Anyone got floaters in their eye(s) and if so how do you cope with them?

Yesterday, 2 hours into my first day in a new job, I suddenly got a floater in my left eye which is really annoying and making reading and computer work a bit blurry, and when I look at anything this cloud like shape floats across my eye. It’s actually more annoying than the constant pain I’ve got in my knee at the moment.

Yeah I have several, and due to an unrelated eye injury to one eye I do all my focusing with one eye so they are really prominent, particularly in bright/white spaces.

You get used to them though. I don’t typically notice mine anymore day-to-day but they don’t affect my vision.

My optometrist tells me they’re nothing to worry about. Not sure if they are treatable. THey are essentially cells suspended in jelly.

Not any sort of professional eye person, but if you get loads appear quickly or lots of white flashes. Get it looked at.

Just general floaters; just ignore them and you will notice it less and less.

Use dark mode where possible. Mine are most noticeable on white backgrounds.

I suddenly got a floater in my left eye which is really annoying and making reading and computer work a bit blurry, and when I look at anything this cloud like shape floats across my eye.

You need to get it checked immediately. Sudden appearance of floaters and/or partial loss of sight/blurred vision can be a sign of a torn or detached retina.

Immediate medical attention can save your sight. Don’t leave it until tomorrow, seek help now.

You need to get it checked immediately. Sudden appearance of floaters and/or partial loss of sight/blurred vision can be a sign of a torn or detached retina.

Immediate medical attention can save your sight. Don’t leave it until tomorrow, seek help now.

100% this. I got one when I was driving so headed for the nearest A&E where I was diagnosed with a detached retina. I may have lost the sight in that eye if I had left it.

I’ve always got floaters. Spend a lot of time looking down a microscope at work, I can see they look like long strands of epithelial cells

Yep had a few for years now, optometrist says they’re nothing to worry about. I only notice them looking at bright skies or plain paper etc.

If they’ve just suddenly appeared it’s maybe worth getting them checked out though.

Two main options:
1. They’re harmless
2. They’re harmful and could cost you the sight in the affected eye.

Do you feel lucky, punk..?
Get thee to an optometrist today.

I get them a lot… often think a fly is buzzing past (without the buzzing).
Was watching telly the other day and had a zigzag area like I’d stared at something really bright. It stayed for ages. Not long had my eyes checked at the optician. Sounds like I should go back if it happens again.

Same as Swavis. Get it checked. It’s probably nothing but getting it looked at is essential. I thought living with these was going to be difficult but by brain seems to tune them out most of the time. Bright, high contrast conditions along with tiredness seem to make them more obvious.

Yeah, I’d get it checked. When mine first appeared I went to the eye hospital and it was thoroughly checked after a short wait. All ok and I just live with them now.

In my late teens I was hit in the eye, resulting in a partially detached retina (and very mild loss of sight from the reattachment) and seemingly a large number of floaters.

Most of the time I don’t notice them but bright days make them far more apparent and they seem worse when I am tired. Offices don’t tend to be good places for me, white walls and bright lights.

I tend to wear sunglasses a lot, not just summer, and if you have glasses a ‘transitions’ lense can help. Computer screens seem easier if set slightly less bright and on the blue side of spectrum.

Do get checked and good luck with it.

I agree to get it checked out, but it sounds more like migraine to me.
“. . . when I look at anything this cloud like shape floats across my eye” is exactly how my migraines started, several decades ago.

Mine started on the first day of a new job too, so maybe also stress-related in your case?

Was watching telly the other day and had a zigzag area like I’d stared at something really bright. It stayed for ages

That sounds like a migraine, too.

Loads, but they are usually quite normal in heavily myopic people – like me. I generally don’t notice them now. Perhaps that’s due to the onset of cataracts!

I agree to get it checked out, but it sounds more like migraine to me.
“. . . when I look at anything this cloud like shape floats across my eye” is exactly how my migraines started, several decades ago.

Could be, but also sounds exactly like floaters or this:

Sudden appearance of floaters and/or partial loss of sight/blurred vision can be a sign of a torn or detached retina.

I had it a few years ago – obvious white flashes at the edge of vision and sudden appearance of very noticeable floaters. (I’ve had floaters since I was young. I thought everyone did.) My optician explained that as you get older the vitreous fluid thickens up and pulls away from the inside wall of the eyeball, sometimes causing a problem. You can’t do anything about the floaters but it’s worth checking that there’s no further damage to retina.

Another eye condition I’ve developed recently is PVD (Posterior Vitreous Detachment), which causes strange floaters. Possibly a result of falling on my head near Hodge Close, and cracking my helmet . . . or possibly just a result of growing old . . .

[ Edit: as just explained by IdleJohn ]

I’ve had them forever; they come and go and the optometrist says they’re nothing to worry about. But during lockdown I had one suddenly appear that didn’t go and turned out to be rather more serious (albeit “eminently treatable” as the opthamologist put it, by injections into the eye), so if it came suddenly I’d get it checked asap.

Yeah get them checked out if they suddenly appear. Especially if you used to fire rifles or shotguns for a living.

Funny you should say that – went to the opticians on Friday convinced I had a detached retina.
Went out on the bike on Thursday and came down a bumpy chalk tracks ( as I have done many times before). Cue lots of black floaters, some really big squiggly ones, and a bit of odd vision at the periphery.
It is not a detached retina but a detached PDP membrane – which is, at my age, normal. It will settle down, allegedly , with time. It’s still bad at the moment.
Tonight I go out for the first time – apparently if I get a curtain effect or flashing lights I need to go to eye A&E to get it lasered !!

@desperatebicycle I get the zig zag areas around my vision especially when tired or run down. Mentioned it to my optician and she said she thought it was a quiet migraine.

Hmm, migraines aren’t something I’ve ever suffered from. And my stress has eased greatly from a month or so ago (was injured and couldn’t ride). But will keep a check on it anyway. Cheers

The obvious way to tell the difference between floaters and blurring due to a migraine is that you can only see the floaters through one eye. When I get a migraine it starts with a blurred arc, but I can see it through both eyes

I agree that you should go to A and E or direct to the eye injury clinic if these really have appeared suddenly as it is possible it is a detached retina and the longer you leave it, the worse it will be which could lose you your eyesight. It is the one time when you should be cautious in my opinion.

I had similar which the optometrist said was nothing to worry about which was true at the time, but a few weeks later I realised I had a blind area in my eyesight shaped like a slice of pizza. Rang the opticians and they told me to go straight to casualty. It was a detached retina and luckily I have recovered perfectly with the added bonus in that the operation involved removing all the vitriol fluid, so as a consequence it removed all of the floaters I had for years in that eye.

Finally, I believe that most people get the bright sudden flashing when they have a detached retina, but I was one of the rarer people who didn’t. I was told that if you had the flashing, you would know about it as there is no way you could not notice it, but as I say, not everyone has that.

Finally, I believe that most people get the bright sudden flashing when they have a detached retina, but I was one of the rarer people who didn’t.

Nah, I had them but if I’d been in a well lit place I wouldn’t have paid much attention. The few I saw were late at night in a poorly lit room while I was watching TV, and they looked like a few flashes out of the corner of my eye. Almost like a lightning flash in the kitchen (from the direction I was facing) and enough to make me move my head wondering if I’d really seen them or not but not make me concerned any more than that.

I agree that you should go to A and E or direct to the eye injury clinic if these really have appeared suddenly

Or preferably contact an optician if you have one available.

Hmm, migraines aren’t something I’ve ever suffered from.

I’ve never had “traditional” headache migraines, but do get visual migraines from time to time. The first one was terrifying.

Good advice from @ernielynch. if they’ve come on suddenly, call 111 or find an opticians to have a look for you.

Or preferably contact an optician if you have one available.

No, the optician will not do anything other than waste the valuable time you have in saving your eyesight if it was found to be a detached retina. These are not something you get put on a waiting list to resolve.

Casualty or direct to the Eye Clinic should be your first port of call in this case and you should not worry about ‘wasting’ their time.

They are pretty much the exact words the consultant said to me.

From experience and on the basis of eye specialist advice I would never go to A&E with an eye issue.

The above mentioned retinal detachment was diagnosed as a cornea scratch at A&E and only it remaining visible for a few days led me to go and see an optician – who sent me straight to an eye hospital. The consultant there said I was fortunate the partial detachment had held and simply that doctors who do not specialise in eyes spend so little time on them and have such relatively small experience that things like that can easily be missed – he simply said any eye issue go straight to an eye hospital or an optician (who can refer you on).

But will keep a check on it anyway.

Wrong attitude IMO. You need a qualified person to examine any possible damage or detachment of your retina.

My understanding is that if the blood supply to the retina is interrupted due to detachment and it is not immediately rectified then any lose of vision becomes permanent and irreversible.

Just think how much that would affect your cycling!

These days many opticians are qualified to carry out eye examinations to check for damaged or detached retinas. If they aren’t they will be able to tell which local opticians are. Although the protocol might not be the same throughout the UK.

I would strongly recommend that you start off by phoning 111, they will be able to advise you on what is best for you.

Thanks for the replies – I have an appointment with the optometrist tomorrow and been advised to go to the local Eye Hospital if open or A&E at other times if it gets worse in the meantime.

The irony, and the annoying thing, is that after a fairly tough couple of years as a freelance consultant in the charity sector, I started an Interim Director role yesterday and have a 3 day handover period with the current Director who leaves tomorrow, which is now going to be cut down significantly as obviously my eyesight is most important.

Floaters? Not so much.

SO had a large one last summer. Optometrist reviewed and said NP.

Between Christmas and new year SO thought it was the floater obscuring vision. Persisted for a day. Went to eye hospital ER. Turned out to be a retinal tear needing LASER surgery to repair. Not so good. All better now though.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/floaters-and-flashes-in-the-eyes/

Advice here about when you should start to worry about floaters ^^

Yes this – get it checked PDQ. One of my colleagues started suddenly getting this and it was because of detached retinas.

Any improvement, @Philby ?

@Esme – thanks for asking. Optometrist confirmed it is a floater – fortunately not due to a retinal tear. It’s extremely annoying looking at things close up, reading and looking at a computer screen, but more tolerable outside looking at longer distances and also watching TV. Apparently you learn to notice them less over time.

Long shot, but I think there is scientific data that suggest eating pineapple helps reduce eye floaters.

I am partially sighted in my left eye, which is squint, and have nystagmus brought on by the loss of light to one eye.  As a child I had constant eye tests and was a regular at the out patients for most of my childhood.  I’ve probably had hundreds, if not thousands, of tiny, bright lights shone in my eyes.  So much so that I am convinced it’s the reason I have permanent floaters visible all the time.  As a kid I used to play a game on long car journeys where I made them ‘jump’ pylons and trees.  If only we’d had smart phones back then…  But yes, you’ll stop noticing after a while, I’m so used to them now that I barely notice them, but they’re there all right.  Clustered in the centre of my vision.  For the record, I quite like pineapple but it has never reduced their visibility.

I once heard they were linked to fluorescent lights. I’d love to know more about this if it’s proven one way or the other or if there’s any actual science behind it.

I would follow it up and go to an eye clinic to see an ophthalmologist, all my eye problems started with a single floater 20 years ago.

Took a while to diagnose but my floater was caused by intermediate uveitis. Alot more episodes of uveitis over the last 20 years and I’ve got a lot more floaters. I’ve learnt to live with them, I don’t see them unless I look for them.

But all the episodes has caused scarring on the internal drainage channels of my eye, which lead to high internal pressure. Luckily caught it early so its not developed into Glaucoma, but i’m on drops twice a day now for the rest of my life to keep the pressure down.

I lost most of my vision in R eye 15yrs ago due to a tear near the optic nerve and detached retina and what sight I do have in it is sqewif due to damage to the lense it’s bloody annoying when riding as I see 2x technical trail features where there is only 1 🙁
Had the flashing in my good eye after an up lift day and went straight to hospital few years ago but they said all was fine, it’s happened twice since with no Ill effects.
What I have developed is a couple of floaters that I am told are freckles on my retina and a common problem.
Was told almost 2 years ago I need cataract op on both eyes but then Covid happened.