What are floaters?
Floaters are deposits of various size, shape, spots, cobwebs, strings that float aimlessly in your field of vision within the eye’s vitreous humour, which is normally transparent (at a young age) and are annoying. Floaters are visible because of the shadows they cast on the retina or refraction of the light that passes through them and appear alone or together with several others in one’s visual field. They may appear as spots, threads, or fragments of cobwebs, which float slowly before the observer’s eyes. As these objects exist within the eye itself, they are not optical illusions but are entopic phenomena.
Why do you get them? When do you get them?
Eye floaters most commonly occur as a result of age-related changes in the vitreous, the jelly-like substance that fills your eyeballs and helps maintain their round shape. Over time, the vitreous partially liquefies— a process that causes it to pull away from the eyeball’s interior surface. As the vitreous shrinks and sags, it clumps and gets stringy. Bits of this debris block some of the light passing through the eye, casting tiny shadows on your retina.
Inflammation located in the back of the eye and along the posterior wall layers. Posterior wall lining can become inflamed because of infection or inflammatory diseases, among other causes.
Bleeding into the vitreous portion can have many causes, including injury and blood vessel problems such as the Hayaloid artery.
Torn retina can occur when a sagging vitreous tugs on the retina with enough force to tear it. Without treatment, retinal tear may lead to retinal detachment — an accumulation of fluid behind the retina that causes it to separate from the back of your eye. Untreated retinal detachment causes permanent vision loss.
Medication like Zovirax (herpes simplex/c or small pox) can cause floaters.
Diet: Candida albican, yeast overgrowth. (Postgrad Med J, 2001; 77: 119-20).
Chinese medicine (CM) teach that floaters are the result of a poor blood circulation that fails to nourish the optic nerve and surrounding muscles of the eye. In CM terms, the cause of this weak circulation is congestion of the liver, kidneys and colon.
How is Diagnosed?
Floaters are often readily observed by yourself or an eye specialist. If there are a shower of and with flashes of light that is a medial emergency (retinal detachment).
What are known treatments?
While surgeries do exist to correct for severe cases of floaters, there are currently no medications (including eye drops) that can correct deterioration as you age. Surgery is only for severe cases, and Laser is possible with a 60-90% improvement.
Diet: drink filtered water, eliminate sugars, gluten, eat organic all which are safer and simpler solution over surgery.
It is an earlier warning sign of aging, a red flag. Pay attention as not only are the eyes windows to the soul, they are windows to the status of your health.
If you have these, let’s talk. LifeStyle changes can help.
