Floaters in your eyes?

TheFlyingTurkey

Fetus Worshiper
I occasionally see "floaters". They come and go, and they are most noticeable in bright rooms or outdoors, and I never see them at night. They don't bother my vision, but they can be quite annoying.

I was wondering how many (if any) of you guys out there have "floaters" in your eye's. If you do, does it bother you during flight? Is there a way to get rid of them?

The Turk.
 
</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
Is there a way to get rid of them?

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Yeah, stop using acid /ubbthreads/images/icons/wink.gif Just kidding--That sounds like an interresting problem.
 
I used to have them when I was a kid... they went away on their own.

All they are are clumps of opaque cells in the fluid of your eye - most noticeable during periods of bright light, since they then cast a shadow on the retina. Apparently there's a laser procedure that can get rid of them, but it seems a little sketchy. Most of the time, they just get re-absorbed into the fluid eventually, but if you see the # of them increasing and/or flashes of light, go to your eye doctor.
 
Are these floaters brightly colored small dots, or translucent irregularly shaped figures. If the latter, its probably microscopic pieces of dust that we all have on our eyes. They move around as we produce tears and I think most of the time you don't see them because your brain adjusts. I'm not an eye doctor or anything though, so don't take this as gospel. It might be a good idea to see an eye doctor to be sure.

P.S. Another bit of trivia about the brain adjusting what we see: Did you know that we all see everything upside down? The brain has just ajusted the image for us automatically. An experiment was once done were people wore special glasses that inverted everything. After a period of time (several days?) they were used to the way everything looked and took the glasses off. And, you guessed it, everything was upside down and took a while to get back to normal. Never tried it so I'm not 100% sure if this works. /ubbthreads/images/icons/wink.gif
 
Thanks for the responses guys.

The floaters look like translucent worms if viewed under a microscope. They do come and go, like I remember seeing them as a kid, and they went away. Then I noticed them again at around age 23. They come and go, but I will get one more check up from the eye doctor before I start flight training.

The Turk.
 
I have floaters and I went and got them checked out. I figured if these little things were going to keep me from flying with an airline, I might as well find out now and save some $.


The Doc told me that most people have them and they are no big deal. It is true, they are more pronouced in white light situations.
 
Bump this thread for a guy thats got these things now.

I really noticed yesterday when driving back to school during a bright cloudy day. Im going to go get this checked out. From what Im finding online it can just be something that will go away, or can be a retinal tear.

Anyone know what ramifications having this fixed will have on my medicle. I think scars from retinal repair is something the brain can cancel out. I dont know though.

Im kinda bummed out, but my vision is still 20/12. The only regs Im finding is that my vision has to remain 20/20 or better and continue to function correctly.
 
An AME will never look at your eyes that closely. An optometrist gave me a complete eye exam and found a couple small retinal scars in the bottom of my eyes, the result of some sort of trauma long ago, she said. I see floaters occasionally too, but it's not a big worry.
 
I've got the floaters too! Had'em all my life, pre and post lasik. They don't bother me at all. In fact I named them Fred and Wilma :)
 
I had them appear once in a while, they go away. Usually happened during rough times, like when I'd get up at 2am, drive to PBJ and do a 5:15 show time.
 
I had a case that started around Thanksgiving. Never had them before...kind of freaked me out. Only visible during bright light outside. Exact same diagnosis as what was posted about. Vitrous clumps that break loose and float until disolved.

It took about 6 weeks to get rid of them.
 
I guess what was really bothering me initially was that Im only 21 and having "issues" with my eyes already. I guess I'll find out later this week. Im not to worried now having briefly talked to a few friends of friends that are doctors.

My initial thoughts were "OH $#$%!!!" though.
 
as long as you dont have any flashes you're fine. lil white circles or snakes, like someone said, "they look like something you would see in a microscope". i get them too. theyre not a big deal unless the flashes, that signals a retinal tear and then comes a detached retina.
 
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