Yes! I see it especially in the dark and i thought it's because somehow the poor light signal sent to the brain is boosted, kinda like when you go to a higher ISO on your camera. Because in the dark it looks more grainy than when I look at a white wall or bright sky. On the bright sky I see some tiny bright dots that move randomly. It's very mild though. I can easily ignore them.
I'd like to ask you a question. Why when I look up, without moving my head, but only my eyes, and there's a bright light source coming from above (in the dark), I can see something like branches in my field of view? They appear briefly, only when bright light hits my eyes at a certain angle in darker places. It looks like the image of the veins in the back of the eye.
I have some shadows near the vision center of each eye and since I am good with photoshop I draw them precisely, here is the image of what I see www.dropbox.com/s/xkwfy3h1deswz5m/sight-problem.jpg?dl=0. This is diagnosed as DRIL (disorganization of the retinal inner layers). I got it because of my diabetes so I did everything to bring my glucose level to the normal range but I still have a slow progression and I am really afraid of losing my vision.
A few years ago I had the moving dots, but it was only when I wore my prescription glasses, so I put it down to small crays of the UV lens coating causing a reflection--does that sound plausible? Once I got new glasses and at the same time had debilitating dietary problems, after tests and doctors gave up, I self-diagnosed it to be caused by commercial food additives/flavor enhancers. Anyway, I have been on a whole-food, plant-based diet since 2018 now, sticking fairly close to Dr. John McDougall's Starch diet, and have had no moving dots or health problem since. Hope that helps someone.
Omg! I thought everyone has it! I mostly see it on surfaces like sky and walls, and in the dark especially. It's also very mild and I don't notice it mostly.
Hi humble truth hi i get like these flashing streaks its like a zap of light that passes through visin sometimes its is black is that normal is visual snow ....please has this ever happened to anyone ...ive been cleared by all kind of doctors...im just so scared of losing my vision .
@@lucymunoz3479 yes that’s completely normal I get flickering lights in my vision and all kinds of crazy things I can promise you that you won’t lose your vision!
I believe I have visual snow. This is the reason I don’t enjoy stargazing as much, the stars kinda blend in with the static, it’s hard to fully enjoy a starry night sky.
This is me but during the day ! I actually have a lot of anxiety about going outside and sunlight, but for some reason being in nature helps, specifically when I see green things, like grass & trees
Same for me! I get sad when I try to really look at the stars. Also, I have gone to presentations at planetarium and I always end up feeling super anxious because I can't properly see the stars even there!
Oh wow,this is such a mood.. I never really consciously realised this is why I don't like stargazing as much as others until reading this comment. I can't really see the stars.
Not that I wish visual issues on anyone but your videos where you say that you have these conditions like visual snow or floaters (I have floaters, too) calms me down SO much. I have spent the last year thinking I was going blind because of my floaters and hearing a medical professional so calmly and scientifically share this information and be able to relate to his audience makes SUCH a difference. Not sure if you will see this comment since this is an old video but THANK YOU. I am so glad I found this channel.
This is the first I've ever searched for something on it. Never knew what to call it! 🤷♂️ Lmao Though, I did at one point get nerdy with maths, and came across "pixelated reality". Einstein was against this, but Heisenberg believed reality is pixelated. Long story short, we have came to the "Planck length". For some reason, I always imagined these film grains or static we're seeing are bits of these "pixels". 🤷♂️ Most likely not, but it was a fun thought lol It sure is really trippy to see em move sometimes. I hope there's more discovered about this.
Yup you aint alone im currently having one and every morning i get worried aboit my vision,i like see floaters visual snow and phosphenes,i think i have a brain tumor or something but the doctors think that it is just anxiety so yeh dont google your symptoms because you end up regretting it
I wish I had this video back in 2014, would of saved me from a lot of eye doctor trips and many anxiety attacks, to all the people who just developed this I promise the anxiety and fear gets a lot better it just takes time, you are not going blind. I promise.
Thank you for your comforting words 💜 I started developing VSS symptoms a few months ago and they literally keep on increasing, I was never that much depressed in my life 😢 I also have tons of eyefloaters and I just don't know how to deal with all of this 😪 Could I ask you how long it took until your symptoms stopped increasing ❓ For me it had been 4 months but they are still increasing
@@lili-777 of course❤️ honestly for me it took like 2 years to actually get use to it, I noticed things like stress and anxiety make it worse, also not getting enough sleep affects it as well. The good news is humans are adaptable so we have the ability to adapt to our situations, sometimes it just takes a little longer than we’d like but it will happen! It could honestly be that the stress and anxiety from the visual snow is causing it to increase for you, just drink plenty of water and gets lots of sleep and exercise, I think you will start to see an improvement!
Thanks for this comment, I get migraines and I had the worst one I’ve ever had back in Oct. and I’ve had visual snow ever since. I thought I was going blind for like 3 weeks and I’m still struggling with the anxiety/depression and depersonalization from it. Comments like these make me feel not alone and I really appreciate them.
@@lili-777 I think you would be fine,just don't get stressed.I have experienced floaters for 4 years,and some mild VSS.But yeet my eyes is all okay until now
I get visual snow pretty badly at night or when I unfocused my eyes. I also get the tinnitus, and really nasty migraines with visual aura, vertigo, nausea and trouble speaking. It's good to know I'm not the only person who struggles with this.
I’m 46 years old, & remember as a little girl telling my mother about static snow, & her dismissing me as having a big imagination...and me leaving that conversation as feeling confused (to put it mildly) about what I knew I was seeing...was I just super focused on seeing it, vs other people? Was this just another thing that was unusual or weird about me? I say all of this to let you know how grateful I am for your channel, for discussing these ‘odd’ topics, because you are giving the gift of peace of mind. Between this, my super annoying floaters & ringing of ears, I don’t feel so ridiculous anymore, after having an extensive eye exam & getting the brush off when describing what I see. I cannot thank you enough for validating what I, and I’m sure so many others experience.
Thank you so much Lisa! I know in clinic it is tough to find time to explain or teach things (which is what I really love doing) so I am fortunate enough to have the opportunity to make these types of videos. It really means a lot to hear how these videos have helped you and I like to think if a video helps even 1 person then it is 100% worth it. With that being said, it is still very much a work in progress and I hope I can continue to improve the channel/videos to better help you and others. Thank you again, I think your comment made my night. 😁
Same here! I remember telling my mom that I couldn't sleep because of the "dots" and she dismissed it and said that everyone sees that way. So I went through the next twenty-something years believing that everyone saw that way, and I was the only one paying it any attention
maybememory1 Thanks for sharing that! I really wish I could see the way others see things (literally) because I wonder how much different it would be. I also think that people aren’t always as aware as you or I of these things, or dismiss them as nothing (which I hope this is)...the issue with that, though, is it won’t be studied or understood as much, I think. I’m just so grateful for this channel.
I am a male 23 years old and experiencing everything that you are. I have constant tinnitus, visual snow, and gray eye floaters flying throughout my eyesight.
omg i finally found it , im not alone ! :D i was trying to find this since i was small , now im 19 and not even the doctors could understand the symptoms i was trying to explain , every eye doctor said i was fine and that was frustrating :D
Same. My eye doctor also tells me that this is normal or will pass. Also afterimages, he says it’s normal, everyone has it. I feel so misunderstood. But I know it’s not bad and I won’t die of it 😂 and I got used to it. I am not even noticing it really
Last week I went to the eye doctor, describing 'tv static like when there is no signal as a layer over everything I see'. He told me it was a neurological condition. Now I'm watching this video.
Never felt so validated in my life. I told my psychologist and she sent me to a spiritual/medium church & my psychiatrist just asked me questions about it and never told me what it was. I can’t believe I am not alone ♥️✨
She sent you to a ... what? That's ridiculous. I've had it my whole life and I'm assuming it was due to having a rather traumatic birth. No need to get the supernatural involved. ...In fact I think a psychologist should have their license questioned if they recommend that...
Do you ever see this hyper shape thing? I call it the tesseract lotus.( Tesseract Lotus of the Mind's Eye.) It rotates in all directions and as I try to focus on it, it always opens up, lotus like then resets back into a swirling mass. Sometimes these long snake like things are around it and they to are somehow rotating in multiple directions but as ropy structures. People was telling me it was light from the room dissipating or something but even hours later the imagery actually gets stronger and more intense in the dark.
I recommend yoga. I remember leaving the yoga session feeling so relaxed that I didn’t see any static. I realised it gets worse when I’m tired or anxious. So I definitely recommend exercising and meditating
@@Sara-wq3pb Yeah, it's annoying because I really want to do yoga but I'm definitely going to leave it for a while. That was about 11 months ago that it happened. At the time I started seeing bright swirling colours and I had tunnel vision, I was freaking out. After about an hour it stopped and ever since I've just had visual snow and also sometimes floaters. Another thing is if I'm reading words on a computer screen or even a book, and then look at a wall, I see lines of light all over the wall as if it's been imprinted into my eyes. Meditation helps me accept it and not stress over it but I would like to be able to find something to actually make it go away a little so I can enjoy nature and things like that. I'll maybe try yoga in the future when I'm feeling confident about it haha
Tholid Thnake it’s definitely quite a disturbing situation to experience. It’s super weird that it happened when you were doing yoga. It’s quite a relaxing exercise. What type of yoga did you do? When I did it it was a candle lit yoga. I was mainly focusing on the breathing and the energy and not so much the positions. Meditation is definitely very helpful. I was reading some comments and apparently a change in the diet helps with the visual snow. I also suffer from anxiety and a lot of stress and one thing that helps me is listening to the ocean waves. One phrase I can recommend you to live by is “relax your way through life”. Remember you won’t be feeling this way in a few hours. Focus on the positive things in your life and learn to accept the ones that aren’t so positive. Take everything as a learning experience and grow from it!
After years of anxiety I finally was told today by a neuro ophthalmologist that I'm experiencing blue field entoptic phenomenon and after further research also found I have VS as well. Thank you for this video. So glad (but sad) to see im not the only one. Huge anxiety relief!
I’ve had migraines with aura since I was 13. I’m 65 now. Recently, I was under a great deal of stress after my husband was hit by a semi. He spent 3+ months in the hospital and now, 20 months later is just starting to recover his strength. When he was discharged from the hospital, I started noticing visual disturbances. I was diagnosed with migraine aura by an optometrist. I wasn’t satisfied with that diagnosis so I insisted on being worked into an ophthalmologist’s schedule. He sent me for an MRI, diagnosing a stroke in my occipital lobe. Shortly after that, I started the VSS. Dots everywhere, all the time. I mentioned it to the ophthalmologist at my last appointment, he said it is floaters. No, I know the difference, because I have a large floater, too. My only other symptoms are double vision, tinnitus, and a blind spot on the left center of my visual field. I have prisms in my glasses, which helps. I’m learning to live with everything else. Just knowing my condition is real and shared by others is very helpful. Now, to educate my ophthalmologist…..
Everyone has some degree of visual noise, but very few people probably have visual snow syndrome, which includes intense static, afterimages, night blinding, palinopsia, floaters, light sensitivity, etc.
pretty sure it is the case. I think we are actually seeing the neurons piecing the puzzle together, but maybe we have a few more pieces that are missing than others
@@BudderB0y2222 VSS is often accompanied by non-visual symptoms like: Ringing, humming, or buzzing sounds (Tinnitus) Feeling detached from yourself (Depersonalization) Symptoms of anxiety and/or depression Frequent migraines, brain fog, and confusion Dizziness and nausea Insomnia and other sleep-related issues Tingling sensations in legs and arms, accompanied by general pain throughout body Tinnitus seems to be the most common physical symptom attached to VSS Seeing some static and your neurons is nowhere near the same as having these kind of symptoms everyday
First two minutes of the video and I was like, “Wow! This has been my life and finally someone understands”. I always tried to explain that what I see is like the static of the TV but no one wouldn’t understand me. It’s not that severe, I can ignore it, but I know is there from the moment I wake up till I go back to bed. Thank you for such educational information.
I've had this my whole life. It's pretty mild, but i do notice it every once in a while, especially in dark rooms. As a kid, i used to think of it like looking through a TV screen because it looked like static. I have pretty bad light sensitivity, blue field phenomenon, migraines (without auras, strangely enough), and I always see a bunch of colorful squiggly things in my vision when i close my eyes (I sometimes entertain myself by watching the squiggles move around and stuff, lol). I also do have tinnitus sometimes, but I'm not sure if that's related or due to something else. Never knew there was a name for this until i found this channel. Thank you for taking the time to explain all this!
@@nuggetz9380 do you have eye floater ? I was really normal but few months ago when i got my first floater i became so anxious and hypocondriac about my eyes
I have visual snow, I've only dropped acid a handful of times, swear! 😂 But seriously, I've had it my whole life. I remember when I was a kid, I'd lay in bed and look at all the static in my room as that when it was most apparent. I tried to talk to other people about it like "you know at night when..." But no one ever knew what the hell I was talking about it. I can't see shit at night, its crazy how it's almost like a switch is flipped when the sun goes down, I just can't see! And I have both ringing in my ears and vertigo. I also get migraines including ocular migraines. I've been an optician for about 3 years but I've worked in the eye field for over 10 and not one of the doctors I work with at my current office have ever mentioned visual snow, ever. You're the first Doctor I've heard talk about it. Its refreshing to know I'm not the only one.
It is unforunately just not a condition reviewed in school. Like I said in the video...its not in any formal textbooks. If a doctor doesn't specialize in neuro-optometry or ophthalmology...they may have never heard of it.
@@DoctorEyeHealth I've had visual snow since as long as I could remember as a little boy, probably 6 or younger. When you're on psychedelics, you hallucinate geometric patterns that are only close to replicated by the highly skilled artists of the Visionary Style discipline. Something that I found fascinating was how much extra color and patterns are born from the snow. In a dark room, it's very similar to closed eye visuals, which are extremely often more extreme and take a different nature than open-eye visuals in well-light rooms. Especially during the come up, you can very closely observe the intervals of intensity as the trip slowly becomes more and more intense. LSD and mushrooms have relatively slow come ups, at least compared to most drugs. The visual snow gives cues and you observe the linear initial climb and the slow parabolic curve of the comedown. It's a gift in that way but it is a detriment to natural night vision.
Omg I have all of this the ringing in my ears and the visual snow has gotten worse over the years and the last two years I feel like I have developed vertigo. It give me anxiety and sometimes you feel crazy. It makes it so hard to read things on a white background and my eyes get so tired. I see it more at night and against walls and when I look in the sky. At least now I feel less crazy.
I started having it when I was 16 years old (I'm 41 now) & it has dramatically lower my quality of Life. I absolutely loved reading before & now it is extremely frustrating to read. I usually get so irritated that I stop. Searching for paperwork around my home is a nightmare. I love the beautiful colors of the World, but it's annoying to try to enjoy looking at something for too long. I wanted to be an artist, writer, cartoonist, or pursue a film production career, but the frustration discourages me. The Emotional scaring has took its toll. When I try to explain it to some that I have a vision probllem they immediately say something like "you need glass". I explain it's not that kind of blindness. If I am doing a task at work, it appears that I am just really dumb, because I have to keep staring at something to fully see it. I look like a jerk to other people because I have move in front of them oddly to see something. so I have to ether tell everyone I am closely interacting with about it beforehand or try not to act too strangely. but then I feel like some people think I am lying or making excuses, because it isn't well known. I know there is nothing I can do about it, but it is amazing to know that people care about this issue & are supporting each other with there battle dealing with it. It was really helpful to be able to vent about this to this UA-cam group that understands.
This is the BEST video on visual snow. Hearing from a doctor with all the disturbances I have made me feel lot more normal. Sometimes I think everyone has some degree of visual snow,, and the problem is losing the ability to block it out constantly.
I have it. There are so many symptoms that even though I live with it, I always forget one symptom when describing the condition to others. - thanks for bringing awareness to it.
I've tried to explain this to various opticians for years! None of them knew what I was talking about. Hearing this is so refreshing. It's not in my imagination, it's a real thing!! Thanks for covering this 🙏
I've suffered with this my entire life or since a very young age. Went to the doctor in my country a few times and he always blamed it on random things, like iron deficiency or my tinnitus on ear wax. It's kind of relieving to find out that other people experience this but it really sucks that it's so rare and misunderstood. I just found out about this condition at the age of 21 and just assumed that it was just a "normal" thing that everyone experienced... Normally i don't mind the static unless it's in a completely white or dark room. But the tinnitus man.. I can't sleep without the window open or some background noise because it's just so depressing...
For my tinnitus, I tell a Google Echo to play "Rain Sounds" and it helps it disappear. Also, I run a fan close to my head, so it mutes out the sound. I sleep like a baby with those things.
I had this all my life.. its relatively mild usually, getting more extreme in dark rooms, and I was always so frustrated from it but calmed myself down with saying: everyone got this, its normal. Welp. A few days I learned that its not :/ But I can live with it very well nonetheless.
Hey! Same!! Never really talked about it. Just kinda tripped out/spaced out sometimes trying to figure out wth I was experiencing lol! Didn't want adults thinking I was nuts!!
Any chance we could all set up a discord or some sort chat to perhaps discuss these experiences??? Since there isn't a lot of info to begin with, seems like a decent starting point!
The older I get the more I realize just how strange my brain and nervous system is, and while much of it can be very annoying or make certain situations difficult I'm lucky in that none of these things are actually impeding me from living a full life. Visual snow is something I've had all my life, more so in darkness, but generally any time I'm looking at something dark.. So even in bright daylight if I'm looking at a piece of black velvet there will still be static all over it. This makes it hard to read without the words being brightly lit, but I've also found that inverting colour (white text on black background, or even better cyan text on black) greatly helps with being able to read easily. My night vision in general I would consider to be quite good, though the static did always make me think I was seeing movement as a kid.. I was terrified of the dark because it felt like the shadows/closets/plants were all moving around once the lights were out. Photophobia on the other hand, probably not too bad but I can't be outside in the sun without glasses on as just the reflection off the ground near midday, no matter where I look is blinding to the point I can't keep my eyes open without intense pain. And then blue field entoptic phenomenon - discovered that one when I was about 5 years old, just sitting around following all the floaty bits as they wandered through the sky. If I concentrate I can also see them on any flat single coloured surface, but it's hard to ignore against the sky. Tinnitus I get very faintly, where most of the time it's barely perceptible but maybe once or twice a day it will suddenly appear again for 20 minutes, especially noticeable if I'm somewhere that doesn't have any background noise. Then onto other things, I was formally diagnosed with Social Pragmatic Communication Disorder, which under the old DSM would be high functioning autism, but is now separated as being mainly the social aspects of autism without so much the behavioural. Recently discovered I have aphantasia where I lack the ability to visualize things in my mind. I never realized that people could actually form pictures in their head with their eyes closed and always thought it was just metaphorical. Similarly, I lack an internal monologue for most of the day, only having that voice in my head when actively reading or writing words but otherwise it isn't there at all. I've also had some strange issues with my central nervous system and many things which people do which are unconscious I have to somewhat concentrate on. Like I often forget to breathe or blink, can hold my breath to the point I actually pass out.. sometimes forget to eat/drink so long that I become light headed and nauseous as the usual hunger and thirst queues aren't there. This also extended to athletic ability as I would never be 'out of breath' when running, and found it strange that everyone else was. I would consciously breathe deeper to avoid feeling dizzy and still got sore muscles but never like my friends. I also don't have the same safety limits on my muscles that most people have. You know those stories of people with adrenaline rushes doing crazy things? With no real strength training at all I, in all my skinny 60kg glory, could lift a 150kg motorbike into the bed of a pickup without a ramp or anyone to help. I'd still tear my muscles a little and be sore for 2 weeks though so it has drawbacks. Some of these things could be attributed to the fact I seem to have a very small amount of adrenaline in my blood stream at all times. I have respiratory sinus arrhythmia where I can speed up and slow down my heart rate by up to 50% just with carefully timed breathing. For example breathing in deeply while at rest I can raise my heart up to around 90bpm, then as I breathe out it will pause for over a second, have 1 big thump then slowly come back to around 60bpm at the end of exhaling. Postural tachycardia is another heart related one, where I can be laying down watching tv with a bpm of 60-70, then stand up and suddenly my heart rate registers 140bpm and takes a few minutes to re-normalize. I'm glad none of these things are really dangerous in any way, but it certainly is interesting every time I find out something else which I thought was totally normal, doesn't happen for most people. Oh and if you made it this far, sorry for the wall of text.. you're a champ for reading to the end though :)
@@nealhilton3635 Ask away.. Also update: been seeing a psychologist recently who was confident enough to give an official diagnosis of ADHD-PI (inattentive type, like the old ADD) and she thinks I have narcolepsy too, but will be seeing a different specialist for that soon. On the plus side, these are both problems that I can potentially fix (or at least partially fix) and improve my daily life somewhat, whereas most of what I mentioned in the first post is just 'interesting quirks' that either can't or don't need to be fixed.
After 20 years of wondering I finally got diagnosed with visual snow. And as of lately it’s been so so bad. I’m actually really scared at this point. I have pretty much every symptom that comes with it and I can only hope that somebody finds a treatment or cure for it soon. My depression and anxiety have gotten much worse from it and I don’t know if I can go on like this. It’s extremely debilitating. Thank you for sharing this video and bringing some awareness to it. I appreciate your passion and your want to help.
I’ve always had that experience when in a darker room and especially when I go to bed. I also have tinnitus. It doesn’t bother me and I just thought everyone had it. Here’s the funny part: I’m the office manager in an ophthalmology practice. 🤣
Have had visual snow for almost 10 years and I have almost all of the symptoms: recurring migraine with aura (3-4 times a year), tinnitus, trailing or prolonged afterimages, pretty bad light sensitivity and vertigo (which I just learned from this video is possibly a symptom of VS). I’ve learned to deal with it over the years, but it is sometimes difficult and has certainly caused me anxiety periodically. Nice to see it is getting a little more attention. During my next eye appt, I will probably show my doctor this video to help raise awareness. Thanks for the info doc!
@@dustbunny10111 I can still see, yes. The snow is always there, but if I ignore it I don’t really see it. It’s really just become something I have learned to live with, and successfully. It does not bother me all that much, even when I focus on it and realize it’s actually still there.
@@LinuxRecipe yes, mostly. The afterimages for me are probably the most difficult to ignore. If it’s dark out and I catch some headlights direct on, that’s the worst and takes the longest to recover from, but even during the day I get sunlight reflecting off cars, etc, and those stick for a bit too. I have just learned to deal with them. Other symptoms are better managed over time though. Overall, my quality of life is not severely impacted, so I am grateful for that
I have visual snow I’m 14 yrs old and have had this since I was like 9 and I’ve always been anxious about this. Thanks for relieving me from that anxiety 😊.
hey wanna be freinds i felt alne with this and finnaly i have someone kinda of my age and has the same thing and i heard theres a treat ment a natural one and its working !!
@@rashaaljanabi5535 hi I have snow I see it in the dark when I was 14 before some months I checked with the doctor and he told me there is nothing I have eye floaters also and I was sure that there was something and I was afraid and I searched What's wrong We get to know each other just a question are you arab because your name is رشا الجنابي
I've always had visual snow. I had no idea it wasn't how everyone saw the world until I finally found the term "visual snow" floating around the internet last year!
I have had visual snow my entire life too! As a kid I remember trying to ask my mum why everything was made of moving dots and she had no idea what I was talking about. I assumed everyone saw the world this way! When I found out this was a condition my mind was blown! I am also susceptible to migraine with aura and have very mild tinnitus. I can't imagine not perceiving the world this way. Hopefully one day medical advances will mean visual snow sufferers like us will be able to see the world clearly. Thank you so much for this video, it was so informative and reassuring. Love your videos! (I have severe myopia and am currently recovering from a scleral buckle operation, so I've watched a lot of your videos recently! Great to see another one which I can relate to!) Thanks again and keep up the good work!
My parents never took me seriously had no idea what I was talking about, it wasn't till last year when I showed them a example picture from online that finally gave me a name for what I was seeing
It's so good to hear from a medical professional who actually takes our symptoms seriously. It's very unfortunate that this is the case only because he can empathize with us through his own experience and this shouldn't be the case when bringing our concerns to our healthcare provider. Thank you for bringing further awareness and education on this visual phenomenon.
@@BloodyKnives66 you only hear the ringing once you start paying attention to it, and I’m pretty sure everyone’s got visual snow it just depends on how bad you got it.
@@user-gj5eu1tm5m you are so wrong my friend, you should look into the breakthroughs they are having with pills and injections for tinnitus. Some of them are almost at phase 3 with the fda and are having very positive outcomes with plenty of tinnitus sufferers. You don’t get to phase 3 with the FDA with nonsense
I feel sorry for her, I’m 18 and I have had it my entire life and thought everyone had it. If I’m driving fast, I’m also able to see objects in slow motion in high detail and when I stop my vision zooms back out. It’s a strange thing, but it does go away when I smoke cigarettes so I think it’s anxiety based.
I really appreciate this video! I have visual snow syndrome too, and I even wrote a song called 'Snow Below' about it. Sending hugs to everyone out there! 💙
I've had it all my life. I thought when I was a kid that I could see atoms. I have the tinnitus and entoptic phenomena, too. It has never been terribly bothersome to me, but the connection to tinnitus really fascinates me, and suggests to me that there is likely some underlying neurological basis. VS is basically the visual equivalent of tinnitus.
Ah tinnitus for 2 years and a few months, snow for a couple weeks now. Maybe a couple years down the line we'll get the touching or tasting cousin of tinnitus as well :P.
I believe that I have had visual snow for as long as I can remember. However, I recently discovered that it is actually a medical condition. I am terrified that the symptoms will worsen as I get older. Is that likely to happen?
For the past week or so if been trying to explain this to my family but no one understood. I'm so glad I found this video and now know I'm not crazy and people will finally understand what is happening in my eyes. thank you so much!
I’m so glad you’re talking about this in your profession. I’m in my thirties and just learned I have this- and my first memory of asking people about this was at three. I wonder how many people with this over the years have been misdiagnosed with incorrect vision issues, or otherwise
I've had migraines as well as convergence insufficiency since I was young, in my early 20's, something kinda "clicked" one day and I began seeing visual snow, I didn't have a healthy perspective so I hope this helps raise awareness, thank you!
Thank you very much for relieving me of my frustration, over 40 years of tying to describe this to doctors, friends and family to no avail. I recently described it to a friend and my daughter (who was also present) stated she had it as well. I will make sure she sees this. I feel fortunate that my symptoms are mild.
I learned about this today!!! I developed it after I was assaulted and sustained an mTBI, and it's a constant reminder of what happened. I wish I could make it stop but thank you for this video! It feels like a huge step forward just to know it's not just me. 💪
I'm 30 years old and never realized that not everybody sees static. I have like 4 of the visual snow symptoms so I'm going to bring this up to my opthamologist at my next visit.
@@DoctorEyeHealth I think a part of the reason I thought everyone saw the "static" is the fact my younger brother and I would share a bed when we went on vacation and we would stay up late talking and staring at the dark ceiling to see the "stars" twinkling. I sent him a link to your video to show him we weren't stargazing, we're just crazy lol
@@emre12ang I see static all the time but it's really noticeable in dark places. Like walking into a room at night with the light off makes me essentially blind. The static is so bad that I have to feel around for the light switch. I have tinnitus and migraines with auras where I lose my peripheral vision for about 20 or 30 minutes. First time it happened, I was 16 and I was scared I was going blind. But I've seen static my whole life.
I’m so glad you addressed this! As a kid back in the 90’s I went to sooo many eye doctors who just claimed I was a child seeking attention and my eyes are perfect. It wasn’t until roughly ten years ago thanks to the internet that I came across and article with pictures and finally put a name to my problem! Luckily mine is more mild, with just light sensitivity, but it’s there all the time :/
I believe that I have had visual snow for as long as I can remember. However, I recently discovered that it is actually a medical condition. I am terrified that the symptoms will worsen as I get older. Is that likely to happen?
I've actually been struggling with visual snow for the past couple of months and being more aware of it has added some stress to my life knowing that there are other people out there dealing with the same thing makes me feel a whole lot better
I HAVE THE CURE! I cured mine with pineapple daily for breakfast and having a ice shower 15 mins every morning. 1 month and it was gone and mine was so bad.
@@alexsyoutube1205 the pineapple is maybe a plausible thing to help with eye issues, since it's going through your body and of course giving you nourishment. The cold showers on the other hand, I highly doubt cold water on your body will help your eyes, maybe things around your eyes, but not them in particular. of course I am just some random 14 year old, so I could definitely be wrong. I just find in pretty hard to believe that some random person found a cure to some unwell know dieses just by looking up some shit. it's also something that can go away on its own just to let you know. Sorry for the 2 paragraph long reply btw.
Its fascinating, I experience visual snow, tinnitus, and vertigo and from what i've heard all of these go hand in hand. I'm glad more professionals are taking this stuff seriously I remember when I first developed these symptoms no doctor would listen to me and thought I was making it up. I'm glad people are making these videos it helps people feel less alone and helps everyone better understand what they're experiencing.
This video was a tear-jerker for me. Thank you so much! All I wanted was to feel validated, for people to get an idea of what I was going through and this video helped my friends and family reach a better understanding. I'm about to turn 24. It began at school. I started having severe migraines with auras. I went to the hospital to check my eyes. After multiple tests, they said my eyes were fine. I recently started hearing constant ticking in the ears and when I went to the ENT, he told me my ears were fine as well. I do have grainy vision that gets progressively worse as the sun goes down. Though it hasn't escalated to the point of blindness...yet. I am slightly sensitive to light (from headlights and such), and I do experience the other symptoms in minimal doses. I do manage to tune it out when I am engaged. Though my visual snow worsened after I started having migraines, I do remember getting spots of purple light in my vision even before my first migraine attack. Maybe the issue existed before and I didn't notice until my first migraine with aura. More than the problem itself, it is the uncertainty, anxiety, and depression that hurts me everyday. Will I go blind? Will anyone marry a person who might go blind any day? My dreams are fucked if I go blind. Visual snow ruined my confidence and has left me with crippling mental health issues. I do seek comfort in the fact that you are being positive despite your drawbacks and that there are many people out there with the same fears as me. I will strive to do better, but I really hope people find a cure someday. I've decided to try yoga and siddha medicine. Siddha medicine has no side effects, so I might as well test out the old medicines. I will also try to change my diet and eat healthy. I do have a crazy idea and I was wondering whether you could answer it for me. What about hypnotherapy? What about hypnotising myself into believing that my vision is crystal clear and my ears aren't ringing? Do you think it will work or did I just watch too many tv shows?
Thank you so much for spreading awareness about this! Recently got diagnosed and it's been very difficult to adjust. Grateful that I'm finding people who also struggle with it!
Thank you so much for good explanation. I can't see at night, my eyes are sensitive on light and my ears are ringing. I hope that somebody will find treatment.
I recently found out what visual snow is, and I definitely have it, ty for making this video to inform people who think they have it, and people who want to learn more about it :D
Your awesome I actually have ALL these symptoms and it makes me feel so much better know an Eye DR has it and that's it actually pretty common! I had a panic attack a few years ago do these new eye problems I though I was going blind!
Thank you for this video! I've had visual snow since as long as I can remember. It's gotten a bit worse from when I was a kid but my vision is still 20-20 everytime I get an eyecheck. It gets worse if I'm anxious about it (I have an anxiety disorder too), which I've read is common for a lot of people. But it also gets better if I'm not having an anxiety spur. In fact in the last year I think it's gotten slightly milder which is good. Hoping we get some better understanding and treatment soon, in the meantime, let's spread awareness!
That’s really comforting man. Yeah I’ve had a ramp up following anxiety. And I’ve been a bit of a wreck the past week with the afterimages and poor night vision particularly. Those are a lot more overt. But then I realized I’ve experienced this before when I wasn’t going through anxiety and I thought nothing of it and it didn’t really bother me further for a while. How’s it going for you now? Do you still find it ebbs and flows alongside stress levels?
I think this is what my 17 year old daughter has been describing. She had normal mri and blood tests. Ophthalmologist and Neuro ophthalmologist thought there was nothing wrong with her eyes themselves. We are seeing her neurologist soon for follow up on the MRI and I’m going to mention this. Hopefully, he is familiar. She has also been getting migraines the last for years before she started talking about this. She has all the symptoms and also feels like she’s unreal sometimes which I saw on the initiative website as a symptom. She’s also started to have anxiety at from it. I don’t know how long she’s had it. It really didn’t start to come up in conversation until she started driving. Also, she has trouble focusing on words on a page and floaters. Happy to have found this, but also sad that this might be something she always has to deal with.
Been there back in 2014 when I literally just woke up to static everywhere I pretty much lost my shit and developed an anxiety disorder because my fear of going blind was so strong
@@bratzzbratzz2507 no you will not go blind. Visual snow doesn’t make people go blind. I’ve had it for about 7 years now and you just learn to live with it, it takes some time to adjust but you’ll get there! I can promise you that you won’t go blind:)
Wow, I think I have finally found what it is that I am experiencing. I have been suffering from something like this for many years now, it literally happened to me from one day to the next. I was about 12 years old and remember going outside with family and then coming back into my house and I started to notice these visual hatched line/swirls just moving all throughout the surface of everything. It NEVER went away since and I see it 24/7. I have been to many doctors, ophthalmologist, neurologist and they could never diagnose me, they would simply say it could be some sort of migraine variant. At around 17 I had to start taking anxiety medication because I was constantly afraid and didn't understand what was wrong with my vision. Its been a rough journey, but I'm glad there are people out there who I can relate to and people who actually understand my symptoms and not just dismiss them.
I've been having visual snow for over three month, it came after I had a anxiety attack and it have been there every since, it also came with tinnitus as well.
Hello from Australia. Yep this is me, born this way. Remember asking my older sister if she could see all the dots when i was 6ish, she told me not to be silly. Thankyou for the video
I've had it all my life (along with tinnitus), so I've never seen pitch black or heard complete silence, quite poetic. Only within the last 5 years I realised it was a thing and I've been on a journey breaking it down internally. One prevalent aspect I've been orbiting is VS and its causation of depersonalisation disorder (also a recently categorised condition), and the way VS creates this meta layer of disconnect with the real world and leads to this disorder. It's a wild ride, but when you don't know any different it takes time to fully articulate around it.
I absolutely believe it is neurological based. My daughter is on the autism spectrum and has has the visual snow her entire life. NEVER any drugs involved with her or any trauma to her head. She does have flashes in her vision as well if she sits up to fast, and floaters. Thank you for the information provided in this video.
I went to the doctor and nothing is wrong with my eyes , also I couldn't describe it , it made me feel anxious but now I feel better after this video thank you :)♡♡
Yeah, it’s absolutely something I figured what normal, I remember asking my sister if she saw the static and she said yes(she could have it too idk). I definitely agree it’s hard to describe it, looking up at a blue sky or a completely black room It’s amplified. It’s not really something that bothers me, just like my tinnitus I just don’t focus on it, it doesn’t affect me much. As a kid, I used to “connect the dots” and it helped me when I would draw. I didn’t realize that this wasn’t something everyone had until a few years ago.
I don’t want to diagnose myself but I’ve always noticed, especially in a dark room that my visions staticy like tiny blue and white dots make up everything. It’s also really noticeably when I’m looking at a wall or a sheet of paper. I think I might have a mild case of this because I don’t really notice it during the day or in a lighten room unless I focus on it. But I’ve always noticed it, I even remember asking my mom if she sees dots everywhere but she didn’t know what I was talking about. I just thought it was normal.
exactly the same for me! I need glasses and the glasses seem to help me get rid of them. I see them in the day when i focus on something and then at night i see them loads
Wow.. I have tried to explain this for years. The worst part of all is being in the dark for me. I can not sleep in dark. I keep UA-cam on my phone all night long because of it. Thank you for helping me to figure out what i have.
I recently had a big onset of visual snow. 3 months ago I was on anti biotocs for a while and the day I ended i woke up and I noticed colored static on solid colored walls and blank canvases. Entoptic phenomen when looking at the sky, excessive after images when closing eyes or turning off lights and colored static in dark rooms. My initial symptoms had color swirls and light flashes when my eyes were closed but those have gone away somewhat. I have also developed tinnitus which a lot of people also have with VSS. I’ve been in and out of the doctors office and just recently discovered what this was. I left a message and a nurse called back saying it’s beyond my doctors scope? I have never taken any kind of hallucinogenic drugs and I’m very healthy and 38 years old. Luckily when I’m outdoors of there is large amounts of light I don’t see any static unless it’s a solid colored object then it’s very mild. Hard to believe there isn’t much research into this!
Thank you so much for speaking out about this, this video just left me with a good feeling, even if I already knew all this information. For anyone out there struggling, I suggest you talk to a neurologist or other medical professional about lamictal, it’s an antiepileptic drug that helped me to reduce the static and make it more manageable. Please do not try to take it without speaking to a doctor, of course.
I honestly told my doctor about how things look like “TV sparkles” when I was young and he just said it was because I have low blood pressure what the heck
I've had VS and migrane with aura for ten years now and I just found out about the visual snow after the neurologist told me about it. This video helps to understand the details. Thank you! One thing I noticed is how happy you seem telling about wich symptoms you experience yourself. I felt that kind of joy too after this exhausting journey of finding out what is wrong with my eyes. But you seem to almost brag about it. Everyone who has a serious vs condition or/and migrane with aura will certainly not enjoy it and wish it would go away more than anything.
Indeed anxiety worsens the symptoms. Being aware of the condition makes you anxious and feedback to the symptoms. Been there, done that. I got this all of a sudden, had clear vision before. Best you can do is try to lower the anxiety by all means and you'll be better.
I've always had visual snow and just learned the word for it. Its never been bad enough to affect my functioning but now im wondering if its part of an underlying issue. No one in my family has it
I had it since I was a young kid. I kept saying “I see rain in my vision” and my parents had me go to all kinds of doctors to make sure I didn’t have a brain tumor. No one could figure out what it was but I told a friend about it and years later she found something about it and told me it actually has a name.
An optometrist accused me of lying and wasting the NHS's time when I asked about my intense visual snow. Next visit he'd googled it and handed me a stack of printouts before telling me not to come back because it couldn't be treated. Yep, that sucked because I'd gone when I was struggling to read due to its intensity and he didn't believe me.
last week neuro opthalmologist said its fine may be its viral from flu.I notice from Las Dec.Night when turn off light is see like vibrating soomthing moving,after images 😭😥
Yeah I tried contacting the UK specialists mentioned on the Visual Snow Initiative website. Most the replies were asking for rediculous amounts of money just for consultation. Why have your name on a charity website designed to help people if you're going to charge hundreds just to answer a few questions? My GP was aware of VSS but didn't have specialised knowledge.
I have visual snow, and so does my boyfriend and my best friend. Actually me and my best friend were sleeping over when we were about thirteen and she asked me “do you see kind of static like all the time” or something similar. So at like 4 in the morning we sat and researched about visual snow
I have always been incredibly sensitive to light. I remember watching TV as a kid and having to cover my eyes when things got too bright on screen. I remember first describing it to my friends when I was 12, who thought I was crazy. I am 37 now. It's most noticable when looking at plain walls or blue sky or at night, but yeah, ever present. Also was recently diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Itd be great if there was an existing treatment out there for visual snow, but it just my accepted reality now and it doesn't really impair me from any kind of capitalistic contributions, which is the golden measure of whether a health issue warrants effective treatments/cures.
I have an extreme case of VS, Photophobia, Palinopsia, Entoptic phenomenon, and Nyctalopia. It's been really really hard confronting this condition. Especially when I thought I was going blind. My symptoms have not gotten worse but, like I said, it is an extreme case of all these symptoms.
I have all symptoms, im crying as i am typing this , i have it all since i was 6 years old i am now 29 and i was scared to do a research, but since the last 3 years it gets a bit worse at night i had to do a research because i thought i was going blind...I started having floaters but then i realized i also see snow and at the age of 15 till 27 was about the same amount of snow and dark weakness, one day i noticed more floaters and a bit more snow to my field of view ,things are tougher where there is not much light also when is too bright as well , i have also suffered a bit while driving because of the other car lights are blinding me but im really trying to stay calm and fight it !Thank you for sharing all that wonderful information, i really needed to hear all that ! And all people in the comments thank you very much for sharing! Feel free to ask me anything !
Hope you're doing well, I've been dealing with VSS and it's symptoms since February of this year and wanted to say that you aren't alone. I am not here to spread negativity so the best thing I can say is that you need to build a healthy mindset on coping with VSS. To this day I'm still working on it and I noticed that coping with it gets better overtime. If you haven't already, check out visual snow Iniative there is lots of stories of people having this. Like I said, don't be hard on yourself because of VSS and stay strong. I have it to a moderate degree but I don't let it stop me from doing things in life, and so can you
@@olllionyt7940 In rare cases maybe but if you are stressed or anxious it will make it worse, also avoid anything high in caffeine. Over the months for me It hasn't gotten better and it hasn't gotten worse. It seems to be noticeable at night and dim areas
Hey so I’m 17 , I have had a bad experience with a drug when I was about 13, and then I noticed a couple day after I got vision snow and I’ve had it ever since. Even though my case is very mild it still sucks as I read other comments say they’ve went to the eye doctor trying to figure out what’s wrong and them responding with everything is fine. I hope more reacher is done about this, and by Researching it’s really making me want to become an eye doctor. I’m happy I finally got some closure
I started with floaters a few years ago. They never went away but my eyes got used to it. I also had a few episodes of visual migraine. One time I woke up with vertigo, and the doctor told me it was related to my inner ear. I also observe this snow when I look at black surfaces. After watching this video I can connect all the dots 😅. Next time I experience one of these symptoms I won't get so stressed. Thank you for sharing this! 🙏🏻
I believe I have this. It started last year when I got inflammation in my eye. Doctors couldn’t tell me why it happened. Every time I tell my eye doctors she tells me my eyes are normal. Thanks for sharing this video.
💥 Question of the Day: Do you have visual snow or do you see other visual symptoms?
Yes I do!
Yes! I see it especially in the dark and i thought it's because somehow the poor light signal sent to the brain is boosted, kinda like when you go to a higher ISO on your camera. Because in the dark it looks more grainy than when I look at a white wall or bright sky. On the bright sky I see some tiny bright dots that move randomly. It's very mild though. I can easily ignore them.
I'd like to ask you a question. Why when I look up, without moving my head, but only my eyes, and there's a bright light source coming from above (in the dark), I can see something like branches in my field of view? They appear briefly, only when bright light hits my eyes at a certain angle in darker places. It looks like the image of the veins in the back of the eye.
I have some shadows near the vision center of each eye and since I am good with photoshop I draw them precisely, here is the image of what I see www.dropbox.com/s/xkwfy3h1deswz5m/sight-problem.jpg?dl=0. This is diagnosed as DRIL (disorganization of the retinal inner layers). I got it because of my diabetes so I did everything to bring my glucose level to the normal range but I still have a slow progression and I am really afraid of losing my vision.
A few years ago I had the moving dots, but it was only when I wore my prescription glasses, so I put it down to small crays of the UV lens coating causing a reflection--does that sound plausible?
Once I got new glasses and at the same time had debilitating dietary problems, after tests and doctors gave up, I self-diagnosed it to be caused by commercial food additives/flavor enhancers.
Anyway, I have been on a whole-food, plant-based diet since 2018 now, sticking fairly close to Dr. John McDougall's Starch diet, and have had no moving dots or health problem since. Hope that helps someone.
Omg! I thought everyone has it! I mostly see it on surfaces like sky and walls, and in the dark especially. It's also very mild and I don't notice it mostly.
Dia Hervey do you have ghosting vision?
I think everyone does have it to some degree as we had a discussion at work about it, 10 of us, and all experience it.
@@BamBam-me8sf exactly. But there are people who almost don´t notice it and then theres us. :/
@@ttmusicchannel013 I can actually hear the snow, as well as see it.
I do see branches like u ana.have u find any solution of tht?.it's like when light hits frm my eyes corners and see nerves or branches type
Just in case anyone needs to hear this, you aren’t going blind!!❤️
thank you 🤧
Hi humble truth hi i get like these flashing streaks its like a zap of light that passes through visin sometimes its is black is that normal is visual snow ....please has this ever happened to anyone ...ive been cleared by all kind of doctors...im just so scared of losing my vision .
@@lucymunoz3479 yes that’s completely normal I get flickering lights in my vision and all kinds of crazy things I can promise you that you won’t lose your vision!
i really did need to hear that🥺 thankyou
Ty bro I was lowkey freaking iut
I believe I have visual snow. This is the reason I don’t enjoy stargazing as much, the stars kinda blend in with the static, it’s hard to fully enjoy a starry night sky.
This is me but during the day ! I actually have a lot of anxiety about going outside and sunlight, but for some reason being in nature helps, specifically when I see green things, like grass & trees
Don’t need to stargaze just look at a black wall lmao
Same for me! I get sad when I try to really look at the stars. Also, I have gone to presentations at planetarium and I always end up feeling super anxious because I can't properly see the stars even there!
I have the same problem
Oh wow,this is such a mood.. I never really consciously realised this is why I don't like stargazing as much as others until reading this comment. I can't really see the stars.
Not that I wish visual issues on anyone but your videos where you say that you have these conditions like visual snow or floaters (I have floaters, too) calms me down SO much. I have spent the last year thinking I was going blind because of my floaters and hearing a medical professional so calmly and scientifically share this information and be able to relate to his audience makes SUCH a difference. Not sure if you will see this comment since this is an old video but THANK YOU. I am so glad I found this channel.
I've had VS my whole life, tried reaching out to find other people who have it. So glad to see it's finally being recognized by professionals.
I hope you have not lost a half century before you found a crumb of an answer.
I have it too! It's so nice to see I'm not insane 😭
I have it to and when I found out it wasn’t normal I thought I was going crazy lol
You had it for whole life means for how many years how old are ypu you ?
This is the first I've ever searched for something on it. Never knew what to call it! 🤷♂️ Lmao
Though, I did at one point get nerdy with maths, and came across "pixelated reality". Einstein was against this, but Heisenberg believed reality is pixelated. Long story short, we have came to the "Planck length".
For some reason, I always imagined these film grains or static we're seeing are bits of these "pixels". 🤷♂️ Most likely not, but it was a fun thought lol
It sure is really trippy to see em move sometimes. I hope there's more discovered about this.
wow i’ve been having anxiety about this for months, this makes me feel a lot better. thank you
Lexi Goldsmith me too babe!! you’re not alone!
Ditto!!
Yup you aint alone im currently having one and every morning i get worried aboit my vision,i like see floaters visual snow and phosphenes,i think i have a brain tumor or something but the doctors think that it is just anxiety so yeh dont google your symptoms because you end up regretting it
I also have it. Mine is not to bad, I mostly don't notice it anymore.
@@swartkat4218 do you get muscle twitching?
I wish I had this video back in 2014, would of saved me from a lot of eye doctor trips and many anxiety attacks, to all the people who just developed this I promise the anxiety and fear gets a lot better it just takes time, you are not going blind. I promise.
Thank you for your comforting words 💜
I started developing VSS symptoms a few months ago and they literally keep on increasing, I was never that much depressed in my life 😢
I also have tons of eyefloaters and I just don't know how to deal with all of this 😪
Could I ask you how long it took until your symptoms stopped increasing ❓
For me it had been 4 months but they are still increasing
@@lili-777 of course❤️ honestly for me it took like 2 years to actually get use to it, I noticed things like stress and anxiety make it worse, also not getting enough sleep affects it as well. The good news is humans are adaptable so we have the ability to adapt to our situations, sometimes it just takes a little longer than we’d like but it will happen!
It could honestly be that the stress and anxiety from the visual snow is causing it to increase for you, just drink plenty of water and gets lots of sleep and exercise, I think you will start to see an improvement!
Thanks for this comment, I get migraines and I had the worst one I’ve ever had back in Oct. and I’ve had visual snow ever since. I thought I was going blind for like 3 weeks and I’m still struggling with the anxiety/depression and depersonalization from it. Comments like these make me feel not alone and I really appreciate them.
@@lili-777 I think you would be fine,just don't get stressed.I have experienced floaters for 4 years,and some mild VSS.But yeet my eyes is all okay until now
@@danieldaniell7313 how are you nowww? What did you do to minimize the symptoms?
I get visual snow pretty badly at night or when I unfocused my eyes. I also get the tinnitus, and really nasty migraines with visual aura, vertigo, nausea and trouble speaking. It's good to know I'm not the only person who struggles with this.
Same here after i got covid, is it better?
same night is very bad for me
same, my night vison is bad
I have the exact symptoms as you ,do you have any tips to improve it???
@@Sara_60123 My best advice is to ignore it, avoid videos like these.
I’m 46 years old, & remember as a little girl telling my mother about static snow, & her dismissing me as having a big imagination...and me leaving that conversation as feeling confused (to put it mildly) about what I knew I was seeing...was I just super focused on seeing it, vs other people? Was this just another thing that was unusual or weird about me? I say all of this to let you know how grateful I am for your channel, for discussing these ‘odd’ topics, because you are giving the gift of peace of mind. Between this, my super annoying floaters & ringing of ears, I don’t feel so ridiculous anymore, after having an extensive eye exam & getting the brush off when describing what I see. I cannot thank you enough for validating what I, and I’m sure so many others experience.
Thank you so much Lisa! I know in clinic it is tough to find time to explain or teach things (which is what I really love doing) so I am fortunate enough to have the opportunity to make these types of videos. It really means a lot to hear how these videos have helped you and I like to think if a video helps even 1 person then it is 100% worth it. With that being said, it is still very much a work in progress and I hope I can continue to improve the channel/videos to better help you and others. Thank you again, I think your comment made my night. 😁
Same here! I remember telling my mom that I couldn't sleep because of the "dots" and she dismissed it and said that everyone sees that way. So I went through the next twenty-something years believing that everyone saw that way, and I was the only one paying it any attention
maybememory1 Thanks for sharing that! I really wish I could see the way others see things (literally) because I wonder how much different it would be. I also think that people aren’t always as aware as you or I of these things, or dismiss them as nothing (which I hope this is)...the issue with that, though, is it won’t be studied or understood as much, I think. I’m just so grateful for this channel.
I am a male 23 years old and experiencing everything that you are. I have constant tinnitus, visual snow, and gray eye floaters flying throughout my eyesight.
Jeffrey cardoza me too
Best way I can put it is, it’s like seeing what my leg feels like when it’s asleep
Hahahahaha this is so accurate for me
That is such a great way to describe it!
Underrated comment
Lmao so accurate and funny!
YES THIS IS HOW I EXPLAIN IT HAHA
omg i finally found it , im not alone ! :D i was trying to find this since i was small , now im 19 and not even the doctors could understand the symptoms i was trying to explain , every eye doctor said i was fine and that was frustrating :D
Same. My eye doctor also tells me that this is normal or will pass. Also afterimages, he says it’s normal, everyone has it. I feel so misunderstood. But I know it’s not bad and I won’t die of it 😂 and I got used to it. I am not even noticing it really
@@leonlanger8715 yeah , im just glad its nothing serious :D
This is exactly me I've tried to search for 11 years only finding out now what's happening to me and I'm not alone
Leon Langer your whole life? Or developed?
@@rodytalks3989 i noticed it a few years ago, i dont konw if i had it before
Last week I went to the eye doctor, describing 'tv static like when there is no signal as a layer over everything I see'. He told me it was a neurological condition. Now I'm watching this video.
Never felt so validated in my life. I told my psychologist and she sent me to a spiritual/medium church & my psychiatrist just asked me questions about it and never told me what it was. I can’t believe I am not alone ♥️✨
Yup they called me crazy
@@734le same ;-;
What kind of a shit psychologist is that
ive had neurologists look at me crazy 🙄 ur not alone. ive learned to live with it i hope you can too.
She sent you to a ... what? That's ridiculous. I've had it my whole life and I'm assuming it was due to having a rather traumatic birth. No need to get the supernatural involved. ...In fact I think a psychologist should have their license questioned if they recommend that...
I see colors when I close my eyes lol, one of my favorite things is to look at the interesting patterns it makes.
TheSiblings cool
TheSiblings mine also untill i got VS
Do you ever see this hyper shape thing? I call it the tesseract lotus.( Tesseract Lotus of the Mind's Eye.) It rotates in all directions and as I try to focus on it, it always opens up, lotus like then resets back into a swirling mass. Sometimes these long snake like things are around it and they to are somehow rotating in multiple directions but as ropy structures. People was telling me it was light from the room dissipating or something but even hours later the imagery actually gets stronger and more intense in the dark.
jason bowman do you have visual snow?
@@jasonbowman9521 yes I see it but it disturbs me and I had anxiety I constantly see it though
I recommend yoga. I remember leaving the yoga session feeling so relaxed that I didn’t see any static. I realised it gets worse when I’m tired or anxious. So I definitely recommend exercising and meditating
I just notice it when I notice it
Nicky h225 I agree
Tholid Thnake really? Omg. It’s crazy how doctors don’t know much about this. It should be looked into
@@Sara-wq3pb Yeah, it's annoying because I really want to do yoga but I'm definitely going to leave it for a while. That was about 11 months ago that it happened. At the time I started seeing bright swirling colours and I had tunnel vision, I was freaking out. After about an hour it stopped and ever since I've just had visual snow and also sometimes floaters. Another thing is if I'm reading words on a computer screen or even a book, and then look at a wall, I see lines of light all over the wall as if it's been imprinted into my eyes. Meditation helps me accept it and not stress over it but I would like to be able to find something to actually make it go away a little so I can enjoy nature and things like that. I'll maybe try yoga in the future when I'm feeling confident about it haha
Tholid Thnake it’s definitely quite a disturbing situation to experience. It’s super weird that it happened when you were doing yoga. It’s quite a relaxing exercise. What type of yoga did you do? When I did it it was a candle lit yoga. I was mainly focusing on the breathing and the energy and not so much the positions. Meditation is definitely very helpful. I was reading some comments and apparently a change in the diet helps with the visual snow. I also suffer from anxiety and a lot of stress and one thing that helps me is listening to the ocean waves. One phrase I can recommend you to live by is “relax your way through life”. Remember you won’t be feeling this way in a few hours. Focus on the positive things in your life and learn to accept the ones that aren’t so positive. Take everything as a learning experience and grow from it!
After years of anxiety I finally was told today by a neuro ophthalmologist that I'm experiencing blue field entoptic phenomenon and after further research also found I have VS as well. Thank you for this video. So glad (but sad) to see im not the only one. Huge anxiety relief!
Do you have eye floaters too?
Were u given any treatment?
@@haqsach4147 I have floaters and little spider webs ton of them and little blob floating around.
did they give you any way to treat it???
I’ve had migraines with aura since I was 13. I’m 65 now. Recently, I was under a great deal of stress after my husband was hit by a semi. He spent 3+ months in the hospital and now, 20 months later is just starting to recover his strength. When he was discharged from the hospital, I started noticing visual disturbances. I was diagnosed with migraine aura by an optometrist. I wasn’t satisfied with that diagnosis so I insisted on being worked into an ophthalmologist’s schedule. He sent me for an MRI, diagnosing a stroke in my occipital lobe. Shortly after that, I started the VSS. Dots everywhere, all the time. I mentioned it to the ophthalmologist at my last appointment, he said it is floaters. No, I know the difference, because I have a large floater, too. My only other symptoms are double vision, tinnitus, and a blind spot on the left center of my visual field. I have prisms in my glasses, which helps. I’m learning to live with everything else. Just knowing my condition is real and shared by others is very helpful. Now, to educate my ophthalmologist…..
what if everyone has it, and some people just have it a little stronger and that makes them actually notice it?
I think so... Especially after waking up from a nap I notice it more
Everyone has some degree of visual noise, but very few people probably have visual snow syndrome, which includes intense static, afterimages, night blinding, palinopsia, floaters, light sensitivity, etc.
pretty sure it is the case. I think we are actually seeing the neurons piecing the puzzle together, but maybe we have a few more pieces that are missing than others
@@BudderB0y2222 VSS is often accompanied by non-visual symptoms like:
Ringing, humming, or buzzing sounds (Tinnitus)
Feeling detached from yourself (Depersonalization)
Symptoms of anxiety and/or depression
Frequent migraines, brain fog, and confusion
Dizziness and nausea
Insomnia and other sleep-related issues
Tingling sensations in legs and arms, accompanied by general pain throughout body
Tinnitus seems to be the most common physical symptom attached to VSS
Seeing some static and your neurons is nowhere near the same as having these kind of symptoms everyday
@@biscuffer2518 I have most of those as well. What's your point
First two minutes of the video and I was like, “Wow! This has been my life and finally someone understands”. I always tried to explain that what I see is like the static of the TV but no one wouldn’t understand me. It’s not that severe, I can ignore it, but I know is there from the moment I wake up till I go back to bed. Thank you for such educational information.
I’m so glad there’s people out there with it. Never tought I would meet others with same problems that get me
I've had this my whole life. It's pretty mild, but i do notice it every once in a while, especially in dark rooms. As a kid, i used to think of it like looking through a TV screen because it looked like static. I have pretty bad light sensitivity, blue field phenomenon, migraines (without auras, strangely enough), and I always see a bunch of colorful squiggly things in my vision when i close my eyes (I sometimes entertain myself by watching the squiggles move around and stuff, lol). I also do have tinnitus sometimes, but I'm not sure if that's related or due to something else. Never knew there was a name for this until i found this channel. Thank you for taking the time to explain all this!
I thought everyone had those squiggles when I was a kid, then I realized not everyone does and instead thought only I had them lol
los ves cuando cierras los ojos?
@@clairethdiaz1573 sí
I have visual snow syndrome. Thank you for help spreading awareness.
I sware each day im finding something wrong with my eyes
Me too.
me too
my hypochondria wont stop
@@nuggetz9380 do you have eye floater ? I was really normal but few months ago when i got my first floater i became so anxious and hypocondriac about my eyes
@@hectorbaculard7467 yes i do but i had them since i was a kid and also my doc told me its nothing to worry about so my anxiety is calmed
me too bud
I have visual snow, I've only dropped acid a handful of times, swear! 😂 But seriously, I've had it my whole life. I remember when I was a kid, I'd lay in bed and look at all the static in my room as that when it was most apparent. I tried to talk to other people about it like "you know at night when..." But no one ever knew what the hell I was talking about it.
I can't see shit at night, its crazy how it's almost like a switch is flipped when the sun goes down, I just can't see! And I have both ringing in my ears and vertigo. I also get migraines including ocular migraines.
I've been an optician for about 3 years but I've worked in the eye field for over 10 and not one of the doctors I work with at my current office have ever mentioned visual snow, ever. You're the first Doctor I've heard talk about it. Its refreshing to know I'm not the only one.
It is unforunately just not a condition reviewed in school. Like I said in the video...its not in any formal textbooks. If a doctor doesn't specialize in neuro-optometry or ophthalmology...they may have never heard of it.
@@DoctorEyeHealth I've had visual snow since as long as I could remember as a little boy, probably 6 or younger. When you're on psychedelics, you hallucinate geometric patterns that are only close to replicated by the highly skilled artists of the Visionary Style discipline. Something that I found fascinating was how much extra color and patterns are born from the snow. In a dark room, it's very similar to closed eye visuals, which are extremely often more extreme and take a different nature than open-eye visuals in well-light rooms. Especially during the come up, you can very closely observe the intervals of intensity as the trip slowly becomes more and more intense. LSD and mushrooms have relatively slow come ups, at least compared to most drugs. The visual snow gives cues and you observe the linear initial climb and the slow parabolic curve of the comedown. It's a gift in that way but it is a detriment to natural night vision.
Omg I have all of this the ringing in my ears and the visual snow has gotten worse over the years and the last two years I feel like I have developed vertigo. It give me anxiety and sometimes you feel crazy. It makes it so hard to read things on a white background and my eyes get so tired. I see it more at night and against walls and when I look in the sky. At least now I feel less crazy.
My cousin and I both have VS so when we play hide and seek in a dark area it’s hard to see
omg i experience all this as well... so glad im not alone!!
I started having it when I was 16 years old (I'm 41 now) & it has dramatically lower my quality of Life. I absolutely loved reading before & now it is extremely frustrating to read. I usually get so irritated that I stop. Searching for paperwork around my home is a nightmare. I love the beautiful colors of the World, but it's annoying to try to enjoy looking at something for too long. I wanted to be an artist, writer, cartoonist, or pursue a film production career, but the frustration discourages me.
The Emotional scaring has took its toll. When I try to explain it to some that I have a vision probllem they immediately say something like "you need glass". I explain it's not that kind of blindness. If I am doing a task at work, it appears that I am just really dumb, because I have to keep staring at something to fully see it. I look like a jerk to other people because I have move in front of them oddly to see something. so I have to ether tell everyone I am closely interacting with about it beforehand or try not to act too strangely. but then I feel like some people think I am lying or making excuses, because it isn't well known.
I know there is nothing I can do about it, but it is amazing to know that people care about this issue & are supporting each other with there battle dealing with it. It was really helpful to be able to vent about this to this UA-cam group that understands.
When I talked to this with my mom she said I needed glasses and my dad to it sucks, I don’t like it.
This is the BEST video on visual snow. Hearing from a doctor with all the disturbances I have made me feel lot more normal. Sometimes I think everyone has some degree of visual snow,, and the problem is losing the ability to block it out constantly.
I also think that. The big problem is focusing on it all the time. It drives me crazy and i have it very mildly.
I have it. There are so many symptoms that even though I live with it, I always forget one symptom when describing the condition to others. - thanks for bringing awareness to it.
This condition causes me so much anxiety.. I just wish I could see like used to again..
Same 😔
same
Do you see normally now?
@@pj4690 How is it for you right now?
How did you gain it?
I've tried to explain this to various opticians for years! None of them knew what I was talking about. Hearing this is so refreshing. It's not in my imagination, it's a real thing!! Thanks for covering this 🙏
I've suffered with this my entire life or since a very young age. Went to the doctor in my country a few times and he always blamed it on random things, like iron deficiency or my tinnitus on ear wax. It's kind of relieving to find out that other people experience this but it really sucks that it's so rare and misunderstood. I just found out about this condition at the age of 21 and just assumed that it was just a "normal" thing that everyone experienced... Normally i don't mind the static unless it's in a completely white or dark room. But the tinnitus man.. I can't sleep without the window open or some background noise because it's just so depressing...
For my tinnitus, I tell a Google Echo to play "Rain Sounds" and it helps it disappear. Also, I run a fan close to my head, so it mutes out the sound. I sleep like a baby with those things.
Same here 😢
@@PoeLemic Do you have other diagnosis?
@@Xiviaidan123 You also have and visual snow and tinniyus?
Ty jsi Češka? :)
I had this all my life.. its relatively mild usually, getting more extreme in dark rooms, and I was always so frustrated from it but calmed myself down with saying: everyone got this, its normal. Welp. A few days I learned that its not :/ But I can live with it very well nonetheless.
Woah I have this! It is nonstop. I thought everyone saw things like this?? So what do normal people see????
Clear signal
I see it at night only
@@ziqrsx
I'm pretty sure that is normal. I would confer with an optometrist.
@@ravenwda007 phew, thought i had vs for a second. Thank you.
It might actually be normal! I randomly asked my friends if they saw “static” at night and 2/3 answered with they know what I’m talking about
I have VS, was diagnosed in July, It's not talked about enough, so I love that you expressed the importance of talking about it.
I was born with visual snow syndrome!
I'm excited to see more research as more and more people find out about it!
Yeah i’m also born with it (or at least I think so; don’t remember being an infant)
Ya same
Same I always thought everyone sees like this
Hey! Same!!
Never really talked about it. Just kinda tripped out/spaced out sometimes trying to figure out wth I was experiencing lol!
Didn't want adults thinking I was nuts!!
Any chance we could all set up a discord or some sort chat to perhaps discuss these experiences???
Since there isn't a lot of info to begin with, seems like a decent starting point!
The older I get the more I realize just how strange my brain and nervous system is, and while much of it can be very annoying or make certain situations difficult I'm lucky in that none of these things are actually impeding me from living a full life.
Visual snow is something I've had all my life, more so in darkness, but generally any time I'm looking at something dark.. So even in bright daylight if I'm looking at a piece of black velvet there will still be static all over it. This makes it hard to read without the words being brightly lit, but I've also found that inverting colour (white text on black background, or even better cyan text on black) greatly helps with being able to read easily.
My night vision in general I would consider to be quite good, though the static did always make me think I was seeing movement as a kid.. I was terrified of the dark because it felt like the shadows/closets/plants were all moving around once the lights were out.
Photophobia on the other hand, probably not too bad but I can't be outside in the sun without glasses on as just the reflection off the ground near midday, no matter where I look is blinding to the point I can't keep my eyes open without intense pain.
And then blue field entoptic phenomenon - discovered that one when I was about 5 years old, just sitting around following all the floaty bits as they wandered through the sky. If I concentrate I can also see them on any flat single coloured surface, but it's hard to ignore against the sky.
Tinnitus I get very faintly, where most of the time it's barely perceptible but maybe once or twice a day it will suddenly appear again for 20 minutes, especially noticeable if I'm somewhere that doesn't have any background noise.
Then onto other things,
I was formally diagnosed with Social Pragmatic Communication Disorder, which under the old DSM would be high functioning autism, but is now separated as being mainly the social aspects of autism without so much the behavioural.
Recently discovered I have aphantasia where I lack the ability to visualize things in my mind. I never realized that people could actually form pictures in their head with their eyes closed and always thought it was just metaphorical.
Similarly, I lack an internal monologue for most of the day, only having that voice in my head when actively reading or writing words but otherwise it isn't there at all.
I've also had some strange issues with my central nervous system and many things which people do which are unconscious I have to somewhat concentrate on. Like I often forget to breathe or blink, can hold my breath to the point I actually pass out.. sometimes forget to eat/drink so long that I become light headed and nauseous as the usual hunger and thirst queues aren't there. This also extended to athletic ability as I would never be 'out of breath' when running, and found it strange that everyone else was. I would consciously breathe deeper to avoid feeling dizzy and still got sore muscles but never like my friends. I also don't have the same safety limits on my muscles that most people have. You know those stories of people with adrenaline rushes doing crazy things? With no real strength training at all I, in all my skinny 60kg glory, could lift a 150kg motorbike into the bed of a pickup without a ramp or anyone to help. I'd still tear my muscles a little and be sore for 2 weeks though so it has drawbacks. Some of these things could be attributed to the fact I seem to have a very small amount of adrenaline in my blood stream at all times.
I have respiratory sinus arrhythmia where I can speed up and slow down my heart rate by up to 50% just with carefully timed breathing. For example breathing in deeply while at rest I can raise my heart up to around 90bpm, then as I breathe out it will pause for over a second, have 1 big thump then slowly come back to around 60bpm at the end of exhaling.
Postural tachycardia is another heart related one, where I can be laying down watching tv with a bpm of 60-70, then stand up and suddenly my heart rate registers 140bpm and takes a few minutes to re-normalize.
I'm glad none of these things are really dangerous in any way, but it certainly is interesting every time I find out something else which I thought was totally normal, doesn't happen for most people.
Oh and if you made it this far, sorry for the wall of text.. you're a champ for reading to the end though :)
I got some questions for you
@@nealhilton3635 Ask away..
Also update: been seeing a psychologist recently who was confident enough to give an official diagnosis of ADHD-PI (inattentive type, like the old ADD) and she thinks I have narcolepsy too, but will be seeing a different specialist for that soon.
On the plus side, these are both problems that I can potentially fix (or at least partially fix) and improve my daily life somewhat, whereas most of what I mentioned in the first post is just 'interesting quirks' that either can't or don't need to be fixed.
I found when I close my eyes or in complete darkness, its like i see stars in the sky, thousands of them, Also have tinnitus for many years.
Thats normal
U also see blur sometimes????
I have all that too
@@jakobmelo4898 u also see blur sometimes??? Or needle type pain in eye for some seconds, heavyness in eyes???
@@purohit_manisha yes. Last night i had blur in right eye. Anf as well felt a sharp pain in a needle sized surface area for a split second
After 20 years of wondering I finally got diagnosed with visual snow. And as of lately it’s been so so bad. I’m actually really scared at this point. I have pretty much every symptom that comes with it and I can only hope that somebody finds a treatment or cure for it soon. My depression and anxiety have gotten much worse from it and I don’t know if I can go on like this. It’s extremely debilitating. Thank you for sharing this video and bringing some awareness to it. I appreciate your passion and your want to help.
You got this man I have it just know your fine and not alone and can have a happy life with jt I
This explains how I feel. I have it this bad as well. Desperately needing help. And no doctors can
I’ve always had that experience when in a darker room and especially when I go to bed. I also have tinnitus. It doesn’t bother me and I just thought everyone had it. Here’s the funny part: I’m the office manager in an ophthalmology practice. 🤣
Patricia Snoddy does it cause headache?
@@furqanahmed5221 mine does😭😭😭😭
Te Kaha Ohlson oh sorry
LOL I have visual snow, tinnitus and I'm only 17
@@s000sdas how long?
Have had visual snow for almost 10 years and I have almost all of the symptoms: recurring migraine with aura (3-4 times a year), tinnitus, trailing or prolonged afterimages, pretty bad light sensitivity and vertigo (which I just learned from this video is possibly a symptom of VS). I’ve learned to deal with it over the years, but it is sometimes difficult and has certainly caused me anxiety periodically. Nice to see it is getting a little more attention. During my next eye appt, I will probably show my doctor this video to help raise awareness. Thanks for the info doc!
It’s not a eye problem it’s a brain disorder so it really sucks
Can you still see ?
@@dustbunny10111 I can still see, yes. The snow is always there, but if I ignore it I don’t really see it. It’s really just become something I have learned to live with, and successfully. It does not bother me all that much, even when I focus on it and realize it’s actually still there.
@@robbyq769 is it easy to ignore afterimages and all the other symptoms over time
@@LinuxRecipe yes, mostly. The afterimages for me are probably the most difficult to ignore. If it’s dark out and I catch some headlights direct on, that’s the worst and takes the longest to recover from, but even during the day I get sunlight reflecting off cars, etc, and those stick for a bit too. I have just learned to deal with them. Other symptoms are better managed over time though. Overall, my quality of life is not severely impacted, so I am grateful for that
I have visual snow I’m 14 yrs old and have had this since I was like 9 and I’ve always been anxious about this. Thanks for relieving me from that anxiety 😊.
hey wanna be freinds i felt alne with this and finnaly i have someone kinda of my age and has the same thing and i heard theres a treat ment a natural one and its working !!
@@rashaaljanabi5535 hi I have snow I see it in the dark when I was 14 before some months I checked with the doctor and he told me there is nothing I have eye floaters also and I was sure that there was something and I was afraid and I searched What's wrong We get to know each other just a question are you arab because your name is رشا الجنابي
Yea same I’m 14 and I have this, it’s not too bad tho
@@rashaaljanabi5535 can you show how??
im 15 and i had it since 9 years old as well
I've always had visual snow. I had no idea it wasn't how everyone saw the world until I finally found the term "visual snow" floating around the internet last year!
I have had visual snow my entire life too! As a kid I remember trying to ask my mum why everything was made of moving dots and she had no idea what I was talking about. I assumed everyone saw the world this way! When I found out this was a condition my mind was blown! I am also susceptible to migraine with aura and have very mild tinnitus.
I can't imagine not perceiving the world this way. Hopefully one day medical advances will mean visual snow sufferers like us will be able to see the world clearly.
Thank you so much for this video, it was so informative and reassuring. Love your videos! (I have severe myopia and am currently recovering from a scleral buckle operation, so I've watched a lot of your videos recently! Great to see another one which I can relate to!)
Thanks again and keep up the good work!
i’ve had this my whole life and every time i try to explain it my my parents they think i’m just making it up
I know how you feel! Even my professors in school were not super familiar with it
My parents never took me seriously had no idea what I was talking about, it wasn't till last year when I showed them a example picture from online that finally gave me a name for what I was seeing
It's so good to hear from a medical professional who actually takes our symptoms seriously. It's very unfortunate that this is the case only because he can empathize with us through his own experience and this shouldn't be the case when bringing our concerns to our healthcare provider.
Thank you for bringing further awareness and education on this visual phenomenon.
I cried watching this video! I couldn’t find the right words to explain my Dr. and I am getting treatment for migraines.
I've always had it. The visual disturbances and constant ear ringing is a real drag to say the least.
The ear ringing is literally just in your head, everyone has it it doesn’t come from your ears it’s literally in your head so your alright
I can't remember having ear ringing as a child. I have it now but I'm pretty sure that's from the military. I've been seeing visual snow my whole life
@@BloodyKnives66 you only hear the ringing once you start paying attention to it, and I’m pretty sure everyone’s got visual snow it just depends on how bad you got it.
@@user-gj5eu1tm5m you are so wrong my friend, you should look into the breakthroughs they are having with pills and injections for tinnitus. Some of them are almost at phase 3 with the fda and are having very positive outcomes with plenty of tinnitus sufferers. You don’t get to phase 3 with the FDA with nonsense
Wow!!! I just discovered what this is last year and I’ve had it my whole life! Glad I’m not alone!
Im 17 year old & i have visiusal snow from 2 to 3 years ago started ! Wht about u ?
Just discovered the name for this also. Always described it as static
My 12 year old daughter keeps telling me about the static in her eyes.
I feel sorry for her, I’m 18 and I have had it my entire life and thought everyone had it. If I’m driving fast, I’m also able to see objects in slow motion in high detail and when I stop my vision zooms back out. It’s a strange thing, but it does go away when I smoke cigarettes so I think it’s anxiety based.
@@aseems7611 ,are you from India?
I am 12 and I see it too
@@aseems7611 ok
@@aseems7611 I see colors too, I thought I had a brain tumor
I really appreciate this video! I have visual snow syndrome too, and I even wrote a song called 'Snow Below' about it. Sending hugs to everyone out there! 💙
I've had it all my life. I thought when I was a kid that I could see atoms. I have the tinnitus and entoptic phenomena, too. It has never been terribly bothersome to me, but the connection to tinnitus really fascinates me, and suggests to me that there is likely some underlying neurological basis. VS is basically the visual equivalent of tinnitus.
agreed! That astute observation.
Ah tinnitus for 2 years and a few months, snow for a couple weeks now. Maybe a couple years down the line we'll get the touching or tasting cousin of tinnitus as well :P.
I’ve had it ever since I can remember. I remember telling my eye doctor about it with them having no idea what I was talking about.
I’ve had visual snow my whole life. It’s something no one would believe me growing up.
Same unfortunately
same
I believe that I have had visual snow for as long as I can remember. However, I recently discovered that it is actually a medical condition. I am terrified that the symptoms will worsen as I get older. Is that likely to happen?
For the past week or so if been trying to explain this to my family but no one understood. I'm so glad I found this video and now know I'm not crazy and people will finally understand what is happening in my eyes. thank you so much!
I’m so glad you’re talking about this in your profession. I’m in my thirties and just learned I have this- and my first memory of asking people about this was at three. I wonder how many people with this over the years have been misdiagnosed with incorrect vision issues, or otherwise
Did you live well now? I've this my whole life. But now that I've discovered that is a disease I'm freaking out.
I've had migraines as well as convergence insufficiency since I was young, in my early 20's, something kinda "clicked" one day and I began seeing visual snow, I didn't have a healthy perspective so I hope this helps raise awareness, thank you!
Thank you very much for relieving me of my frustration, over 40 years of tying to describe this to doctors, friends and family to no avail. I recently described it to a friend and my daughter (who was also present) stated she had it as well. I will make sure she sees this. I feel fortunate that my symptoms are mild.
I learned about this today!!! I developed it after I was assaulted and sustained an mTBI, and it's a constant reminder of what happened. I wish I could make it stop but thank you for this video! It feels like a huge step forward just to know it's not just me. 💪
I'm 30 years old and never realized that not everybody sees static. I have like 4 of the visual snow symptoms so I'm going to bring this up to my opthamologist at my next visit.
That was me for SO long.
@@DoctorEyeHealth I think a part of the reason I thought everyone saw the "static" is the fact my younger brother and I would share a bed when we went on vacation and we would stay up late talking and staring at the dark ceiling to see the "stars" twinkling. I sent him a link to your video to show him we weren't stargazing, we're just crazy lol
How long have you had VSS? Do you see static only at night? Do you have any other symptoms?
@@emre12ang I see static all the time but it's really noticeable in dark places. Like walking into a room at night with the light off makes me essentially blind. The static is so bad that I have to feel around for the light switch. I have tinnitus and migraines with auras where I lose my peripheral vision for about 20 or 30 minutes. First time it happened, I was 16 and I was scared I was going blind. But I've seen static my whole life.
I’m so glad you addressed this! As a kid back in the 90’s I went to sooo many eye doctors who just claimed I was a child seeking attention and my eyes are perfect. It wasn’t until roughly ten years ago thanks to the internet that I came across and article with pictures and finally put a name to my problem! Luckily mine is more mild, with just light sensitivity, but it’s there all the time :/
I believe that I have had visual snow for as long as I can remember. However, I recently discovered that it is actually a medical condition. I am terrified that the symptoms will worsen as I get older. Is that likely to happen?
I've actually been struggling with visual snow for the past couple of months and being more aware of it has added some stress to my life knowing that there are other people out there dealing with the same thing makes me feel a whole lot better
Don't worry, after awhile it eventually just becomes something that you don't even think about.
I HAVE THE CURE! I cured mine with pineapple daily for breakfast and having a ice shower 15 mins every morning. 1 month and it was gone and mine was so bad.
@@alexsyoutube1205 what witch doctor did you get that I idea from?
@@koriyagay the herb doctor
@@alexsyoutube1205 the pineapple is maybe a plausible thing to help with eye issues, since it's going through your body and of course giving you nourishment. The cold showers on the other hand, I highly doubt cold water on your body will help your eyes, maybe things around your eyes, but not them in particular.
of course I am just some random 14 year old, so I could definitely be wrong. I just find in pretty hard to believe that some random person found a cure to some unwell know dieses just by looking up some shit. it's also something that can go away on its own just to let you know.
Sorry for the 2 paragraph long reply btw.
Its fascinating, I experience visual snow, tinnitus, and vertigo and from what i've heard all of these go hand in hand. I'm glad more professionals are taking this stuff seriously I remember when I first developed these symptoms no doctor would listen to me and thought I was making it up. I'm glad people are making these videos it helps people feel less alone and helps everyone better understand what they're experiencing.
This video was a tear-jerker for me. Thank you so much! All I wanted was to feel validated, for people to get an idea of what I was going through and this video helped my friends and family reach a better understanding. I'm about to turn 24. It began at school. I started having severe migraines with auras. I went to the hospital to check my eyes. After multiple tests, they said my eyes were fine. I recently started hearing constant ticking in the ears and when I went to the ENT, he told me my ears were fine as well. I do have grainy vision that gets progressively worse as the sun goes down. Though it hasn't escalated to the point of blindness...yet. I am slightly sensitive to light (from headlights and such), and I do experience the other symptoms in minimal doses. I do manage to tune it out when I am engaged. Though my visual snow worsened after I started having migraines, I do remember getting spots of purple light in my vision even before my first migraine attack. Maybe the issue existed before and I didn't notice until my first migraine with aura.
More than the problem itself, it is the uncertainty, anxiety, and depression that hurts me everyday. Will I go blind? Will anyone marry a person who might go blind any day? My dreams are fucked if I go blind. Visual snow ruined my confidence and has left me with crippling mental health issues. I do seek comfort in the fact that you are being positive despite your drawbacks and that there are many people out there with the same fears as me. I will strive to do better, but I really hope people find a cure someday. I've decided to try yoga and siddha medicine. Siddha medicine has no side effects, so I might as well test out the old medicines. I will also try to change my diet and eat healthy. I do have a crazy idea and I was wondering whether you could answer it for me. What about hypnotherapy? What about hypnotising myself into believing that my vision is crystal clear and my ears aren't ringing? Do you think it will work or did I just watch too many tv shows?
I also have all these symptoms but mine is very mild
I do not much worry about static but I am worry about floaters i hate them they make worry
Hari, I think I have it too. I am getting anxiety attacks and getting depressed.
No one goes blind from visual snow
Thank you so much for spreading awareness about this! Recently got diagnosed and it's been very difficult to adjust. Grateful that I'm finding people who also struggle with it!
what symptoms you have ?
Thank you so much for good explanation. I can't see at night, my eyes are sensitive on light and my ears are ringing. I hope that somebody will find treatment.
I recently found out what visual snow is, and I definitely have it, ty for making this video to inform people who think they have it, and people who want to learn more about it :D
Thanks for watching! I know I need to make some new videos on the topic
Your awesome I actually have ALL these symptoms and it makes me feel so much better know an Eye DR has it and that's it actually pretty common! I had a panic attack a few years ago do these new eye problems I though I was going blind!
Me too. I have anxiety and this make scary 😂
I want to be a pilot and i dont know if i cna be one with visual snow
Exact same boat, went to two different eye doctors when I started noticing it, had panic attacks, but knowing other people are dealing with it helps.
A panic attack was what started all my VS symptoms.
@@cocoabean5917 they can’t test for VS so jus don’t tell them u have it and u can be a pilot 😂
It's so fit that you are an eye doctor because you're such an eye candy!
Thanks for the info; I just found out today that this isnt normal.
Thank you for this video! I've had visual snow since as long as I can remember. It's gotten a bit worse from when I was a kid but my vision is still 20-20 everytime I get an eyecheck. It gets worse if I'm anxious about it (I have an anxiety disorder too), which I've read is common for a lot of people. But it also gets better if I'm not having an anxiety spur. In fact in the last year I think it's gotten slightly milder which is good. Hoping we get some better understanding and treatment soon, in the meantime, let's spread awareness!
That’s really comforting man. Yeah I’ve had a ramp up following anxiety. And I’ve been a bit of a wreck the past week with the afterimages and poor night vision particularly. Those are a lot more overt. But then I realized I’ve experienced this before when I wasn’t going through anxiety and I thought nothing of it and it didn’t really bother me further for a while. How’s it going for you now? Do you still find it ebbs and flows alongside stress levels?
I think this is what my 17 year old daughter has been describing. She had normal mri and blood tests. Ophthalmologist and Neuro ophthalmologist thought there was nothing wrong with her eyes themselves. We are seeing her neurologist soon for follow up on the MRI and I’m going to mention this. Hopefully, he is familiar. She has also been getting migraines the last for years before she started talking about this. She has all the symptoms and also feels like she’s unreal sometimes which I saw on the initiative website as a symptom. She’s also started to have anxiety at from it. I don’t know how long she’s had it. It really didn’t start to come up in conversation until she started driving. Also, she has trouble focusing on words on a page and floaters. Happy to have found this, but also sad that this might be something she always has to deal with.
I was scared that I might be going blind but this saves my life ;-; thank you
Sameeee
Been there back in 2014 when I literally just woke up to static everywhere I pretty much lost my shit and developed an anxiety disorder because my fear of going blind was so strong
So does it mean we might go blind or no?
@@bratzzbratzz2507 no you will not go blind. Visual snow doesn’t make people go blind. I’ve had it for about 7 years now and you just learn to live with it, it takes some time to adjust but you’ll get there! I can promise you that you won’t go blind:)
@@bratzzbratzz2507 no
Wow, I think I have finally found what it is that I am experiencing. I have been suffering from something like this for many years now, it literally happened to me from one day to the next. I was about 12 years old and remember going outside with family and then coming back into my house and I started to notice these visual hatched line/swirls just moving all throughout the surface of everything. It NEVER went away since and I see it 24/7. I have been to many doctors, ophthalmologist, neurologist and they could never diagnose me, they would simply say it could be some sort of migraine variant. At around 17 I had to start taking anxiety medication because I was constantly afraid and didn't understand what was wrong with my vision. Its been a rough journey, but I'm glad there are people out there who I can relate to and people who actually understand my symptoms and not just dismiss them.
How are you now ?? How old are you ?
Nice man, i recommend using tinted glasses as it helps.
I developed visual snow the same age as you!
I've been having visual snow for over three month, it came after I had a anxiety attack and it have been there every since, it also came with tinnitus as well.
Thanks so much for making this. I was worried about my eyes. Nothing came up on the internet. Now I feel safer
Dear doctor eye health,once I request you to make video on visual snow... thank you
Sorry it took awhile haha
Hello from Australia. Yep this is me, born this way. Remember asking my older sister if she could see all the dots when i was 6ish, she told me not to be silly. Thankyou for the video
I've had it all my life (along with tinnitus), so I've never seen pitch black or heard complete silence, quite poetic. Only within the last 5 years I realised it was a thing and I've been on a journey breaking it down internally. One prevalent aspect I've been orbiting is VS and its causation of depersonalisation disorder (also a recently categorised condition), and the way VS creates this meta layer of disconnect with the real world and leads to this disorder. It's a wild ride, but when you don't know any different it takes time to fully articulate around it.
I am super intrigued by this...now to ask my wife about denationalization disorder...
the same thing happened to me oh my god ive never felt so seen
I absolutely believe it is neurological based. My daughter is on the autism spectrum and has has the visual snow her entire life. NEVER any drugs involved with her or any trauma to her head. She does have flashes in her vision as well if she sits up to fast, and floaters. Thank you for the information provided in this video.
I went to the doctor and nothing is wrong with my eyes , also I couldn't describe it , it made me feel anxious but now I feel better after this video thank you :)♡♡
Can you cure visual snow ??
@@junglenuts9656 idk , I don't think so
@@arabzgirl
Because I know my friend who had it and only saw it in the dark and later on it disappeared
@@junglenuts9656 I see it clearly in the dark but mine doesn't disappear , I've heard doctors said it can't be cured
@@arabzgirl ohh okey but I hope mine will
Yeah, it’s absolutely something I figured what normal, I remember asking my sister if she saw the static and she said yes(she could have it too idk). I definitely agree it’s hard to describe it, looking up at a blue sky or a completely black room It’s amplified. It’s not really something that bothers me, just like my tinnitus I just don’t focus on it, it doesn’t affect me much. As a kid, I used to “connect the dots” and it helped me when I would draw. I didn’t realize that this wasn’t something everyone had until a few years ago.
Thanks for sharing! I know exactly what you mean
Does visual snow get worse overtime
@@DoctorEyeHealth I had pallinopsia. I see everything in front of my eyes. I saw tree. Tree appears in front of my eyes. Is it pallinopsia
@@lolinthechat6988 it doesnt.
I don’t want to diagnose myself but I’ve always noticed, especially in a dark room that my visions staticy like tiny blue and white dots make up everything. It’s also really noticeably when I’m looking at a wall or a sheet of paper. I think I might have a mild case of this because I don’t really notice it during the day or in a lighten room unless I focus on it. But I’ve always noticed it, I even remember asking my mom if she sees dots everywhere but she didn’t know what I was talking about. I just thought it was normal.
EyeAtomic500 I have it too
exactly the same for me! I need glasses and the glasses seem to help me get rid of them. I see them in the day when i focus on something and then at night i see them loads
EyeAtomic500 how are you now?
Wow.. I have tried to explain this for years. The worst part of all is being in the dark for me. I can not sleep in dark. I keep UA-cam on my phone all night long because of it. Thank you for helping me to figure out what i have.
I recently had a big onset of visual snow. 3 months ago I was on anti biotocs for a while and the day I ended i woke up and I noticed colored static on solid colored walls and blank canvases. Entoptic phenomen when looking at the sky, excessive after images when closing eyes or turning off lights and colored static in dark rooms. My initial symptoms had color swirls and light flashes when my eyes were closed but those have gone away somewhat. I have also developed tinnitus which a lot of people also have with VSS. I’ve been in and out of the doctors office and just recently discovered what this was. I left a message and a nurse called back saying it’s beyond my doctors scope? I have never taken any kind of hallucinogenic drugs and I’m very healthy and 38 years old. Luckily when I’m outdoors of there is large amounts of light I don’t see any static unless it’s a solid colored object then it’s very mild. Hard to believe there isn’t much research into this!
Thank you so much for speaking out about this, this video just left me with a good feeling, even if I already knew all this information.
For anyone out there struggling, I suggest you talk to a neurologist or other medical professional about lamictal, it’s an antiepileptic drug that helped me to reduce the static and make it more manageable. Please do not try to take it without speaking to a doctor, of course.
How are you now?
I honestly told my doctor about how things look like “TV sparkles” when I was young and he just said it was because I have low blood pressure what the heck
I've had VS and migrane with aura for ten years now and I just found out about the visual snow after the neurologist told me about it. This video helps to understand the details. Thank you!
One thing I noticed is how happy you seem telling about wich symptoms you experience yourself. I felt that kind of joy too after this exhausting journey of finding out what is wrong with my eyes. But you seem to almost brag about it. Everyone who has a serious vs condition or/and migrane with aura will certainly not enjoy it and wish it would go away more than anything.
When I read it looks like the words are gently vibrating because of my visual snow. It stresses out my eyes and triggers a migraine if I read too much
I started noticing some of these things only after having anxiety
Indeed anxiety worsens the symptoms. Being aware of the condition makes you anxious and feedback to the symptoms. Been there, done that. I got this all of a sudden, had clear vision before. Best you can do is try to lower the anxiety by all means and you'll be better.
Yes
Mee too.
I've always had visual snow and just learned the word for it. Its never been bad enough to affect my functioning but now im wondering if its part of an underlying issue. No one in my family has it
I had it since I was a young kid. I kept saying “I see rain in my vision” and my parents had me go to all kinds of doctors to make sure I didn’t have a brain tumor. No one could figure out what it was but I told a friend about it and years later she found something about it and told me it actually has a name.
When I was a kid I thought I had superpowers and could see all the molecules around me
OMG I think a lot of people have that thought! Me too!
Same! I pretended that to cope with no one taking me seriously.
An optometrist accused me of lying and wasting the NHS's time when I asked about my intense visual snow. Next visit he'd googled it and handed me a stack of printouts before telling me not to come back because it couldn't be treated. Yep, that sucked because I'd gone when I was struggling to read due to its intensity and he didn't believe me.
Same the doctor didn't know what i was talking about. I think visual snow isnt even listed as a medical issue in the UK
Does visual snow get worse overtime I'm scared mine will
last week neuro opthalmologist said its fine may be its viral from flu.I notice from Las Dec.Night when turn off light is see like vibrating soomthing moving,after images 😭😥
Yeah I tried contacting the UK specialists mentioned on the Visual Snow Initiative website. Most the replies were asking for rediculous amounts of money just for consultation. Why have your name on a charity website designed to help people if you're going to charge hundreds just to answer a few questions? My GP was aware of VSS but didn't have specialised knowledge.
I'd have complained to the college. No doctor should ever do that
I have visual snow, and so does my boyfriend and my best friend. Actually me and my best friend were sleeping over when we were about thirteen and she asked me “do you see kind of static like all the time” or something similar. So at like 4 in the morning we sat and researched about visual snow
Its very draining on your mind , everyday thinking you might get blind!!! Thanks for the knowledge !!!
Happy you found the video!
I've had as long as I can remember. Same as you, I tune it out
I have always been incredibly sensitive to light. I remember watching TV as a kid and having to cover my eyes when things got too bright on screen. I remember first describing it to my friends when I was 12, who thought I was crazy. I am 37 now. It's most noticable when looking at plain walls or blue sky or at night, but yeah, ever present. Also was recently diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Itd be great if there was an existing treatment out there for visual snow, but it just my accepted reality now and it doesn't really impair me from any kind of capitalistic contributions, which is the golden measure of whether a health issue warrants effective treatments/cures.
I have an extreme case of VS, Photophobia, Palinopsia, Entoptic phenomenon, and Nyctalopia. It's been really really hard confronting this condition. Especially when I thought I was going blind. My symptoms have not gotten worse but, like I said, it is an extreme case of all these symptoms.
I have all symptoms, im crying as i am typing this , i have it all since i was 6 years old i am now 29 and i was scared to do a research, but since the last 3 years it gets a bit worse at night i had to do a research because i thought i was going blind...I started having floaters but then i realized i also see snow and at the age of 15 till 27 was about the same amount of snow and dark weakness, one day i noticed more floaters and a bit more snow to my field of view ,things are tougher where there is not much light also when is too bright as well , i have also suffered a bit while driving because of the other car lights are blinding me but im really trying to stay calm and fight it !Thank you for sharing all that wonderful information, i really needed to hear all that ! And all people in the comments thank you very much for sharing! Feel free to ask me anything !
Hope you're doing well, I've been dealing with VSS and it's symptoms since February of this year and wanted to say that you aren't alone. I am not here to spread negativity so the best thing I can say is that you need to build a healthy mindset on coping with VSS. To this day I'm still working on it and I noticed that coping with it gets better overtime. If you haven't already, check out visual snow Iniative there is lots of stories of people having this. Like I said, don't be hard on yourself because of VSS and stay strong. I have it to a moderate degree but I don't let it stop me from doing things in life, and so can you
Does VS get worse?
@@olllionyt7940 In rare cases maybe but if you are stressed or anxious it will make it worse, also avoid anything high in caffeine. Over the months for me It hasn't gotten better and it hasn't gotten worse. It seems to be noticeable at night and dim areas
Hey so I’m 17 , I have had a bad experience with a drug when I was about 13, and then I noticed a couple day after I got vision snow and I’ve had it ever since. Even though my case is very mild it still sucks as I read other comments say they’ve went to the eye doctor trying to figure out what’s wrong and them responding with everything is fine. I hope more reacher is done about this, and by Researching it’s really making me want to become an eye doctor. I’m happy I finally got some closure
I’m 17 and have it too, it got a lot worse after I ended up hitting my head but its so fucking annoying
For me, it’s pretty mild, but when it comes to monochrome it’s pretty intense, like staring at a blank wall or the sky is pretty intense.
I started with floaters a few years ago. They never went away but my eyes got used to it. I also had a few episodes of visual migraine. One time I woke up with vertigo, and the doctor told me it was related to my inner ear. I also observe this snow when I look at black surfaces. After watching this video I can connect all the dots 😅. Next time I experience one of these symptoms I won't get so stressed. Thank you for sharing this! 🙏🏻
I believe I have this. It started last year when I got inflammation in my eye. Doctors couldn’t tell me why it happened. Every time I tell my eye doctors she tells me my eyes are normal. Thanks for sharing this video.