<p>I never noticed them much until recently. H says he’s had his since HS. He barely notices them any more. I rind it irksome and guess it’s time for my annual visit to my ophthamologist anywya–maybe this is just another reminder. It’s just the left eye, fortunately. I guess I could be like H and have them in both eyes. For me, it looks like grey- translucent string that moves around in front of my left eye. Just started noticing it in the past week. Guess it’s a “gift” of aging, now that I’m 57!</p>
<p>At the risk of being alarmist, but I assume you are doing what I will suggest already, call your ophthalmologist’s office soon and describe the floaters. They may see you pronto just to make sure it is not an indication of a threatened detached retina (which my H did have, fortunately caught early). Does not hurt to be extra careful re eyes IMO.</p>
<p>See <a href=“Eye Floaters: Treatment and Causes - All About Vision”>http://www.allaboutvision.com/conditions/spotsfloats.htm</a></p>
<p>I am also 57. I started getting these about a year or so ago, first in one eye and then in both. At first, it was very annoying. I learned that it is not a health problem and not much can be done. The good news, I guess, is that after a while, I must have gotten used to them and I don’t notice it anymore. Hope that happens for you too. </p>
<p>I had floaters in my left eye about six weeks ago. They came on suddenly and could be described as looking through a vertical false eyelash that covered my eye. I called my doctor right away, they asked me to come in immediately, and then rushed me to a retina specialist. I had 12 hemorrhages, and the vitreous gel was in the process of becoming detached, so there was fear of it tearing the retina.</p>
<p>Looking through the black “veil” was annoying, but I decided it was much better than the alternative.</p>
<p>However, I was lucky. My retina didn’t tear and I can barely see the floaters unless I make a point of looking for them.</p>
<p>As stated above, please call your doctor immediately. You want to be on the safe side.</p>
<p>I got mine in my left eye 3 years ago. I was sitting in a restaurant and all of a sudden it felt like a skinny bug flying in and out or a hair. I kept swiping at it as it would come back and recede. Then a year later the other eye. It happens alot with near sighted persons. I don’t notice them all the time because they’ve turned into more clear-like blobs that float in and around, disappear when I blink. I guess I’m fairly used to them, but they bug me when I try to read sometimes and have to blink them away. It seems every year something goes wrong with this body…</p>
<p>Yea, mine are only in one eye and I am near-sighted. I will call the ophthalmologist. I am due for a visit anyway.</p>
<p>I get them on and off. My eye doc said no detached retina and no danger with the floaters.</p>
<p>I had floaters in my left eye and it gradually worsened. I was getting headaches due to eye strain because it was like looking through a black veil. I had a vitrectomy by a retinal surgeon which was successful. However, it was preceded by a cataract surgery which I didn’t think I needed.</p>
<p>I had them when pregnant with my first child. Diagnosis, torn retina. Laser surgery was done painlessly. Doesn’t necessarily rid you of the floaters, but they have become less noticeable for me. </p>
<p>I have a Weiss ring…is that the same thing? It looks like a letter J made of thin black thread and it always stays in the same place to the left of my left eye.</p>
<p>I had a posterior vitreoud detachment (PVD) in my left eye almost 2 years ago. This was preceded by ‘flashes’ in the eye before the detachment. If you ever see flashes in your eye when you blink, go see an ophthalmologist right away. After the detachment, the floaters resulting from it were very bothersome but over time I don’t notice them that much anymore. However, my central vision in the eye is now distorted due to a macular packer from the detachment, and is at risk of a retinal detachment. My specialist tells me so far I don’t need the vitectomy to correct it, but once I have the vitrectomy, I’m guaranteed to need cataracts surgery within a year after that. </p>
<p>It is my understanding that if one has a sudden onset of floaters or flashes one should contact the opthalmologist immediately, as the stories about would indicate. A few long term floaters are normal.</p>
<p>Last year I had a sudden bleed into my eye for no apparent reason (a hyphema). My vision was obscured by blood particles, and I could see a line of blood in the iris when I looked in the mirror. This is different from the typical thing where one has a bleed in the white part of the eye. I called the office, saw someone the next morning, and ended up having to sleep upright and restrict my movement for 3 weeks (no exercise, no bending over, no picking up anything over 5 lbs) to make sure it didn’t tear again. What fun! Not as bad as the alternatives, though.</p>
<p>I have an appointment with ophthamologist tomorrow–they fit me in. WIll have exam of the eye with floaters with dilation tomorrow and then complete eye exam next month (when they have more time). They just want to be sure nothing needs urgent attention–a few flashes and recent onset of the floaters was concerning. Fortunately, it’s only one eye currently.</p>
<p>I had a retinal tear. I had the flashing in the eye and then floaters. They lasered the tear and the floaters eventually settled. They are hardly noticeable now. </p>
<p>Glad that you’re getting in tomorrow, HImom, Detached retinas are nothing to fool with, and surgery should be done right away if that is, in fact, what is diagnosed. My H has been through it twice. He didn’t have floaters or flashes but a clear reduction in his peripheral vision. Good luck to you.</p>
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<p>Detached retina is nothing to ignore. It requires emergency and immediate surgery by a specialist. Better to check it out and be safe than sorry. Glad you are going for a doctor’s visit. </p>
<p>Have had to deal with this in both eyes after hitting upper 50’s. Good advice to see an expert ASAP because if there is a tear more can follow shortly. Mine required extensive lasering due to multiple tears and now I have cataracts in both eyes that will require treatment for that soon. Don’t know if laser caused cataracts but not many better options. Still have some floaters but not much you can do. You get used to them. Never a symptom to just ignore.</p>
<p>I have had floaters on and off for years and am extremely nearsighted. My eye doctor has recommended salmon and spinach as two of the best foods for eye health and I also take a daily eye health vitamin containing the AREDS2 formula. Here’s some additional info:</p>
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<p><a href=“Age-Related Eye Disease Studies (AREDS/AREDS2) | National Eye Institute”>http://www.nei.nih.gov/areds2/</a></p>
<p>This is a terrible problem for me. I feel I am looking through a gray curtain that wafts in front of my eyes. Both eyes are affected. I pass the eye test but the floaters have never gone away. I’ve been taking supplements, been checked out by several retinol specialists, and they advise doing nothing. I wish there were some solutions. I’ve always eaten a lot of salmon and spinache, but have also been supplementing to no improvement but to more degeneration. </p>
<p>I’ve learned a lot about floaters in the last few years. They don’t ever just go away, not by diet or anything else, but in most cases our brains “learn” to disregard them, though a small minority never adjust and are driven to distraction by them. The “Weiss ring” mentioned in a post above is the circular floater that results from a PVD (posterior vitreous detachment), a common event in the very nearsighted (so unfair–it’s bad enough to have such poor eyesight without another complication). I have a Weiss ring in each eye, in addition to miscellaneous floaters. When my PVD’s occurred, they were accompanied by some flashes, and, as has been mentioned, that is an occasion to see a doc right away. PVD’s by themselves aren’t dangerous, but flashes can indicate something more serious. </p>
<p>My floaters only bother me when I deliberately think about them (as I did when seeing this thread) and when looking at a bright sky or bright white page or computer screen. They were the first sign of aging that really upset me–gray hair and wrinkles and menopause are one thing, but the deterioration of one’s vision is something else entirely.</p>
<p>Apart from a vitrectomy, a serious procedure in which the fluid in the eyeball is drained and replaced, there is no accepted cure for floaters. There are several ophthalmologists in the US and abroad who claim to be able to zap them away with a laser, but the reviews are mixed, from miraculous cures to worsened conditions, and most ophthalmologists deny the procedure works at all. (I find it fascinating when specialists are in such extreme disagreement.) There are websites devoted to the subject of floaters and lasering floaters, but since they offer minimal comfort, I can’t recommend visiting them.</p>