Thread Spinoff: Objects float in my vision

[Sdashiki]

this is an offshoot of this thread (http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=180565) where I was reading through the thread and came across some people describing what I notice, especially when I am at work (where I post 90%) in front of this glowing CRT.

I have floating stuff in front of my vision, have had it for years, maybe even longer I just am not sure.

It basically looks like I have dust or particles between my eyeball and my contact lenses, but when I am not wearing my contacts, they are still there.

Tiny out of focus things that when I look one way or the next they follow, but not directly, its like you can tell they are in some sort of fluid the way they move about.

I dont mind it so much as it is annoying to catch a glimpse of something moving through my vision and then focus on it only to not be able to touch it or move it or do anything.

What is going on here and am I screwed in the long run in terms of my vision?

[Mr. Durden]

I've got the exact same thing. I think they are called "floaters" (I'm sure thats not the technical term). From what I've heard, they are pretty much harmless. I'm no doctor, though. Anyone else have thoughts?

[Sdashiki]

harmless is a relative term.

sometimes, especially in front of a bright white monitor etc, its like there is something blurring the spot where the floaters are so I have to move my focus and it moves away.

annoying and I would think eventually detrimental or at least degradative.

[someguy]

Harmless.

Everyone has them, not everyone notices them. I do, more so when I am bored and have nothing better to look at.

[Rob Bush]

As your eyes age, you occationally get pieces that break off and float around. You can't focus on them, as they are inside your eye, but they cause blur and distortion at times. There is very little you can do about it, and they actually come and go. You will have more problems if you are diabetic, so don't become diabetic.

Mine were bothersome 10 years ago, but I haven't really noticed any in perhaps 5 years, so there is hope.

[Applespider]

Go and speak to your optician/optometrist.

While everyone has these, there can be problems associated with them when wearing contact lenses which don't get enough oxygen to your eyes or which you wear for a long time. These can lead to the veins surround your eyes growing which can looks like more of these 'floaters'.

[SamIchi]

Hmm, I've never experienced anythin like that, but sometimes I get like a bunch of "sparkles" around my field of vision. It's really rare but when it happens I just say OOooo! Then it goes away. It's like electricity goes around my eyes or sumthin' I dunno.

[Oryan]

I have one too, but I only notice it when I'm looking at something bright or looking up at the sky. It doesn't ever bother me during day-to-day life. One plus is that it can provide long periods of entertainment by trying to focus on it when I'm extremely bored. :)

[macmelba]

Hmmm, been reading this site for years without bothering to register or post, but your I caught your post title in the corner of my eye, appropriately.

I saw a doctor 10 years ago with precisely your symptoms. It was indeed a floater, albeit a slightly larger than average one. They're small clumps of cells which have sloughed off the interior lining of the eye, and float about between the retina and the lens. They are indeed harmless, with one caveat: In rare cases, usually following some trauma (eg, car crash), they can be a sign of a detatched retina, which is more serious.

NB. I'm not a doctor. If you have serious concerns you should see a Doctor.

For what its worth, 10 years later, I still have the occaisional floater, which doesn't really bother me at all, and my eyesight is otherwise perfect.

[Lau]

Yeah, I've got loads of these. :( I've always had a couple, and then a couple of years back I suddenly got quite a few, and one in particular was quite large. I still have it (and them). It is very annoying. I wear glasses, but have never tried contacts.

At the time, I did nothing about it, but when I had an eye test last year I asked my optician and she said that they're nothing to worry about unless you suddenly get loads of them. By then it had been 4 or 5 years since I got them, so I wasn't too bothered.

Oddly, I got them at the same time as I first got the weird migrane thing as mentioned in the other thread, but I don't think they're related necessarily. At the time I was drinking too much, smoking, not sleeping much, and generally not looking after myself, so that may well have been the cause. It's very irritating to think I'm stuck with them for life though.

[clayj]

Hmm, I've never experienced anythin like that, but sometimes I get like a bunch of "sparkles" around my field of vision. It's really rare but when it happens I just say OOooo! Then it goes away. It's like electricity goes around my eyes or sumthin' I dunno.I used to get those every so often... maybe once a month. Never did figure out what caused them to appear, but for me they were accompanied by an actual physical sensation of tingling. Been a while since it's happened, though.

[Josh]

I see things that are in odd, transparent-like shapes, looking almost as microorganisms look under a microscope.

lol it seriously looks like I am seeing the microscropic organisms that are on my eye.

Doesn't happen all the time, and when I see them, they seem to "drift" in some direction. The drift increases as I move my eye more to follow it. If I try my hardest not to follow it, the drift doesn't occur.

It's not an object I can focus on either, its like I see 'past' or through it.

I'm not sure if it's from my contacts or not, since I don't go without them often enough for it to be likely to occur then.

[clayj]

I see things that are in odd, transparent-like shapes, looking almost as microorganisms look under a microscope.

lol it seriously looks like I am seeing the microscropic organisms that are on my eye.

Doesn't happen all the time, and when I see them, they seem to "drift" in some direction. The drift increases as I move my eye more to follow it. If I try my hardest not to follow it, the drift doesn't occur.

It's not an object I can focus on either, its like I see 'past' or through it.

I'm not sure if it's from my contacts or not, since I don't go without them often enough for it to be likely to occur then.You're exactly right. Those are microorganisms and dust particles floating on the surface of your cornea.

[Josh]

^ I can see microorganisms that are on my eye?

Strangely...that is the coolest news I've heard all day.

It never really bothered me, and I always thought it was interesting, but it just got a lot more interesting LOL

[Cfg5]

I've had these too, but I only saw/noticed them when I was looking under a microscope in biology.

[clayj]

^ I can see microorganisms that are on my eye?

Strangely...that is the coolest news I've heard all day.

It never really bothered me, and I always thought it was interesting, but it just got a lot more interesting LOLBecause they're SO close to your lens and your retina, they're usually SO out-of-focus that you see right through/past them... kinda how you can see through drops of rain on your car's windshield when you're driving, by focusing around them. Usually, to see the things floating on your eyes, you have to close your eyes (so that there's nothing else for you to see) in a bright environment (so that there's some light penetrating your eyelids).

[Jaffa Cake]

I get a load of these, too. They're perfectly normal and more obvious if the light is bright (such as on a sunny day or if you're in front of a bright monitor). Apparently I'm more prone to them due to the fact that I'm very, very short-sighted – it's something to do with my eyes being an odd shape meaning that I get more debris floating off in there, according to my optician. I guess being diabetic doesn't exactly help with this problem, either.

They're generally harmless, although as others have mentioned if you get a load of them suddenly appearing it can be a warning that your retina is about to detach, which obviously requires urgent medical attention. My optician told me it's pretty obvious if there's a serious problem, though – apparently if you're in the detached retina stage of things it's like looking through a snow storm in that eye, so I wouldn't go worrying too much if I was you. Just mention them to your optician the next time you pay him a visit.

[Lord Blackadder]

A good thread.

I've noticed these from the time I was a kindergardener. I wear contacts now (have since I was 12), and frankly I wear them too often for my health. The number of "floaters" hasn't really changed much over the years though.

I always wondered what they were, or if they were anything at all!

[ibook30]

Go and speak to your optician/optometrist.

While everyone has these, there can be problems associated with them when wearing contact lenses which don't get enough oxygen to your eyes or which you wear for a long time. These can lead to the veins surround your eyes growing which can looks like more of these 'floaters'.

Good advice- I went to my optometrist (actually I don;t have one, so I borrowed one) and he checked me out, explained inmy case, it;s likely I am seeing floating protein strains that have broken off. He did wnat to take a good look though, becuase it can be an early sign of other problems. But as everyone else has said, he explained everyone gets them, very - very - very few people actually have a problem.

I thought for sure it was a warning sign that I was loosing my mind. First I see floaty shapes, then leprochauns start telling me to sharpen the axe....

[atszyman]

I just want to thank the original poster and the participants in this thread. I do have these floaters occasionally and normally I can quickly adjust my focus around them so they don't bother me. However reading about them in this thread caused me to keep re-focusing on them so now I keep seeing them and can't seem to break the cycle.... kind of like when you think about breathing, you can't seem to let autonomy take over until you get sufficiently distracted.

[harveypooka]

Muad'ib would buy you Telixian eyes...is it Telixian? They're not real anyway.

[Sdashiki]

...and then a tiny cow pops out from behind a bush and says:

"Aw no boiy, thats 5 to 10!":eek:

[clayj]

Muad'ib would buy you Telixian eyes...is it Telixian? They're not real anyway.Muad'dib would buy you Tleilaxu eyes. ;)

[thedude110]

Yeah, I've got loads of these. :( I've always had a couple, and then a couple of years back I suddenly got quite a few, and one in particular was quite large. I still have it (and them). It is very annoying. I wear glasses, but have never tried contacts.



Same exact story here. When I was a kid and bored, I used to chase these things with my eyes -- my floaters always seemed a pace ahead of where my eyes were looking, and it passed the time.

Personally, I think they're pretty cool.

A simulation, for those of you uncool enough to not have floaters. Mine look much lighter, and I can generally only see them when I look for them (though I guess they do sometimes intrude) ...

http://www.eye-floaters.com/images/floaters_example.jpg

[muffinman]

my optomotrist said that if i see more than 30 of those at any given moment, i should go to the optomotrist or hospital as quickly as possible.

[rendezvouscp]

Usually, to see the things floating on your eyes, you have to close your eyes (so that there's nothing else for you to see) in a bright environment (so that there's some light penetrating your eyelids).

I leaned in to my Cinema Display, opened my eyes wide, and started looking around. Sure enough, there were black strands that moved when I changed where I was looking. I never see them normally, but under just the right conditions...

Crazy.
-Chasen

[Leareth]

I have had so many floaters in my eyes that they were blocking about 1/5 of my normal vision, it got so bad that I had the fluid in my eyes sucked out end replaced with nice clean liquid, but now they are back ( my retinas are slowly peeling off as pieces die with every migraine) .
One of my aquaitances who is a diabetic had the same thing, he actually found out he was a diabatic because of the problems he was having with his eyes.
In 99/100 people they may be harmless but in 1/100 it could mean alot more. :cool:

[Abulia]

I've had them all my life (35) and asked my eye doctor about them in junior high school. Mostly harmless as others have said and, to my knowledge, there's no way to treat or get rid of. :(

I'm so used to them now that I mostly ignore them, but when I think about them (like when reading this thread) they come back in force and almost seem to overwhelm my vision. :mad:

If they ever had/have a treatment for this I would seriously consider it.

[sterlingb]

Harmless,

I'm 16 years old now, but I remember on a hot sunny summers day,when i was like 13, some thing was in my eye!!! At first i though it was like a vine in my eye that i could see but when I was 15 I got my dad to take me to an optometrist and he called it a floater(there was nothing he could do)..."Thanks doc." But when I'm in school looking around the classroom or looking a a sheet of paper, IT DRIVES ME NUTS!!!! If anyone knows a effective way to somehow make it not such a problem, PLEASE email me at sterlingbeason@gmail.com!!!!
Thanks for listening :)

[eldy]

I love it when I see floaters. It happens very rarely though. :(

You can play a game and try to keep 'em in your field of vision by quickly moving your eyes. :)

[Marble]

In middle school, the teachers always used to worry about me because I would stare at a white wall in order to see the floaters in my eye. Then they would ask me what I was doing. I don't think I knew at the time, but "I see shapes" probably wasn't the best answer.

[raggedjimmi]

I've had these most of my life. Opticians and docs say its nothing to worry about but it does get annoying. Makes reading very difficult.

[arkitect]

You can play a game and try to keep 'em in your field of vision by quickly moving your eyes. :)

I thought I was the only one.
:o

I have a tiny one that floats about in my right eye… in fact if you look closely at my avatar…
;)

[iJohnHenry]

Mmmm, a resurrection.

I got my first one, that I noticed, while in a drug store. I though a giant bug was attacking my right eye. Man, did I ever flinch.

Since then I have them in both eyes now.

My current optometrist, when examining my eyes, blinked & shifted around, and I said "That is probably a floater". She said it was one of hers that was causing her the problem, not mine. :p

[Sdashiki]

Yea, once Family Guy did a quick bit about it...I realized its nothing to be worried about.

:cool:

its only 3yrs later, thanks for checking up on me though!? ;)

[raggedjimmi]

Harmless,

I'm 16 years old now, but I remember on a hot sunny summers day,when i was like 13, some thing was in my eye!!! At first i though it was like a vine in my eye that i could see but when I was 15 I got my dad to take me to an optometrist and he called it a floater(there was nothing he could do)..."Thanks doc." But when I'm in school looking around the classroom or looking a a sheet of paper, IT DRIVES ME NUTS!!!! If anyone knows a effective way to somehow make it not such a problem, PLEASE email me at sterlingbeason@gmail.com!!!!
Thanks for listening :)

Btw I'd worry about your inbox taking on a whole new chopped meat flavoured.

[MBX]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBZOCLM9vB8

[wvuwhat]

I was watching Family Guy and they did one of their jokes on this. You know, after they say something, they cut to something else.

[Rosesc]

Wow, I'm glad I stumbled onto this thread. I never knew about floaters until I read about it on here. I was getting worried, because whenever I looked out my window or at some whitish/bright-light colored object, I would see debris floating in my eyes. Too bad floaters can't be removed.

Once, in Biology class, I looked into a microscope and could actually see microorganisms on my eyes. Right down to the nuclei. Does anyone know how to get rid of those?!?!

I also get the sparkly thing, too. White or silver, I'm not sure, but it moves around in all sorts of directions, while never to the center of my vision (it makes its way towards there and just disappears). It also reminds me of electricity. The first time I got it was when I was riding a bike around my neighborhood a few years back. At first I thought it was cool (really pretty, too), but now I'm starting to worry about it. Could it be a lack of oxygen?! :confused: :confused: :confused:

For the record, I'm near sighted & have astigmatism. I see objects that are up close better.

[obeygiant]

Peter Griffin explains floaters. youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBZOCLM9vB8)