Visual Snow Syndrome

 

Hi all today we are having a look at something called Visual snow syndrome. This isn’t something I had heard off until recently. My grandchild Sam was telling me about it as apparently Sam has this.

Visual snow syndrome is an uncommon neurological condition in which the primary symptom is that affected individuals see persistent flickering white, black, transparent, or coloured dots across the whole visual field. Other common symptoms are palinopsia, enhanced entoptic phenomena, photophobia, and tension headaches.

It can also be referred to as Persistent positive visual phenomenon, visual static or aeropsia.

The cause seems to remain unclear, but it is believed to be due to a problem with how your brain processes visual images. The flickering tiny dots associated with the condition are typically black and white, but they can be flashing, colored, or even transparent.

It is not a disease that will just go away on its own. The visual disturbances are unlikely to just get better without treatment, which typically involves medications. The most regularly used medications for visual snow syndrome are antiepileptic and antidepressant medications.

Over time the condition may worsen and could become debilitating to the suffer at some point, although not a mental health condition over time someone with the condition may experience depression.

For many people, visual snow syndrome is a chronic condition, thankfully they will not go blind due to it. However, many suffers may also have migraines and anxiety.

People with visual snow may experience all or only a few symptoms, including light sensitivity and tinnitus. These symptoms range in severity from mild to debilitating. Living with this condition is a different experience for everyone.

Sam being young thought for a long time that they way he saw things was just the normal way and is for the large part kind of use to it.

Symptoms commonly appear during the late teenage years and early adulthood. In one study the mean age of onset of symptoms was 21 years old but it can occur at any age, in either gender, or in any race.