Visual Snow in Left Eye

---

I've had Visual Snow in my left eye my entire life, though I only recently discovered what it was called. It is always present, day and night, and leaves me unable to read out of the affected eye (unless the font is really big, in which case I can very slowly put together sentences).

I would describe my VS as though I'm looking through an out-of-tune tv station, with constant static. Colors also appear more polarized and everything is a shade darker than my unaffected eye.

As a child I never sought medical attention for my condition because I never realized anything was wrong. In my mind I always assumed 'I can write well with my right hand, but not with my left, so I can see well with my right eye and not with my left'. Seemed logical! My right eye had near perfect vision, so I tended to subconsciously block out any feedback from the left side. All the compensation has since put a strain on my right eye so I now wear glasses.

At the optometrist I did inquire about it once as a teenager. I explained it exactly as I did above, like looking through a static tv station. He did some testing and saw nothing out of the ordinary so my concerns were dismissed. I felt foolish for bringing it up and never mentioned it again. (I've since learned that it may be more of a neurological symptom)

Nothing seems to make it better or worse, and I'm thankful I only experience VS in one of my eyes (I would be completely debilitated if it were affecting me in both). I have no other existing conditions, though I do carry a lot of anxiety.

Knowing that I'm not alone and that there is active VS research happening gives me hope that someday this will be medically recognized, and maybe even cured.

Hopefully this information is helpful, if anyone has questions about my experiences with VS feel free to get in touch.