floaters

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Burlington Bertie - 28 Dec 2006 19:36 GMT

I've had a few floaters (detached blood vessels) in my eyes all my life
but as I reached late 50's it suddenly got worse and I have concerns
that I will soon not be able to drive at night.

My doctor sent me to an eye specialist who tells me it's quite normal
at my age and I have to get used to it. My retinas are not detaching.
Any attempt to surgically remove the floaters is not worth the risk.

Can anybody share their experiences with this problem?

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William Stacy, O.D. - 28 Dec 2006 21:14 GMT

Yes they do increase with age and can be quite annoying. However, "not
be able to drive at night" is not likeley, unless you have problems in
addition to the floaters, or unless they get wo bad that removing them
may be worth it. I mean they have to be VERY bad to justify a vitrectomy.

w.stacy, o.d.

> I've had a few floaters (detached blood vessels) in my eyes all my life
> but as I reached late 50's it suddenly got worse and I have concerns
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>
> Can anybody share their experiences with this problem?

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louise - 29 Dec 2006 05:16 GMT

> Yes they do increase with age and can be quite annoying. However, "not
> be able to drive at night" is not likeley, unless you have problems in
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>>
>> Can anybody share their experiences with this problem

When my floaters first appeared, they were enormously
distracting and seemed to be bouncing all over the place.
As time has gone by, I've become used to them and better
able to ignore them. They also seem to have "calmed down" -
they kind of stay more in one place and I have learned to
avoid focusing on them.

Louise

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odtobe - 29 Dec 2006 16:31 GMT

Glad to hear you did one thing correctly, you got an exam when you saw
an increase in floaters! Floaters can sometimes preceed a retinal
detachment.

One piece of info that might put your mind more at ease is thet fact
that floaters are generally going to be worse in bright illumination,
not darkness. The best conditions for seeing floaters are a bright blue
sky. That's when your pupil is the smallest, and you can really count
out the floaters under this condition.

odtobe

> > Yes they do increase with age and can be quite annoying. However, "not
> > be able to drive at night" is not likeley, unless you have problems in
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>
> Louise

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