Floaters What Are They and What Can Be Done About Them?

My eyes have always been bad...I mean, if one eye is 250/20 and the other is 300/20 that's bad. The glasses have been on my face since I was eleven and now they are trifocals. OKAY I can live with that.

But what's up with these little amoeba looking things floating down from the top of my eyes to the bottom? It's like this weird movie screen playing in my eyesight all the time and very distracting; I try to look at the dang things straight on and they disappear like the wee folk! If I am tired or haven't slept well it gets worse. If I am in front of the computer all day at work you can bet it will interfere with me watching Jethro and Duckie on NCIS and please that is like sacrilege!!!!

So I decided it was time I looked into this thing and the Mayo Clinic didn't let me down. It had all the information I needed on the eye and the retina and the vitreous fluid and the floaters.

Only problem was the number one cause.

Yep. Being over 50 years of age!

Now I ask you, is that right? I don't think that is even polite much less being politically correct!

I may have to write a letter!

So your eyes have this lovely jelly surrounding them and inside of them and it protects your eyes and keeps them protected. The older you get, this jelly like substance, called vitreous humor loses its jelly like substance and turns into more of a liquid. So it doesn't stick as well as it used to, to your retina, it starts to pull away from the retina itself.

The collagen that used to be a part of the jelly like substance then starts to stick to each other; like little strings or fibers inside your eyes.

Your retina, the camera of your eye, sees these strings or fibers as shadows and the retina throws them up onto your movie screen; your eyesight. Problem is, your vitreous humor is always moving, it is a liquid after all, so your eyes perceive them as drifting slowly from the top to the bottom of your movie screen.

The floaters are not always the same from one person to another. Mine are always little stick like things or fat like an amoeba. Hubbies are dots and his move sideways! Mine always move top to bottom.

Are they harmful? No. However, if you start to see flashes of light that could a sign of a detached retina and should be evaluated immediately! If the amount of floaters actually get in the way and your vision is affected (not just a distraction but actually blocking out parts of your vision) that also needs an immediate trip to the Opthalmologist! The most important thing to remember is they will NOT cause any pain!

So, all the more reason to be aware of the symptoms of WHEN to see the physician!

The site on Mayo said they are readily seen if you are looking at a blue or a white wall...I haven't noticed that. Like I said, mine happen when I am tired, stressed or have been in front of my computer for too many hours straight. But then, a nurses work is never done and audits are never-ending aren't they?

And the cause, well we already went over that, let's not drag it out shall we? Geez!

What will happen when you go to see the opthalmologist? He or she will have to dilate your eyes...I know that's the worst part...they say it goes away after 20 minutes; like yeah. Bring your darkest eyeglasses and your seeing eye dog is all I have to tell you!

Just kidding!
Well, about the seeing eye dog anyway.

That will be that. Most people never require anything at all as far as treatment. Sometimes the liquid, the vitreous humor is extracted but this is rare and carries the increased risk of cataracts. Sometimes laser surgery is done, but again, the same risks apply. The one time that treatment is done is if there is a sudden appearance of many floaters, this could mean there has been a retinal tear or detachment and that is an emergency.

OK.

Here it is, exactly as my Aunt Joyce got it from HER eye doctor when she kept pestering him to "DO SOMETHING ABOUT THEM!"

He told her, "Well, Mrs. Lynch, if they bother you that much you can always start naming them!"