It’s like a grey-black spot that floats around as you move your eyeball. I’ve had one my whole life, but now since my transplant I have 3! I’m at my computer (bright background) and it is super distracting. It’s like several games of pong are being playing in my eyes at the same time. Weirdly it all feels like my right eye, but it might be both.
Not that you need yet ANOTHER medical procedure, but I have a friend where it got bad enough that he needed a procedure to correct it. They vacuum out the stuff in there, replaced with saline (basically). Didn’t seem like a big deal - he was up and about the next day.
I have several flaoters in both eyes, but there is one really huge one in my right eye. Your brain usually ignores them but in the case of the big one, it`s just there all the time. It’s from this:
I am being tested for that yearly by my very huggy optomotrist.
It’s a minor eye surgery if caught early. This is why she likes to check a lot. My dad had the surgery and was fine in a week.
I have a few. It’s one of those (surprisingly common) things where I tell my doctor about it and he shrugs and says “you’re over 40.” You know, the greatest hits like “My shoulder will feel better after the cartilage repairs itself right?” “Actually cartilage doesn’t regrow.” And “Now that my calf tear has healed, I can get back to doing heavy squats.” “…Let me tell you about scar tissue.”
I have clouds of them. More so now then I was younger, with a retinal detachment in my left eye and preemptive laser strikes to prevent one from happening in my right eye definitely adding a lot more.
They are quite annoying, although there is some truth that your brain gets better at tuning them out to a degree over time. I would love to get them removed but one of the risks of the procedure is retinal detachment, so given my history that just isn’t going to happen. :)
Yep, common in “old age”. I have a few. I don’t always notice them, usually it’s when I’m in a bright space with a very light-colored background.
Interestingly, when I had heart surgery to repair an aortic aneurysm 13 years ago, I had this weird thing happen where a couple of days after my surgery, I would blink and see these shapes everywhere that resembled Greek. They would last about a second or so and then “fade out”, but occurred with every blink!
My surgeon said it was common to see spots after having been under anesthesia for so long, and to give it a few weeks. Sure enough, they were gone within two weeks, with the effect lessening each day. Why the shapes resembled some sort of alphabet, and specifically, something that resembled the Greek alphabet, is a mystery. I never mentioned that peculiar detail to my surgeon who is… Greek!
I’ve got floaters in the same eye that I recently began developing a cataract. Too early to do anything about either of them, I’m told, but yeah, it’s weird. Welcome to getting old.
I think I’ve had them most of my life. I notice them if I decide to look for them, but I guess I’ve just managed over time to just kinda tune them out.
Yes, this is exactly when I notice them (though dark room).
Eye doctor told me your brain mostly filters them out too.
I have one… my eye doctor said it’s just part of getting old.
Oh, hey! Both of my brothers nearly died this past year due to aortic aneurysms. My older brother was having all kinds of trouble with shortness of breath and that sort of thing when they discovered his, and it dissected during observation so he was rushed to surgery. The surgeon thought there might be a a connective tissue disorder which are usually genetic so my younger brother and I went to go get checked and younger bro ended up with his chest open for a few days as he had a graft as his aorta fell apart.
So far my aorta looks to be okay, but I do wonder if the retinal detachment I had in my 20s was related to a similar underlying connective tissue disorder, just affecting a different part of my body or something?
In any case, glad to see you kicking butt 13 years after your surgery. :)
Easiest way to check is to look at the clear/monochrome cloudy sky (not the sun!) and look to the edge of vision and back to center quickly. Mine seem to have a lag, like an ice cube in a cup of water that you rotate. It’s mostly one of those getting older, “Now what the fuck is this?!” things.
Hah! Yeah, if I look down then quickly look up, it’s basically like shaking a snow globe as all the junk 'settles" in my vision.
Same here. When I was a kid, I used to play games with them. Like when we were driving on a big boring road trip, I’d jerk my eyes so that the floaters would be near the top of my vision, and then they’d slowly float down towards the road that I was looking out towards and I’d see if they’d land on the road or get run over by oncoming traffic.
I have had them mostly when my thyroid was off…when my thyroid is good, my eyes are usually good.
Thanks! 13 years later, and I feel good as 2nd hand! :) Or maybe I just feel like every other 50+ year old, haha! But haven’t had any issues since. Obviously, need to avoid certain things, like contact sports, lifting heavy weight, and of course stress.
Retinal detachment and Aortic aneurysms (in younger adults) tend to occur with Marfans’ Syndrome (which is what I have).
You may want to get a genetic test or see if you have more than a few of the markers: very long limbs/fingers, such that your total arm span is greater than your height; crowded teeth; high-arched palate; abnormal gaps between fingers or toes; double jointed or extraordinarily flexible thumb/fingers; small/thin wrists for a male; eye issues including the aforementioned retinal detachment.
Good news for you is aortic aneurysms don’t happen overnight. Some people unknowingly have them and they never get to bursting point. Some take medication to ensure they don’t. So, make sure you get your heart checked at least every year or two.
If you’ve seen the horror movie Mama, you’ve seen this actor who has a severe case of Marfans - this actually led to him getting parts playing “creatures” of sorts:
Mine is a much milder case (well, aside from that aneurysm bit!) - I didn’t know I had this until my 30s, while this poor guy has had a bunch of surgeries since childhood.
You need to get your eyes checked. The floaters are bit of the retina detaching with age. In some cases, it leads to retinal detachment, which is a whole case of unpleasant.
If caught early, You get very minor laser eye surgery (a few drops in your eye, some time with a laser to cauterise and avoid the detached bits drag out the rest of the retina and detach it) and you have greatly reduced the risk if detachment.
Do not ignore them
I am in my 50ies. Optometrist spotted the holes in my retina 3 months back, sent me for a check up at the hospital in the afternoon and I was operated the same day. Out 20’ later with no side effects.
The doctor who operated on me and the one who did the post op check up 2 weeks after both stressed those should not be ignored.
See this too: BBC Wales’ Lucy Owen reveals her eyesight was ‘saved’ after routine check-up found she had detached retinas | The Independent
Fortunately, retinal detachments are rare but if you notice:
- a sudden increase in floaters, particularly if you also notice flashing lights
- a new, large, floater
- a change in floaters or flashing lights after you have had a direct blow to your eye or head
- a shadow or cobweb spreading across the vision of one of your eyes.
You should contact your optometrist as soon as possible. If you can’t contact your optometrist, you should get urgent attention, ideally from an eye casualty department at the hospital. If you cannot get to an eye casualty you should go to a hospital A&E department.