptoms. Taking about floaters and flashes in the eyes, the NHS says that these are “dots and lines (floaters) or flashes of light in your vision are common.”

Although they’re “not usually serious”, the health service says that you may need to get checked out sooner rather than later. The reason for this is that these key symptoms “could be signs of a serious problem with the back of your eye which could permanently affect your vision if it’s not treated quickly.”

Check if you have floaters and flashes

Floaters in your vision can look like:

• small dark dots
• squiggly lines
• rings
• cobwebs

Flashes look like sudden flashes of light. They’re usually harmless and not a sign of anything serious, especially if:

• you’ve had them for a long time
• they’re not getting worse
• your vision is not affected

Get an urgent opticians appointment or call NHS 111 if…

• you have floaters or flashes in your vision for the first time
• you suddenly get floaters or flashes in your vision
• the number of floaters or flashes suddenly increases
• you have a dark “curtain” or shadow moving across your vision
• you also have blurred vision
• you also have eye pain
• floaters start after eye surgery or an eye injury

What causes floaters and flashes?

Many people, especially older adults, experience floaters and flashes. These are often the result of a harmless condition known as posterior vitreous detachment (PVD), where the gel-like substance inside the eye begins to change.

In some cases, however, they may signal a retinal detachment—a serious issue that can lead to permanent vision loss if left untreated. Floaters and flashes can also occur without any clear cause.