Eye Floaters

[GTB_an_Owl (Geoff)]

i notice my "floaters" when i do a star test

is that usual ?

geoff

[Jen]

does that mean im not a teenager anymore
I am shattered

[ballaratdragons (Ken)]

Ahhhhhh.

I've noticed these floaters since my 30's.
I'm 53 now.

I always thought it was dust and muck floating around on the outside of my eyeballs, and I often try rub them off just by rubbing my eyes.

Never seemed to help. Now I understand why!
They annoy the crappers out of me.

Fascinating.

[OneOfOne (Trevor)]

Must admit, they are annoying and they just seem to get worse over the years, particularly when typing on the computer screen with a white background.

I also see the occasional "floater" at work, but a quick flush usually gets rid of those

[cybereye (Mario)]

I'd much rather have an eye floater (I have lots!) than a pie floater (I've had one)!!

Cheers,
Mario

[Ric]

Originally Posted by jjjnettie

Oh har har

Sorry Jeanette, I couldn't resist that one.

[Robert9 (Robert)]

Hi Peter,
Did the hospital have an eye specialist??? Have your eye checked by your local optometrist. What you saw was definitely indicative of some sort of lesion of the retina. The black dots you saw were blood cells. Did the floaters initially look like dark streamers?

Robert, (I had a torn retina and remember well the symptoms.)

Originally Posted by PeterM

Thanks JJJ,

A few weeks ago I ended up in the PA hospital after experiencing bright flashes (no, not supernova on the brain) in my right eye followed next morning by floaters then thousands of pinpoint black dots. They checked me for retina detachment all was ok. But now I have the floaters and have generally been able to ignore them but they are back as I write this. guess I have them permanent.

PeterM.

[PeterM]

Hi Robert,
Thanks for your concern. I wasn't aware the dots were bloods cells. The PA Hospital sent me straight to their eye specialist. He put in some drops to dilate the pupil and had a good look around and was happy no sign of a torn retina. He did say that if I experienced the flashes in different positions to come back immediately but the flashes are gone. He also said the floaters would settle down and were caused by the thick fluid in the eye. The floaters did initially look like very dark streamers and that's what caused me concern to get to the hospital. So now for the most part I don't notice them but they are there, nowhere near what they were like initially. I have my eyes tested every 2 years and due again later this year, though I may go sooner.
Thanks again.

PeterM.

[sheeny (Al)]

Well that's interesting JJJ. Its a different story to what I learned much earlier in my life.

When I was about 15 I took up competitive small bore rifle shooting, and was being coached by Don Brooks (Olympian). Floaters obviously play havoc with your sighting pattern which affects the accuracy of your aim. To combat this we drank 1 gallon of water a day, every day. It makes you go to the loo a lot, but while it didn't get rid of the floaters entirely in my experience it reduced their incidence. The theory given to me at the time was they were dead blood cells (particularly the round ones).

Al.

[danielsun]

Wow , well that's interesting JJJ.
I have always wanted to know what they were.
I totally forgot all about them till reading this, checked again by looking at a white wall and sure enough a couple of floaters still there.

[ballaratdragons (Ken)]

Funny how we sometimes forget about them until we read this thread.

Damn, now they are back again

[asimov (John)]

Yeah, this thread was in the back of my mind when I was collimating awhile ago tonight. Good fun with all the floaters!

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

damn floaters.
I use averted vision to get around them.

[[1ponders] (Paul)]

damn them floaters, especially those ones i find in my eyepieces.

[sopticals (Stephen)]

Hi for aging eyes (with floaters) increase in aperture and binoviewers will help and give observing satisfaction.

[Screwdriverone (Chris)]

They drive me insane,

It feels like I have hundreds of them, ever since I can remember, looking at the blue sky or computer or anywhere there is light. My eyesight is 20/20 so it is nothing to do with that.

It especially bothers me on bright objects such as Jupiter, where they often get in the way and annoy the crapola out of me.

Mine are almost bad enough to make me investigate further the laser option to blast them away. Trouble is there is a risk of permanent damage and no guarantee they wont return.....

I often have to "chase" mine around to move them out of the main view, it is like having little hairs in your vision which feel like they are on the outside. Doing a quick count on the computer screen and not moving my eyes, I can currently see over 15, when I move my eyes down and up from the keyboard, that number triples as the original ones swirl back and forth and new ones come to the front.

VERY annoying, might try the bulk water concept that Al mentioned.......

AAARRRRGGGHHHHH!

Cheers

Chris

[asimov (John)]

Boy, that's a lot of floaters Chris, & I thought I had it bad! I have a scratched lens to deal with as well - A piece of damned sandblasting grit. If I squint at a bright wall I can see the damage it did as plain as day.

[Waxing_Gibbous (Peter)]

I have floaters but mine are 1/16 Wave PTV and .989 Strehl.

[Tandum (Robin)]

Most of mine are on my glasses .. how do you clean plastic lenses anyway ...

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

Originally Posted by Tandum

Most of mine are on my glasses .. how do you clean plastic lenses anyway ...

I might get glass next time.
Usually I get my old pair tinted and use them for sunnies, but I'll keep these ones as they are, as back up for when I drop and break the new ones. LOL