Wearing contacts

[jayn_j]

Are the floaters permanent?

My understanding is that floaters don't go away. My wife developed these during chemo and they stayed with her for the last ten years of her life. As I understand it, they are protein strings that form in the eye, and there is no biological mechanism to disolve or absorb them. Only choice is surgery or in some cases laser.

 

[bhelms]

Are the floaters permanent?

My understanding is that floaters don't go away. My wife developed these during chemo and they stayed with her for the last ten years of her life. As I understand it, they are protein strings that form in the eye, and there is no biological mechanism to disolve or absorb them. Only choice is surgery or in some cases laser.

I got a similar response from my surgeon, but for a different reason. In my case they are essentially residue from the laser procedure used to remove part of the capsule that holds the lens in place. He indicated that they can settle lower in the fluid but there is no natural process to make them go away completely. The dr. that did the procedure did not tell me about floaters up front, but when I asked him about it he said that most, not all, experience them "more or less". In my case they manifest as small, out-of-focus blurs in the LoS that move about some, and come and go. Mine are intermittent and not really a nuisance, so I ignore them for the most part. My boss had floaters that must have been large and significant enough to cause him to duck once in a while...!

 

[Bogy]

I have occasional floaters that are evidently residue from when I had a bleeder on the edge of my retina a few years ago. My optometrist saw something he wanted checked. The next day I was at a retinal specialist. The took pictures of my eye, and the opinion that day was that the bleeder was not active. I was given an appointment for a month later so they could compare pictures and see if there was any activity. A month later they took more pictures, and 20 minutes later I had a laser zapping my eye, burning the bleeder. No more problems. I now go to an optometrist with the equipment to take the pictures of my eye, in an office with a retinal specialist (and the appropriate laser), but I've had no more problems. I used to be able to see the burned spot if I tried real hard. I now can barely see it with my eye closed. Caught it before it did any real damage.

 

[Ronnie-]

I have occasional floaters that are evidently residue from when I had a bleeder on the edge of my retina a few years ago. My optometrist saw something he wanted checked. The next day I was at a retinal specialist. The took pictures of my eye, and the opinion that day was that the bleeder was not active. I was given an appointment for a month later so they could compare pictures and see if there was any activity. A month later they took more pictures, and 20 minutes later I had a laser zapping my eye, burning the bleeder. No more problems. I now go to an optometrist with the equipment to take the pictures of my eye, in an office with a retinal specialist (and the appropriate laser), but I've had no more problems. I used to be able to see the burned spot if I tried real hard. I now can barely see it with my eye closed. Caught it before it did any real damage.

I had the same procedure done a few times, but fortunately I have not had to get mine zapped as of yet. My doctor told me as long as they go away fairly soon, it is common. He did say that if they persist, or hang around for minutes at a time to call him immediatly.