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I've had floaters (can clearly see them in the sky) since childhood. I've considered laser surgery to get rid of them, but never gotten around to it. Sometimes

I've had floaters (can clearly see them in the sky) since childhood. I've considered laser surgery to get rid of them, but never gotten around to it. Sometimes it worries me, but the condition is "stable".

jddj 3y ago
I'd be interested to know if anyone here didn't have floaters
- runeofdoom 3y ago
  Same here. I've had the same floaters as long as I can remember.
  - shrimp_emoji 3y ago
    A friend of mine saw a floater for the first time and was freaking out. This confused me since, by then (and we're the same age), I was used to seeing the world through an aquarium of floaters. 8D
  - giardini 3y ago
    Ditto. I remember my first and only floater which manifested in a somewhat dark library. I found myself batting away at what appeared to be a rather large and persistent butterfly. Took awhile to calm down! I still haven't become accustomed to it despite my opthalmologist's assurances that my "eyes will accomodate" to it" (BS I think).
- Tarragon 3y ago
  No floaters until I was in my 50s. In response to top of thread, retinal detachment does usually start with new floaters. My first floater came with an unusually timed cluster headache ( like a migraine but usually with predictable timing ) so I had accompanying visual auras. Because I didn’t recognize it as a cluster I described it to the on call eye doc as new floaters and sparkles. That got me an emergency trip to optical ER and a slightly disappointed surgeon.
- Izkata 3y ago
  Mid-30s, none yet that I've noticed.
- Arrath 3y ago
  Reading this thread is like thinking about breathing, now I'm seeing them all again.
- CobaltFire 3y ago
  None that I can see at 40 here. I think I'd freak out if I saw something like that, so it's good to know I'd actually need to go get it checked out.
- NikkiA 3y ago
  I haven't had any yet, age 52. I thought I had them when I was young, but I learned they were just a form of phosphenes.
arrowleaf 3y ago
Same here (until I started getting new ones)! The best thing to do is to get a dilated fundus exam by someone who really knows retinas to rule out anything major if you start noticing them more.
maxbond 3y ago
I've got one floater that tied itself into a knot several years ago. I was looking into a microscope, and I saw it cross my vision with this perfectly tied knot that wasn't quite pulled tight. Now it's worked itself into a tangled mess, and when I see it it's more like a hairball.
- pwillia7 3y ago
  whoa
calamari4065 3y ago
Floaters are black spots. The translucent spots you can see in the sky are sometimes called blue sky sprites, and are actually white blood cells distorting the light https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_field_entoptic_phenomenon https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_field_entoptic_phenomen...
- wharvle 3y ago
  Nah, floaters can be kinda clear. Mine look like circles with stuff in them (they look kinda like diagrams of a cell, or maybe a simple diagram of an atom—they have kinda a dot in the middle) and some of those same circles connected in long, curly strings with tube-like (?) structures. They do indeed “float”. If I move my eyes they move with them, then have momentum when I stop moving my eyes. They’re way more visible against static, bright backgrounds (like blue sky) but I can see them in indoor lighting, too. I’ve had them since I was very young. The white flashes you’re referring to I’ve only noticed recently, and are very different things. They do require a bright blue sky for me to see them.
  - ksaj 3y ago
    Yup, when I get floaters, I look up and then back down very quickly and then they end up somewhere I can't see them for a while. They do look a whole lot like things we saw in biology class under microscope.
sweetsocks21 3y ago
I've also had floaters and sometimes flashes (pin pricks) of light since childhood. Still have 20/20 vision, and every time I've gotten an eye exam they've said the retina looks healthy. From what I understand it'll be more of a "blizzard" of floaters when detachment is happening. At least for me the number of floaters seems to be highly correlated with my sleep quality. The flashes seem correlated with my blood pressure.
IAmGraydon 3y ago
I've had them since my late teens. Mine haven't really progressed at all, but I have noticed that they seem to fluctuate a bit depending upon my hydration level. I see more if I'm dehydrated and they seem to decrease drastically if I really focus on hydration for a few days (1 gallon or more per day of water).

jddj 3y ago

I'd be interested to know if anyone here didn't have floaters

runeofdoom 3y ago
Same here. I've had the same floaters as long as I can remember.
- shrimp_emoji 3y ago
  A friend of mine saw a floater for the first time and was freaking out. This confused me since, by then (and we're the same age), I was used to seeing the world through an aquarium of floaters. 8D
- giardini 3y ago
  Ditto. I remember my first and only floater which manifested in a somewhat dark library. I found myself batting away at what appeared to be a rather large and persistent butterfly. Took awhile to calm down! I still haven't become accustomed to it despite my opthalmologist's assurances that my "eyes will accomodate" to it" (BS I think).
Tarragon 3y ago
No floaters until I was in my 50s. In response to top of thread, retinal detachment does usually start with new floaters. My first floater came with an unusually timed cluster headache ( like a migraine but usually with predictable timing ) so I had accompanying visual auras. Because I didn’t recognize it as a cluster I described it to the on call eye doc as new floaters and sparkles. That got me an emergency trip to optical ER and a slightly disappointed surgeon.
Izkata 3y ago
Mid-30s, none yet that I've noticed.
Arrath 3y ago
Reading this thread is like thinking about breathing, now I'm seeing them all again.
CobaltFire 3y ago
None that I can see at 40 here. I think I'd freak out if I saw something like that, so it's good to know I'd actually need to go get it checked out.
NikkiA 3y ago
I haven't had any yet, age 52. I thought I had them when I was young, but I learned they were just a form of phosphenes.

arrowleaf 3y ago

Same here (until I started getting new ones)! The best thing to do is to get a dilated fundus exam by someone who really knows retinas to rule out anything major if you start noticing them more.

maxbond 3y ago

I've got one floater that tied itself into a knot several years ago. I was looking into a microscope, and I saw it cross my vision with this perfectly tied knot that wasn't quite pulled tight. Now it's worked itself into a tangled mess, and when I see it it's more like a hairball.

pwillia7 3y ago
whoa

calamari4065 3y ago

Floaters are black spots. The translucent spots you can see in the sky are sometimes called blue sky sprites, and are actually white blood cells distorting the light https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_field_entoptic_phenomenon https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_field_entoptic_phenomen...

wharvle 3y ago
Nah, floaters can be kinda clear. Mine look like circles with stuff in them (they look kinda like diagrams of a cell, or maybe a simple diagram of an atom—they have kinda a dot in the middle) and some of those same circles connected in long, curly strings with tube-like (?) structures. They do indeed “float”. If I move my eyes they move with them, then have momentum when I stop moving my eyes. They’re way more visible against static, bright backgrounds (like blue sky) but I can see them in indoor lighting, too. I’ve had them since I was very young. The white flashes you’re referring to I’ve only noticed recently, and are very different things. They do require a bright blue sky for me to see them.
- ksaj 3y ago
  Yup, when I get floaters, I look up and then back down very quickly and then they end up somewhere I can't see them for a while. They do look a whole lot like things we saw in biology class under microscope.

sweetsocks21 3y ago

I've also had floaters and sometimes flashes (pin pricks) of light since childhood. Still have 20/20 vision, and every time I've gotten an eye exam they've said the retina looks healthy. From what I understand it'll be more of a "blizzard" of floaters when detachment is happening. At least for me the number of floaters seems to be highly correlated with my sleep quality. The flashes seem correlated with my blood pressure.

IAmGraydon 3y ago

I've had them since my late teens. Mine haven't really progressed at all, but I have noticed that they seem to fluctuate a bit depending upon my hydration level. I see more if I'm dehydrated and they seem to decrease drastically if I really focus on hydration for a few days (1 gallon or more per day of water).