During a consultation, your doctor will use various techniques in his assesment of the symptom: Seeing spots. These may include a physical examination or other medical tests. Your doctor may ask several questions when assessing your condition. It is important to remember that your consultation is a two-way process and any extra information you can share with your doctor may help them with their diagnosis.
Some of the questions your doctor may ask are listed below:
Why: to determine if acute or chronic.
Why: "floaters" are generally used to describe tiny dark spots, specks or spidery webs that float across the field of vision. Most people notice them in well-lit rooms or outdoors on a bright day. After the eye comes to rest, they continue to move. Floaters often are normal, but sometimes they warn of eye problems such as retinal detachment, especially if they happen with light flashes.
Why: e.g. eye trauma, myopia (short-sightedness), previous cataract operation, eye tumor, diabetes.
Why: e.g. eye trauma, bleeding disorders, diabetes, eye tumor, retinal detachment, central retinal vein occlusions.
Why: e.g. blow to eye or blow to the head - may indicate retinal detachment or vitreous hemorrhage.
Why: e.g. diabetes increases the risk of retinal detachment, vitreous hemorrhage and diabetic retinopathy; hypertension; leukemia; sarcoidosis; tuberculosis; systemic lupus erythematosus; sickle cell disease; endocarditis.
Why: e.g. diabetes, sickle cell disease, systemic lupus erythematosus.
Sometimes, other symptoms may be present and may help your doctor analyse your condition. These may include:
Why: suggests retinal detachment.
Why: may suggest uveitis.
Why: e.g. sudden onset of spots (floaters) in vision, may be sudden loss of vision, visual acuity depends on extent of hemorrhage.
Why: e.g. sudden showers of spots (floaters) or flashes or black spots, blurred vision in one eye becoming worse, " a curtain coming down over the eye", painless total or partial loss of visual field.
Why: e.g. sudden onset of spots (floaters), visual acuity usually normal, flashing lights usually indicate traction on the retina (and thus at risk of retinal detachment).
Why: e.g. frequent urination, excessive thirst, passing urine at night, weight loss, blurry vision - may experience spots (floaters) if diabetes is complicated by diabetic retinopathy, retinal detachment or vitreous hemorrhage.
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