I thought it was worms in my eyes too. I remember seeing them looking up at the sky when I was real young but theyāve gotten worse as Iāve gotten older.
I don't know what the fuck I thought they were. I actually don't think I thought they were anything until someone said something. I guess I just assumed it was normal and moved on.
Which is weird. If it happened now, I'd probably think I was dying.
I thought it was normal for everyone. One day in middle school biology we started learning about parasites, my teacher started showing us pictures. One was an eye parasite. This may be where my health anxiety started.
I had a psychology teacher in high school that would teach and if she dropped her pen she would actually have to say out loud that she dropped it and had to pick it up.
I once saw a guy optometrist when my usual optometrist wasnāt available. Guy sat me down and asked me basic questions like if I was feeling ok and if my eyes were bothering me at all. Then it got weird. He asked me if I had there before and I said yes. He didnāt see my chart on the desk so he started talking to himself out loud about how I had never been there and he needed to make me a chart. I said that I had been there but he was in his own private world so he didnāt hear me. He gets up to go get me a chart when he sees mine on his chair - he placed it there and sat on it. So he talks to himself saying that I did have a chart and I should have said that I did. I talked louder saying I told him twice that I had a chart - never acknowledged what I saidā¦
I feel like people donāt know what floaters actually are. Iām not saying this is the case for you, but some commenters below you and many people Iāve heard describing their āfloatersā are actually describing white blood cells. Those little, mostly clear, things you can see moving in your vision, especially when you stair into a bright sky are NOT floaters. Theyāre white blood cells. Yes, everyone has those and Iāve noticed them since I was a child as well. After getting Covid and developing long covid, along with many other much more serious and debilitating symptoms, Iāve developed a lot of random eye issues, including floaters. They are like greyed out spots in my vision. Theyāre very annoying and always present (my brain has now learned to ignore them sometimes, but they are still always present). They āget in the wayā when Iām trying to read, especially back when I could still work they were always in my way and very irritating.
Yes, that sounds like white blood cells to me. A lot of images online depicting āfloatersā are actually depicting these white blood cells (blue field entoptic phenomenon), which is causing a LOT of confusion. Especially if you mostly only see them when looking at the sky, those are your white blood cells. Iāve seen those in my eye - just like you described, worm shaped things with a grey outline, since I was a kid (and yeah whenever people would mention floaters I would assume thatās what they were referring to). But now that Iāve developed actual floaters, these greyed out spots in my vision that stay consistently in the same spot in my vision and are actually irritating/impact my ability to read/focus etc), itās very clear the difference.
This! Also, a few years ago I realized each eye sees the sky as a different shade of blue. The eye (right) which has a stronger prescription sees grayish blue while my left eye sees āskyā blue.
And they're not permanent right? They come and go and I honestly can't remember the last time I've noticed one in less than a year. But I remember seeing them all the time as a kid
Generally they're always around and your brain just stops noticing them for awhile. Kinda like how your nose is always in your field of view but your brain chooses to ignore it with both eyes open.
They come and go depending on how hard you focus on them. They're always there, but if you don't really focus on them, you won't see it.
I've had them since I was in kindergarten, it doesn't really affect my life as much nowadays, but when I was a kid, I always got in trouble because I was asking the teachers what they were, and they said that I was acting up for asking.
I was 10 years old sitting with my dad at the optometrist as he filled out the eye history before my appointment. One of the checkboxes was āeye floatersā and I asked him what that was. He brushed me off and said āyou donāt have those donāt worry about itā. Yes I did. Iāve had them for as long as I can remember.
Same, those of us who are severely near-sighted will likely have had them for years. My doctor simply asks if they seem to be more obvious or growing in numbers, which is a bad sign. Also said to not focus on them, which then makes me focus on them because I just thought about it lol (normally I don't notice them at all because they're just a commonplace thing for me!).
Not unless you have so many that they're impeding your vision, or suddenly have a ton of new ones. I have a ton, more than what's considered normal for my age, and I've seen 3 different opthalmologists about it and they all say they're benign and probably related to my moderate myopia (nearsightedness).
they're a data mining bot with the goal of building better profiles on us for "marketing" purposes, which is why I lie every time I answer one of these /s(?)
As a kid and still to this day. There is a squiggly loop and some dots. But clearish. Ophthalmologist told me those are NOT floaters. The floaters are dark colored.
There's no way this isn't just ppl who have never noticed before. I just don't buy it. They looked at some light and a time where they happened to have a few extra and they think it's the first time lol.
I had tinnitus for years until I got a plugged ear and realized that's what it was.
Does anyone else get fooled by the AD comments when theyre tired? I really thought someone replied with
"Ever thought about matching your shower door to your faucet?" And was like what the fuck kind of response to eye floaters is that.
Anyway i have so many that sunny day driving is hell. Floaters, not matching faucets
It took me so long to work out what this comment was about. I think it's a combination of the capitalised AD and the fact that I use uBlock origin and some other ad-blocking stuff so I mostly never see adverts.
I honestly pretty much forget that adverts are a thing at all. Out of curiosity, how are you accessing reddit?
Had them since I was like 15, not normally noticable inside, but when Im outside on a sunny day theyre very obvious. My eyes are also really bad prescription wise.
And then there are the days that are neither truly overcast or warm/bright. Itās those white-mute days. Or even white walls/fluorescent lighting, and bam, Iām aware of them no matter how hard I try to ignore them. It sucks. Ā Ā
Iāll raise you PVD in both eyes and two vitrectomies. Very easy surgery and my floaters are now gone but eye surgery at 43 was a treat. Everyone in the retinal center I went to was 29 years older than me, which was fun. Two weeks out from the second surgery and dealing with a blood red eye thatās scaring small children and animals
Iāll meet you with a detached retina that led to an emergency Scleral buckle insert surgery and then a vitrectomy with gas bubble on the same eye (all before 40); with a cataract surgery on deck as a result of the previous surgeries.
Everyone in the Opthamologist waiting area is 30+ years older than me, and even the nurses for each of the surgeries commenting that I was one of the youngest people theyād seen getting these done. My eye is constantly red and constantly ācriesā, especially when itās hot outside. And I have to periodically move my eyelids (by hand) so the nerves donāt get stuck on the buckle.
I know itās not a competition butā¦ retinal detachment 3 years ago at 39.
Multiple procedures, including gas bubble, silicone oil, weekly laser treatments for a few months, experimental chemotherapy, multiple months of face down recovery, 6 surgeries including 3 pars planer vitrectomies, cataract, and corneal debridement (which was the worst out of all of them). It was a year of hell.
My retina is swiss cheese now and they canāt remove the silicone oil which is causing calcium to build up on the cornea. Iām pretty much blind in the eye permanently and Iāll need the cornea surgery about once a year.
They think all this started because a floater stuck to my retina and pulled it away. Get your eyes checked if you start seeing more floaters!!!
Anyway, this thread makes me feel better that Iām not alone at least. I actually have an appointment tomorrow to see when Iāll need the next surgery. š
Raise you all ocular melanoma at 37. Radiation plaque and seclusion for 5 days. Still in recovery 3 months later. Will never gain sight out of eye but it is still intact. Idk. Worst surgeries Iāve had and hopefully ever will have. Had 20/20 vision before onset.
PVD is the biggest cause of floaters. As with many body parts as we age, the vitreous, the clear gel that fills the interior of our eyes between the lens and retina, atrophies and shrinks. As it pulls away from the retina, some areas are stubbornly attached and the pulling results in flashes as the retina (our movie screen) is disturbed by the pulling. When the vitreous finally detaches tiny bits of the retina are pulled off with it. The bits become floaters. In some instances the pulling can result in retinal tears and retinal detachment.
People with myopia can experience floaters not related to PVD when they are young and are more at risk for PVD as they age. People with a thinning of the peripheral retina, known as lattice degeneration, also exacerbated by myopia, are more at risk of retinal tears and retinal detachment as the vitreous atrophies.
I hope your vision has stabilized, it's usually not a trivial event when the retinal specialists get involved.
I just got my first one about a month and a half ago and I went and had my eyes dilated had them look at it and the ophthalmologist basically said there's nothing I can do for it. It's super annoying because it was in a spot where anytime move my eye it was in the center of my right eye and it was extremely distracting to everything I was doing. It has gotten better over the last 6 weeks and I think my brain has started to adapt to it and block it out. I still see it very prominently in certain types of lighting. I'm 37 yrs old.
Whatās it like? Recently I keep thinking there is a spider on the walls or a bug or something and then I realized there is a black dot in one eye that seems to move around a lot. Easy to see it if there is a blank wall in front of me. Is that a floater?
I find I can sort of flick mine away if they are too much in the middle of my vision. If I move my eyes quickly to the side, theyāll float out of sight for a time
You did the right thing, seeing an opthalmologist. Eye floaters are usually benign, but when they're not, they need to be treated immediately.
I had the same thing happen this past summer. Gave me a real moment of panic because I'm high risk for retinal detachment. Turned out fine, though now I have a mild cataract as well.
Today I learned everyone doesn't have these. I've had them since I could remember remembering. They don't affect me at all, and I see them occasionally very briefly, or if I'm trying to see them.
I was so scared when I got my first one. I was at work driving the fire engine and I didnāt know what to do. Luckily we didnāt get a call and it went away. Still got me good though.
I get these most often after a workout I didnāt ease into. Whatās crazy is they usually come like an hour after Iām done, last around 45 minutes, and then go away.
And yep, every time I tell someone about them I have to explain they are painless despite the name.
I've noticably had them for about 2 years. They're really only bad with a white background like snow, a fully overcast sky, or white and high brightness monitors
Its like a comet that runs across the bottom of my eye. Yes I've been to the doctor, they made sure my retna didnt detach and then they told me the gel in my eye is getting old and drying out š«
Was it lattice degeneration? I had a laser procedure for that done on one of my eyes about that long ago too and it was SO painful. Iām dreading ever needing it again š¤Ŗ
The laser might be bad but 100% do it as soon as they suggest it might be a good idea. Had lattice degeneration in both eyes but the doc said 'it can wait for now'. Next time I get my eyes looked at i find out my retina has been detaching for 6 mos and need surgery to fix it. Got the laser in the other eye. The surgery is 1000x worse even before you consider how irritating stitches on your eyeball are.
First...lol. I've had floaters in my eye since I was like 10. There's just a ton of them now that I'm approaching 40. I look at a blue sky and its full of squiggles. Fun thing is that your brain just learns to ignore them.
It's called a vitreous (jelly like substance filling your eyeball) detachment (different from a retinal detachment). Cells clump together and cast a shadow on the retina causing "floaters" across our vision
I started getting flashes of light in my periphery. Turns out my retinas were starting to detach. Laser surgery on your eyes should be considered a form of torture [I had to do both eyes, twice.]
Have a legion of them in both eyes since middle school. Took me years and years to get used to them. Made me super anxious and depressed for years. Now it's just whatever.
I remember looking at a really blue sky when I was 32 (now 37) and being likeā¦.. what is this thing? Itās sadly shaped a bit like a curved sperm and sometimes when Iām driving itās annoying but if I scrub my eye a bit it moves around and kind of gets out of the way.
Wait....are the things in the image different than the lil "squiggly lines in my eye fluid"? Cause I thought everyone got those and they were surface level....am I dumb? Are they not on the surface?
They aren't on the surface of your eye but in the fluid inside your eyeball. Under certain lighting conditions you can also see the white blood cells in your capillaries but they look like small round circles.
I always just thought they were dust in my eyes as long as I remember. Then I came on here and realized my eyes have been middle-aged since I was like 12 šµāš«
Your thoughts and question are exactly how I feel too! Doesnāt everybody these? And I can only really see mine if I sort stare at nothing, like looking at those Magic Eye books
I've had a few since I was a kid but suddenly I got like 3 in each eye that are attached and spring back to the center of my vision. Eye doctor was kinda meh about it
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