Well recently i noticed on one of my facebook photos that innit one of my eyes was shining a sort of silver/white colour obviously somehow caused by the flash of the camera. After some Research it struck me that i may have this cancer named ‘retinoblastoma’ as the symptoms sounded similar, however their were a number of things which troubled me, firstly this is the one and only time my eye has reacted this way to a flash photo being taken so it could be a fluke, and also statistically retinoblastoma occurs over 90% of the time in children between 0 and 5 years old, and im now 18, can anyone shed any light on this please and advice me whether i should visit a GP or eye specialist etc
You should see a doctor first. Don’t barrow trouble until you have to…
It’s called leukocoria, and it’s not specific to Rb (i.e. there are other diseases that cause it). If it’s only in one picture, then you’re probably fine and it was probably a phenomenon called “eyeshine” (you can look it up on Wikipedia). But if you’re unsure see a doctor – you should be seeing an eye doctor on an annual basis anyway.
At your age, the chances of it being retinoblastoma is near to zero. Retinoblastoma is a very aggressive childhood tumor. If this has just occurred in one picture, then it is just down to lighting illusions. There are other far more common causes of this appearance. It can even be something as simple as an uncorrected prescription in that eye.
Best to go to see an optician to have your eyes examined, just to put your mind at rest
What was the colour of your other eye. The RB tuma will show up when the flash of the camera bounces of it, while the other eye will just have the redeye look to it.
Quick easy test, in a darkish room have someone take a flash photo without the redeye reduction setting on the camera.
If the tuma is getting to this stage, you would also be starting to get blurry vision from that eye.
It is unusual for teenagers to develop it, but not unheard off.