Floaters

[Tau]

I got more floaters after my acoustic trauma, more in my left eye where my hearing is worse and where the insult happened.

Maybe the high frequency sound sloughed off some cells from the retina or something?

 

[PortugalTheMan]

I got more floaters after my acoustic trauma, more in my left eye where my hearing is worse and where the insult happened.

Maybe the high frequency sound sloughed off some cells from the retina or something?

Have you ever seen an ophthalmologist? As far as I know, floaters can be treated with surgery.

 

[Tau]

Have you ever seen an ophthalmologist? As far as I know, floaters can be treated with surgery.

I have, my eyesight is fine, my retina is fine and since the floaters are not that bothersome, she did not recommend surgery.

 

[Matchbox]

Lasers can pew pew them now if they stop you from seeing day to day.

 

[TheDanishGirl]

Lasers can pew pew them now if they stop you from seeing day to day.

Laser is not recommended for young people with floaters. Our floaters are different than in older people, like closer to the retina so very hard/impossible to zap, without huge risk to sight. Plus they usually only break up the floaters, they don't remove them. I haven't read any successful story of laser removal for floaters in young people. Only horror stories or stories about how it made no difference.

 

[Tau]

Laser is not recommended for young people with floaters. Our floaters are different than in older people, like closer to the retina so very hard/impossible to zap, without huge risk to sight. Plus they usually only break up the floaters, they don't remove them. I haven't read any successful story of laser removal for floaters in young people. Only horror stories or stories about how it made no difference.

One of my floaters is very big and semicircular in shape. I suspect PVD happened during my acoustic trauma, and that floater is a broken Weiss ring. In this case, laser vitreolysis should help. I think I'll consult with my wife's friend, she's an ophthalmologist. But first I want to try out all the treatments for my 10+ tinnitus sounds and synaptopathy... Hoping to not run out of money, hah.

 

[Tau]

So I just realised that pretty much my whole visual field is covered in tiny floaters, only visible when squinting at light. So that's why I thought my vision had worsened.

In other news, no PVD, so no vitreolysis or vitrectomy for me... I guess I need to learn to live with this stringy mess in my eyes.

 

[PortugalTheMan]

A very interesting study on eye floaters came out.

NRCI led study proves effectiveness of a non-surgical, dietary solution for 'Eye floaters'

Since it's nutritional, I think you could try it at home

6-month dietary intervention
The FLIES trial is the first double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial in patients with primary floaters that demonstrated reduction in floater suffering as well as improvements in visual function in the active group compared to placebo, following a 6-month dietary intervention with a formulation consisting of 125mg l-lysine, 40mg vitamin C, 26.3mg Vitis vinifera extract, 5mg zinc, and 100mg Citrus aurantium.

77% of patients demonstrated reduction in floaters
Dr. Emmanuel Ankamah, the main researcher on the FLIES trial, says "I am delighted to see the outcomes of this exciting trial published in TVST, a high impact journal in vision science. Indeed, this trial provides the evidence to support the use of targeted nutritional intervention as a management strategy for vitreous floaters. This gives us more confidence that using antioxidative and antiglycation micronutrients can improve vitreous health."

According to Professor John Nolan, the Director of the NRCI and Principal Investigator of the FLIES trial, "This study is very interesting, as it is the first of its kind to examine the benefits of nutritional supplementation for patients suffering with vitreous floaters. Notably, a large percentage of patients (77%) on the active supplement demonstrated a reduction in vitreous floaters and associated improvements in vision-related quality of life was seen in 67% of patients."​

 

[RAA]

Has anyone noticed that as their tinnitus improved so have their floaters?

Despite the cold and mostly dark winter weather here in Denmark, we recently had a bright blue clear winter sky during the day and walking outside looking up I noticed my floaters have reduced like 75% to what I remember them be at their worst.

I definitely think there is a correlation between the two.

 

[TheDanishGirl]

Has anyone noticed that as their tinnitus improved so have their floaters?

Despite the cold and mostly dark winter weather here in Denmark, we recently had a bright blue clear winter sky during the day and walking outside looking up I noticed my floaters have reduced like 75% to what I remember them be at their worst.

I definitely think there is a correlation between the two.

No connection for me. My tinnitus has actually gotten better recently, but my floaters haven't. They are getting worse over time, although very slowly.

 

[RAA]

No connection for me. My tinnitus has actually gotten better recently, but my floaters haven't. They are getting worse over time, although very slowly.

Good to hear the tinnitus has got better, but sorry to hear about the floaters - hoping that improves

 

[momus]

From what I've read on this subject, floaters could be harmless, or they could be signs of eye disease or even neurological problems in a few cases. The link below goes to the Mayo Clinic, my go-to place for medical info. If they continue to worsen, they recommend seeing an eye specialist immediately. Even high blood pressure can bring them on.

It's good to keep in mind that what we perceive w/ our eyes is controlled by our brains. The eye sees things upside down, and one eye will see things from a different angle than the other. The brain takes these two upside down images from the two different angles, flips them right side up, and combines them into one unified whole. We need the two different images in order to have depth perception, which is why photographs are two dimensional, while an artist can paint the illusion of depth on a two dimensional surface.

As an artist and photographer who works daily w/ images, I know that what we see is not actually as it is. It's mostly conditioning from learned experience. No two people will see exactly the same thing, and what we see changes as we age. Even our state of mind can affect how we interpret visual reality. Color is always relative, and colors will appear to change if placed beside another color.

Mayo Clinic: Eye Floaters

 

[DebInAustralia]

So I just realised that pretty much my whole visual field is covered in tiny floaters, only visible when squinting at light. So that's why I thought my vision had worsened.

In other news, no PVD, so no vitreolysis or vitrectomy for me... I guess I need to learn to live with this stringy mess in my eyes.

Does that mean it wasn't a Weiss ring?

I have a confirmed PVD with a Weiss ring since last week.

Very upset.

I believe, from reading, Weiss rings respond well to laser, but too scared to try it.

I have read a few accounts of Weiss rings breaking up and moving to periphery, along with becoming more translucent.

I hope this is the case.

 

[Anuar Lukios]

I wanted to write this to reassure some people. This is not to belittle anyone's symptoms.

I only noticed some symptoms (floating and dots) when I read about these things on the forum, I probably always had them but anxiety and stress made them more evident.

I asked my ophthalmologist (extremely knowledgeable who is studying Visual Snow firsthand) and she explained to me that:

Visual snow syndrome is an extremely rare neurological condition and it is highly unlikely that you will suffer from it. Floating, bright spots, flashes and much more are extremely common symptoms, especially in people with light eyes, in people with myopia and in elderly people. Often these floating bodies, as in your case, are caused by very dehydrated vitreous.

In the last few months I have asked about 40 people including friends, relatives, acquaintances and practically almost all of them have some symptoms.

 

[Utdmad89]

I wanted to write this to reassure some people. This is not to belittle anyone's symptoms.

I only noticed some symptoms (floating and dots) when I read about these things on the forum, I probably always had them but anxiety and stress made them more evident.

I asked my ophthalmologist (extremely knowledgeable who is studying Visual Snow firsthand) and she explained to me that:

In the last few months I have asked about 40 people including friends, relatives, acquaintances and practically almost all of them have some symptoms.

Is static on dark objects and in a dark room one of the symptoms?

 

[Anuar Lukios]

Is static on dark objects and in a dark room one of the symptoms?

I don't know precisely what you mean by static electricity in the dark or on dark surfaces. I've described various visual symptoms to my eye doctor (not just floaters), and she explained that these are very common things. I don't want to disrespect anyone; I just wanted to share my perspective on this topic, namely that:

• There is no scientific evidence linking tinnitus to visual snow syndrome.

• Experiencing various visual symptoms is quite common, especially with light-colored eyes, myopia, or age.

• Visual snow syndrome is extremely rare.

At least, that's what the doctor explained to me.

However, in my specific case, the floaters have significantly decreased after undergoing a treatment to rehydrate the vitreous humor of the eye.

 

[MrChips13]

I have had a floater in each eye for a few years. Recent ingestion of Bromelain for 2 weeks seems to have completely dissolved one of them.

 

[Nick47]

I only noticed I had floaters when asked. They don't bother me in the slightest.

 

[BB23]

• There is no scientific evidence linking tinnitus to visual snow syndrome.

Other than the fact that 63% of visual snow syndrome sufferers also have tinnitus. It also comes packed in with HPPD.

→ The Link Between Visual Snow Syndrome and Tinnitus

However, in my specific case, the floaters have significantly decreased after undergoing a treatment to rehydrate the vitreous humor of the eye.

Because floaters are physical debris, dead collagen, swimming in your vitreous fluid.

The other way to have them removed is via a practitioner using a YAG laser to vaporise the floaters. Only three places in America offer this service. Prep up for retinal tears in the upcoming years if anyone wants to go through this route.

 

[momus]

I get floaters occasionally, it's definitely a physiological thing and usually intermittent. Mine are just now and then and not always that noticeable. At first it was a little scary because I depend on my eyes in art and photography work. But as long as something weird goes away (unlike my tinnitus), it's not a bother.

 

[HighleyTall]

I had a retinal detachment in my right eye not long after I developed extreme tinnitus and hyperacusis in 2018. I got a preventive retina lasering on the left eye. They did a gas 'refill' (I was a walking water bubble level for quite some time) on the right eye, but my sight is terrible because of the distorted retina. This, of course, cannot be fixed with lenses.

Tinnitus is much worse in my left ear. My left eye is full of thick floaters. My sight in the right eye is clear (new fluid) but distorted, and it has some yellowish old fluid and is full of thick floaters.

But hey, if you look at me, you can't see anything wrong with me.

"How are you doing?"
"You have a few hours?"