Hello,

I've been diagnosed with the condition mentioned in this thread title.
Essentially, it started in February of this year when I saw silvery
flashes of light while taking a shower. Nothing else as dramatic
occured so I presumed it must just have been a one off, freak
occurance. As the months passed and I became more paranoid about other
health issues, I noticed that I had more floaters than I previously had
done - both big and obvious and ones which look a bit like strands of
fluid clumped together which are generally only visible against a
brighter background. Come to think of it now, I'm pretty certain that
the floaters began to show themselves not long after the lights.

The floaters have been stable since June / July but after coming across
literature which listed all sorts of frightening possibilities, I
decided to get my horifically negligent backside to the relevant
specialists. I was told that I have - extremely prematurely - a
Posterior Vitreous Detachment in my right eye. Now, I must tell you
that I am short sighted (worse in my left) and I have astigmatism in
both eyes which causes pretty bad ghosting. These are things that I
should have done more about years ago, but I've always stupidly
trundled on "I can see fine! I don't need to wear my glasses at the
moment!" to the point where I've spent the majority of the last decade
with out any sort of visual aid, because, you know, I've been a very
foolish young man.

Now, here's the thing - I'm 24 years old. Pretty much all the online
literature suggests that PVD is a condition which affects the over 40s
in the vast majority of cases. Could my neglect of my eyesight and
added strain that has put upon my vision have aided the process in my
case, or is it mere coincidence?

Secondly, I'm worried about the possibility of a retinal tear /
detachment being missed during my examination. I felt my general
eyesight was declining as far back as the last quarter of 2005
(increasingly short sighted, granier vision at night etc....) . I did
bring this up at the appointment, but there was apparently no evidence
of retinal demage. I do have trust in that judgement, but there's a
part of me that worries - should I be, or would a retinal detachment
have likely announced itself further by now? It's been almost 8 months
since 'the flashes', afterall.

Finally, the floaters and something I did forget to ask at my
appointment - I'm getting bored of seeing the same 'main' ones every
single day and the occasional new one thrown in here while that one
fades away. Are they likely to disappear at any point or should I
assume they might stay & continue to do as I have been of late and
strive to ignore them?

Thanks for your help,

Matt