eye floaters - learn to live with it?

[Jack_Pine]

I have them also, you get used to them eventually.

Generally agree but I occasionally grab for that nat flying around when there really isn't one.

 

[blenhardt]

I've also had floaters since my early 30's. The only procedure the doc said was feasible was to drain the fluid, remove the floaters and replace the fluid. There's a 20-30% risk of ending up with a detached retina. I'll stick with the relatively minor annoyance thank you very much.

Yes, that is one way to remove floaters from the eye. I had a detached retina, doc removed fluid, filled partly with gas and did laser tacking. Didn't work so had surgery. So, as others have said just live with it. I had no choice since i had a detached retina first.

 

[bssc]

A twist on that, I had a detached retina and the laser tacking worked. Bonus was that the floaters in my left eye are gone.

 

[Car-Guy]

Add me to the list of those with eye floaters. I started noticing them about 2 to 3 years ago, in both eyes. Initially, (first ~6 mos) they seem to be getting worse but now (2+ yrs later) they seemed to have "almost" completely disappeared. (or I guess I just don't notice them anymore)

 

[TromboneAl]

Everybody has them. Most people don't noticed them. Often someone who has some unrelated vision problem starts noticing them.

I remember seeing them in college, lying on my back and looking at the sky.

I was taught that they are remnants of the temporary hyaloid artery.

But here's something I can contribute: When one of my floaters is in my direct line of vision when I'm reading, and it happens a lot, I can flick my eyes up and down, it shifts and drifts away for a while.

 

[Revlefty]

Me, too.

I went to the optometrist about my floaters and they said they had them, too!
But it was really scary the first time they appeared and I had no idea what they were.

 

[Walt34]

On the other hand I had a friend dog around and wait too long. By time he got to the ER it was too late as he was having a massive heart attack. Better to err on the safe side.

I knew one who did that too. He retired, moved with wife to Colorado, three years later had all the classic heart attack symptoms but ignored them. He died the next day.

Best to go to the ER and make sure.

 

[tmm99]

I developed a floater over 10 years ago. I thought it was a gnat flying around, and I tried to catch it and realized I couldn't. A day later, I realized I could see crescent moon shaped flashes of blue light in my vision. I went to a doctor and the doctor said I had a tiny tear (or maybe he said I could develop a tear? I cannot remember, but the first doctor got me a bit scared). He made me watch a video about black curtains showing up in my vision if my retina was starting to detach. I guess they can fix detached retina fairly easily with laser, but I was supposed to come right away if anything weird like that was happening because time was of the essence. He also told me not to jump up and down and not to lift anything over 20lbs (or was it 25lbs?) and to come back in 3 weeks. Then another 3 weeks and another 3 weeks... There was no change in my condition. I quit going back to the doctor after the 3rd visit when he said I could start jumping again and can lift heavy things. I had my eyes dilated and checked again just this year because I started seeing more floaters (I got a volleyball hit my eye and I started noticing floaters after that, but as Al said, they probably had been there all along.) The only thing the doctor saw was age related floaters with no tear. I guess I am good for now.

 

[explanade]

I've had them all my life, when I was a kid.

I've learned to ignore them for the most part.

 

[eytonxav]

I would say that eye rubbing can be one of the causes of floaters, so good to abstain from that if you do it.

 

[mickeyd]

Eye-floaters, Tinnitus (ringing in ears) got um both. Will be constant companions until...

You get used to them and they go away...sorta.