Have you ever had little floaty things move across your vision?
Matt, you really are a complete freak. What is this new medical weirdness?
Oh yeah, I've always had these
I had this happen to me once, just before my legs melted and I went bald overnight.
This happened to me once, but I figured it was all that time staring at rats' asses.
Matt, you really are a complete freak. What is this new medical weirdness?
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Oh yeah, I've always had these
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I had this happen to me once, just before my legs melted and I went bald overnight.
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This happened to me once, but I figured it was all that time staring at rats' asses.
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...no, not that sort of floater.I've been having some trouble with my eyes today - feels like some sort of spasm, or clot, or something, which makes the world appear to move as if you're sitting on top of the washing machine during the spin cycle - most unpleasant and not a little alarming, especially when you're operating heavy machinery at the time. Anyway, I did a bit of research, and while I was bumbling around the internet I came across the following, unrelated bit of eye-wrongness trivia:
You may sometimes see small specks or clouds moving in your field of vision. They are called floaters. You can often see them when looking at a plain background, like a blank wall or blue sky. Floaters are actually tiny clumps of gel or cells inside the vitreous, the clear jelly-like fluid that fills the inside of your eye.
Floaters may look like specks, strands, webs or other shapes. Actually, what you are seeing are the shadows of floaters cast on the retina, the light-sensitive part of the eye.
Now, I know some people don't see them, but I know that most people in my family do, and I'd always assumed that most people did and the freaks were those who lacked them. But apparently not. Have you ever come across this? It appears that things can be done about them. Not sure if I consider it sufficient a problem to ask anyone to fix it - after all, I've lived with them for as long as I can remember and they seem harmless. To be honest, I've never regarded them as a problem - in fact, it can be kinda fun chasing these things around your eyeballs. I know, I need to get out more.I also booked an appointment with the optician, before anyone asks.
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I get these every once in a while. Scared me a bit, thought I might slowly be going blind or something, so I went to the eye doctor. He said it was nothing to worry about, that it happens sometimes. It's annoying because it's like a little fly keeps hovering in my line of vision.
Libra, and my name is Charles - Float on
I know enough about floaters to speak from personal experience. They have a bit of "illness" stigma that makes them worrisome, but from what I gather they are nearly universal and benign. There have been unbelievable advances in optical surgery in my lifetime, so naturally they are being addressed by Opthomologists through surgery, be it extraction of the humor or laser ablation. I don't think I'd bother in my case, since I need my eyes to work and visual acuity is only a secondary requirement.
Hey, I'm not gung-ho on the idea of elective or cosmetic vision surgery anyway. I think that, overall, surgeons would do us all more good if they'd leave the eyes alone and instead lift some of those droopy eyelids -- you know, the ones that have us bumping into our grandparents in store lots.
My floaters are generally on the outside of my retina and I assume this because when I blink they float back up to their starting position and then float down gently until I blink again. It's like a tiny game of floater-volleyball.
I've had them before. According to my optometrist, they are normal. And when my optometrist speaks, everyone listens.
I see.
Yeah - who knew Thor would take up optometry after the thunder god gig got stale?
Exactly. Who woulda thunk it? A god has to keep working or he'll get bored.
When I was a kid I thought I could see *molecules*!!
Ha! Me too - they look a little like out-of-focus ball and spring models, or microscope images of ameoba
//which makes the world appear to move as if you're sitting on top of the washing machine during the spin cycle//
I sometimes get a rhythmic jitter in my vision. Like the image is shifting slightly then snapping back into place about twice per second. Is that the sort of thing? I usually get something like that when I've been staring at a fixed pattern for a long time. For some reason, looking at the second hand of a clock usually makes it stop.
That sounds more like one of the symptoms of a migraine, without the headache, Steve.
If it's what I'm thinking, I found the phenomenon to be rather hypnotic, relaxing.
This came up in the HB a little while ago here, I have spent countless hours lying in bed trying to sleep/having just woken up staring towards the ceiling and looking at these weird little cell things flit around. I never get a good long look at them, because they never stay directly ahead.
I always assuemd they were on the surface of the eye. But frankly, pumping out the vitreous humor to "fix" something that does you no harm sounds insane, and I think that cure is a spoof.
Yeah, that sounds exactly like it. It seemed to get worse when I got excited, so I dunno if it was a muscular spasm or a blood pressure thing - but I had to go and look into the distance for a while. That seemed to help.
So did I!
The "floaters" I remember from my youth. On certain days a light breeze would lift them by the tens of thousands across our fields like gossamer parachuters.
//I dunno if it was a muscular spasm or a blood pressure thing - but I had to go and look into the distance for a while. That seemed to help.//
I kinda figured it was some sort of under-stimulation effect. The eyes get bored and start shifting around to generate some movement in my field of vision. Sort of like a screen saver; trying to prevent burn-in.
Cheers for that. Very interesting.
Is your twitch-problem over-tiredness?
Found some stuff on something called "retinal jitter". This sounds a lot like what I experience. I even found some images designed to induce it. Here's one of them. Click on the image for more.
If I stare at the middle of this image, the background seems to jump around. Very similar to what I was seen at other times.
Is that the sort of thing you're talking about?
No. I think you'd better get an eye transplant before it's too late.
Which one?
hello, matt! so this is where you've been all this time!
i have floaters in my right eye. didn't get them until our 2nd year at the rca, but went to the imperial doc, who referred me to the eye hospital in marylebone. they gave me that stuff that dilates your pupils (which made the journey home in the bright summer sun very interesting & painful indeed!), & told me that they were floaters & nothing to worry about. i still notice it sometimes, usually if i look at the sky.
anyway, we have to catch up soon...
- tara
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