Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Eye

They’re called Vitreous Floaters. Those things that pollute the vision of their sufferers.

I am a sufferer. I have one tiny thread floating inside my right eye.

Aside from being distracting, the floater causes me no other problems. But a recent visit to a different ophthalmologist from whom I gathered a second opinion killed my hopes of getting rid of the irritating floater.

The doctor said that based on experience, floaters don’t go away. He prescribed me a drug which may help but he clearly stated that taking the medicine does not guarantee that I’ll be floater-free.

However, he reassured me that I will be fine, that I don’t have to worry. It’s not like I’m hemorrhaging somewhere inside my eyes. To further relieve me from my bugaboo, he said that he, too, has a floater in his eye. Ok, that helped.

I looked around and tried to read for myself what these floaters are all about. And here’s the summary of the information I’ve gathered:

Vitreous floaters result from the clumping of some parts of the vitreous body, the gel-like stuff that composes the hollow sphere at the back of our eyes. They are more common than we think. They happen mostly to people aged 40-50 or to young ones who happen to be myopic. (Darn, my myopia!)

A person with floaters may see a strand of fiber or specks or even tiny clouds moving along with their field of vision. The floaters tend to be more visible under certain lighting conditions and, in my case, I see it whenever I am staring at a white surface.

There’s no non-invasive treatment for floaters except for a laser procedure. There’s that thing called vitrectomy but it may lead to retina detachment which is not at all good; a detached retina causes blindness. Generally, floaters pose no health hazards to its sufferers. But to some, floaters tend to block their vision almost totally.

A healthy lifestyle and good nutrition may save people from these so-called floaters.

Sometimes, the only way to live with these pesky floaters is to not mind them at all and to imagine that when you open your eyes, everything’s perfect, no spots, just sunshine.

Read more about floaters on:

http://www.eye-floaters.com/floaters-whatcausesfloaters.php
http://www.vitreousfloaters.com/
http://www.angelfire.com/ns/floaters/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floaters