Broadband Tech > General Questions > Eye Floaters-Anyone had or have them?

reply to sailor

Re: Eye Floaters-Anyone had or have them?

reply to jabarnut

reply to jabarnut
Most of the information in this thread is correct.

If you saw an optometrist, I would not trust his/her opinion about your floaters. Yours are clearly quite bad and affecting quality of life. You definitely need to see an ophthalmologist. Get a referral from your primary care physician if you have one. Ophthalmologists normally do not see patients without a referral.

As we age, the vitreous tends to pull away from the retina. It is called "Posterior Vitreous Detachment" or PVD. This detachment can cause mild trauma and bleeding which result in floaters of varying sizes, shapes and densities. It also may result in flashes of light in the eye when it is dark, or you close your eyes. The bad news, is that if all you have is PVD, there is nothing you can reasonably do about it (more on this below). Most patients find that the floaters tend to dissolve eventually, although they may be replaced by new ones.

The problem is that these same symptoms can be signs of more serious eye problems such as retinal detachment (not to be confused with vitreous detachment). In retinal detachment, the back of the retina becomes detached from the wall of the eye. If untreated, it will lead to blindness.

So a good ophthalmologist will recommend that you always come in to get checked out if the floaters get worse. Only an ophthalmologist can reliably diagnose a retinal detachment or a retinal tear. Do not trust your optometrist.

It is true that a vitrectomy will get rid of those floaters, but it is a risky procedure and is normally recommended only if necessary to correct more serious problems such as retinal detachment, epiretinal membrane, or persistent vitreous retinopathy causing you to have a significantly impaired score on a vision test. A vitrectomy will also invariably result in a cataract in the eye in which the surgery was performed, so there will be not just one, but two surgeries. A second surgery is needed to replace the lens.

If your ophthalmologist thinks a vitrectomy is medically necessary, he/she will refer you to a retinal surgeon. It's very important that detached retinas be treated as soon as possible. The longer you wait, the less likely they will be able to save your vision.

I don't mean to be alarmist, but it sounds from your description that you may not have an actual retinal detachment, but you may have a retinal tear. These need to be treated. If they are minor, a retinal specialist can repair them in the office with a laser. If not treated, they can get worse and may lead to a retinal detachment.

Please see a good ophthalmologist soon.

reply to jabarnut
I had bright spots in my left eye some years ago. Went to the eye doctor, he did some tests and it turns out I have ocular histoplasmosis. It's caused by a fungal infection from bird poop in dirt. AKA valley fever, apparently this is prevalent in the central US only. I lived in ohio and kentucky for around 4 years.

I had to go to a specialist to confirm diagnosis, he said there was no cure and if I noticed it happen again to go to the eye doctor immediatly and they could do something while its happening.
It has done macular degeneration and now where the bright spots were, I have dark spiders.
Good luck to you and definitly go to see the eye doctor.
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Let them eat FIBER!

reply to jabarnut
I've had this problem for about 3 years now. I'm 33 years old. Needless to say it really freaked me out too. I have rather long floaters in both eyes. As someone mentioned, mine look like a hair under a microscope. They don't really float across my vision, but parts of it will change position depending on which direction I am looking (kind of like a tail that shifts position). I mentioned this to my eye Doc as well and he stated pretty much what everyone on here has said. That as we age these develop and unless you are seeing the bright flashes, it most likely isn't anything to worry about. I have also heard that these floaters can be a symptom of diabetes. Has anyone else heard this?

I agree with you jabarnut, I don't know how anyone can get used to these. They annoy me to no end.
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Don't worry, scro. There are plenty of 'tards out there living really kick-ass lives.

Mine always get worse after reading this thread.

hypochondriac much? Ha ha!

The power of suggestion...

reply to jabarnut
While I realize this thread is over a couple of weeks old now, I felt the need to bring it back for a moment.
I want to sincerely thank those of you (and in particular jmorlan for the excellent information in his post above), for suggesting I go see an Ophthalmologist, rather than trust what my Optometrist was telling me.
Well, me being me, I put it off longer than I should have, but just now (and I'm talking only a couple of hours ago), got back from a complete examination by a recommended Ophthalmologist.
Fact of the matter is, I have a retinal tear, and probably have had one since I started this thread..(or maybe longer).
I'm headed to a different place first thing tomorrow morning so they can repair it with a Laser. At least I hope they can and will.
He wanted to get me there right away today, but I just couldn't get there (and have a ride home, which he said I'll need), until tomorrow morning. I imagine I can wait one more day, if I've waited this long already. (The Dr said that would be ok as well, as long as I get there in the morning)

At any rate, as several mentioned, if you ever have something like this come on suddenly like mine did, go to a specialist to be sure.
Don't be a dummy like me and figure you'll just have to get used to it.
Had I believed that for too much longer, I may have ended up blind in one eye.
Thanks again for the input.
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I had a life once.....now I have a Computer and a Modem.

Good for you that you went to see a Ophthalmologist ( that is what my eye doc is )

And best of everything to you tomorrow....just relax the best you can and all will be fine in no time at all.

And do post back when you can to let us know how it all went with you..

Good luck man!

Thanks, sailor. I'm all freaked out at the moment and feel like a fool to have waited so long, but hopefully all will go well tomorrow.
Think I'm signing off for the night. Talk to you soon.
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I had a life once.....now I have a Computer and a Modem.

reply to jabarnut
Good thing you went, wait a tic I said ophthalmologist . It wasn't a issue of being a dummy. The optometrist should have referred you to the ophthalmologist. It seem it was beyond their scope of expertise. Anyway you are getting it repaired and that's what matters.

reply to jabarnut

Speedy Recovery

reply to jabarnut

Re: Eye Floaters-Anyone had or have them?

quote:

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"Wow! Cool! I've always wanted to see if I can learn how to operate all this stuff" lol!

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reply to jabarnut
I have them. They suck. (They are so common, my guess is that most of the 94 people who posted here, have them as well.)

After a while, your brain's perception compensates for them, and you won't see them anymore.

You may not notice some of them but you always see them.

At one time, there was a 50/50 chance the equipment used in anyone's eye surgery was designed by me. Not true anymore but I know the basic design I used many years ago is still being produced by my former employer.

reply to jabarnut
So, I thought about the fact that I got one nasty floater a little over a year ago. It was a long thread right through the middle of my vision. The next day it broke apart, wrapped around itself and gave me three sperm-like things for me to look at.

Went to the optometrist who said the same thing, those are big but everything looks OK, just come back in if things get worse. I've had some floaters for many years so I was wondering if maybe this new one would qualify as "things got worse". After reading these posts, I thought I'd get it looked at by an opthamologist.

My doctor also did my lasik 10 years ago and was a pioneer in that area but he didn't do anything different than what my optometrist did and said the same thing. "Yep. You've got some big ones there." But it's good to get a second opinion.

What's cool was I mentioned I designed a computer system for eye surgery many years ago and he was familiar with it, calling it one of the best machines he ever had. I'm so proud.