'Floaters' in your eyes.

[ewalling]

I developed my first about a month ago and saw an eye doctor soon afterwards who located it. He said it was nothing to worry about, that these things happen. The trouble is, as the OP says, it's bloody irritating and shows no signs of slinging its hook!

[tbeltrans]

Funny thing about getting old...

Some terms take on an entirely different meaning at different points in our lives.

When I was growing up, especially high school, the term "floater" meant something left behind in the toilet.

Now that I am retired, the term "floater" refers to those things I see in both eyes that resemble mosquitos.

What I found in both cases (young and old) is that if I learn to ignore them, they seem to no longer be there. As others in this thread have pointed out, if I don't think about the floaters in my eyes, I seem to have gotten enough used to them being there that I no longer see them unless I see a thread such as this discussing them.

Tony

[eyesore]

Originally Posted by Brucebubs

Started experiencing some peripheral flashing and new, larger 'floater' in my left eye last week.

Got it checked - no tearing of the retina which was good news.

Flashing has decreased today but I have a big new monster 'floater' that is mighty annoying - like having a hair or dust or piece of fluff on your eyeball that you can see but can't feel.

Anyone had similar experience? I believe it's a fairly common age-related occurrence.

wow ! same thing happened to me about a month and half ago. my Dr did a bunch of tests and it turned to be just more floaters . H e said ,over time I;ll get used to seeing them , he was right .

[Chickee]

I just had an extensive eye exam done prior to getting my glasses prescription updated. Two weeks later I begin to see a large ragged edged circle in my right eye.
The eye doctor explains that it is the “jelly substance” inside our eyes that creates these “floaters” and the older we get the more common they become in our vision. She also said that sometimes they disappear or shrink, and sometimes not.
I have a lot of them in both eyes now. I try not to dwell on it. It is not going to make them go away. Just another part of our life experience I guess.

[valleyguy]

I have had two posterior vitreous detachments on the last ten years. The first was a small black speck in the center of my vision. I happens when the vitreous gel separates from the retina, it is not a retina detachment, which is more serious. Doc said that my eyes would eventually compensate for it and would disappear. One did after a few years, my latest larger one is a grey circle with some permanent "smudges that always stays in the same location as I move my eyeball, just to the right of my center vision.

Amazing what we adapt to.

[Brucebubs]

I actually thought mine was a flying bug last night and found myself trying to swipe it.

[PaulHintz]

Have had them for years, especially in the right eye. My experience is that yes the brain learns to ignore them and only occasionally do I think there’s a fly or something at the edge of my vision. Since 1980 I’ve had cornea transplants in both eyes (twice in each), cataracts, and another procedure in the right eye in 2017 (they can’t do a full transplant anymore for the same reason that you can’t patch a hole in your jeans with the same size patch over and over again)… floaters are not so bad. But I totally freaked out what they first appeared so I can definitely empathize.

[unimogbert]

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