Floater or what?
Posted , 11 users are following.
After 10 months of essentially perfect vision with my AcrySof IQ monovision IOL in my right eye, I now all of a sudden have one. I have this thing just off to the right of the center of my vision. When I try to look at it it moves off to my right. When I look left or up or down, it chases this thing in the same direction. It kind of looks like a small out of focus fly on my glasses lens, except that I do not have glasses on. The other issue is that at night when there are street lights off to my left I get vertical flashes of light on the very right of my eye.
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Has anyone had something like this suddenly appear and if so what the problem may be? Or anyone with a theory on what this may be? It is very annoying.
0 likes, 28 replies
Bookwoman RonAKA
Posted
Ron, your symptoms sound much like those I had last year. My floater looked something like a spider, and I was also getting flashes of light in that eye. My ophthalmologist examined me, and sent me to a retina specialist who diagnosed posterior vitreous detachment (PVD), something that happens a lot as we age. He told me that the floater would probably disappear in 3-6 months, which it did. Definitely worth a visit to your doc just to make sure there isn't a retinal issue.
RonAKA Bookwoman
Posted
My "floater" really does not float. It only appears to move when I move my eye. It actually looks like an engagement ring. I do have an appointment to see my optometrist on Tuesday.
Pifutoast RonAKA
Posted
I had similar symptoms, when I turned my head quickly at night there was a white flash of light along with an increase of floaters. My experience was prior to the surgery so not related. Most likely age related called vitreous detachment.
The most common symptom of vitreous detachment is a sudden increase in floaters (small dark spots or squiggly lines that float across your vision). When your vitreous detaches, strands of the vitreous often cast new shadows on your retina — and those shadows appear as floaters.
You may also notice flashes of light in your side (peripheral) vision. Mine resolved on its own but I did have it looked at. . Definitely have an exam to rule out something more serious. Ahh, the golden years
RonAKA Pifutoast
Posted
I do not see any other floaters. Just this one big one that looks like a ring. The light flashes seem to be related to light sources from my left side at night. It sure looks to me like a reflection off the edge of my IOL, which would suggest it has moved. I have never seen them before.
Pifutoast RonAKA
Posted
It does sound like a iol shift, I didn't realize that is a possibility once fully healed and settled in.
rwbil RonAKA
Posted
I too got floaters after cataract surgery. Not right away though. I think cataract surgery is just traumatic to the eye and s**t can happen. At first I swatted at flies that were not there. My doctor sees nothing wrong. I see different size floaters. Most of them are like small dots, but get some bigger ones also.
After time you just get use to them and the brain filters them out. That does not mean they are gone. For example writing this and thinking about them I see them. DARN!
RonAKA rwbil
Posted
This is unlike any floater I have seen before. In comparison it is huge. Floaters I have seen before are tiny specs that seem to actually float independent from my eye movement. It has never really moved. It only appears to move when I change the direction of my eye position. I am also now seeing the flashes of light on the periphery of my eye whenever the lighting is low or it is dark. Never seen those before. Have an appointment to see the optometrist this AM and hopefully will find out more.
rwbil RonAKA
Posted
I too get lightening strikes in the corner of my eye at night, typically when I am turning my head strongly in one directions. Again the doctor says he sees nothing wrong. I was thinking maybe I am seeing the edge of the IOL or something.
Let me know what the optometrist finds, but I would recommend seeing a retina specialist.
These are the type of crap no doctor tells you about ahead of time and why I get so ANGRY when someone comes on this forum and talks about doing a Clear Lens Exchange.
RonAKA rwbil
Edited
The strange part is that I know some see these lightning strikes from day one. I never saw a single one in 11 months or so until the day I got the big "floater". That evening I got all kinds of the lightning flashes, and have seen them daily since. This strongly suggests to me that something changed big time.
RonAKA
Posted
Bookwoman nailed it. The optometrist says it is Posterior Vitreous Detachment (PVD). He says that I have a partial detachment, and that is the reason why the floater does not really float. He expects the detachment will be completed in the next couple of weeks. He also claims that the detachment process is the cause of the light flashes, and that they should stop when there is full detachment. I am supposed to call back in a month if the flashes of light do not stop. After the detachment he claimed that the floater may become less visible and perhaps go away, but he would not guarantee it. I asked about treatment and he said that the risks of treatment outweigh the potential benefits. Essentially it is a live with it thing. Quite disappointing as I had the best vision of my life from this IOL eye. Now it is like having a pet fly that zooms around in front of the eye... It is especially distracting when driving.
rwbil RonAKA
Posted
I thought PVD is common as people age and the cause of floaters and the likeliness is increased when you have eye surgery such as Cataract Surgery.
From what I understand unless their is retina detachment it is not considered major, though if floaters are real bad one might think otherwise.
I did read that some doctor was using lasers to blast them, but the risk might not be worth it unless the floaters are really bad.
Need to give it time to see if the brain starts to filter them out.
Bookwoman RonAKA
Posted
Sorry to have been right, but glad it was just a PVD and nothing worse. And hoping that as time goes on things get better for you.
Sue.An2 RonAKA
Posted
Sorry RonAKA - glad it was not something more serious - although annoying. Do hope it goes away in time for you.
lucy24197 RonAKA
Posted
Sorry you're going through this. I had something similar happen about a month ago. I suddenly got a vertical black line at the corner of my vision, a lot like seeing a fly. Made me crazy when out doing yardwork--a lot of slapping at a fly that wasn't there. There would be some light flashes from it occasionally in the dark. This was right before one of the exams with the cataract surgeon, so I mentioned it when the tech was doing her part of the exam. She asked if it looked alike a fly, and then didn't say anything else about it. They didn't comment on it during the dilated exam, either. It's been slowly improving and seems to be almost gone now. Hope your will go away as it heals.
Matt22935 RonAKA
Posted
'My "floater" really does not float. It only appears to move when I move my eye. It actually looks like an engagement ring.'
Sorry to hear this RonAKA, it sounds like you have a 'Weiss Ring' floater which seems to be one of the larger types possible when PVD happens.
I've ended up with quite a lot of large stringy and blob-like 'floaters' that, given the amount i have, they suspected were caused either by full or partial PVD. It started three years ago and got a lot worse around a year ago but hasn't changed much since then. I also found that having cataract surgery the other day has helped slightly in the operated eye because, with so much more light getting in, the floaters aren't quite as dark but are obviously still there.
It took me a long time to accept them, especially as I'm constantly reminded when I'm in bright environments or looking at a white backlit screen. The other posts are right though as the only permanent treatment seems to be with a laser to break them up and possibly destroy them altogether, (but this needs a highly skilled and accurate surgeon) or a vitrectomy, both of which carry significant risk and most surgeons wouldn't recommend or perform these if it's purely to alleviate floaters.
If you're in the US, I think you might be able to get drops now that dilate the pupil slightly as and when you want a break from seeing floaters. This is because dilating lets in so much light that most floaters are unable to cast the shadows that cause the issue. There are a number of videos from a doctor in the US who specialises in dealing with eye floaters and after people contacted him to say how much relief they have from them after an eye exam, he was looking into making dilating drops available that people could use when they feel they need them.
RonAKA Matt22935
Posted
So far I have not seen any decrease in the size, location, or density of the "floater". The flashes of light have not gone away. I am supposed to call the optometrist back for another consultation if the flashes do not go away. I am becoming somewhat skeptical of his explanation of what causes the flashes. He says the are caused by the process of the vitreous outer membrane pulling away. If this were the case I would expect to be seeing the flashes more at random. I can precisely make the flashes occur by simply going into a dark room our at night outside and stand with a bright point source of light off to my left hand side. If I gaze straight ahead and just rotate my head from side to side I can make the flash occur at will. I guess if it does not go away, I will press him more on what the cause of the flashes is. To me they seem more like positive dysphotopsia effects caused by light reflecting off the edge of the IOL. Since I never had them before, this still makes me wonder if somehow the lens has moved in my eye. But on the other hand they started at exactly the same time as the floater, so it seems it must be related to the floater.
Matt22935 RonAKA
Posted
The flashes during PVD are from the vitreous pulling at the retina and I agree, I would’ve thought this causes completely random flashes of light and shouldn’t be possible to replicate by rotating your head. When I asked my surgeon if I had partial or full PVD as suspected by another consultant he said it was possible given the amount of eye floaters in both eyes. He explained that the vitreous is held by four ‘anchor points’ with two at the back and two which are more at the sides. He said that the side ones are a lot stronger than the back which is why, with partial PVD, the back ones become detached, releasing floaters at the same time and can cause the back part to move around which can look more like a less defined floater cloud in addition to any of the usual very defined lines, specs and blob floaters.
If you’re only seeing your issue in the dark with light sources in your peripheral vision when you rotate your head, I suspect that it is related to positive dysphotopsias where light is reflecting off of the back edge of the lens. I have exactly the same thing but mine also means I see arcs and halos when looking directly at certain light sources. I also find that if there’s a dark scene when I’m watching TV and there are light sources in that scene, I can see arcs created from each of the light sources shown on the TV a short distance away outside of the TV screen. Sometimes when I try to look at them they disappear but with most light sources, I can look directly at the light that’s been causing the distortion in my peripheral vision and clearly see the arcs, (some with light spokes going to the arc from the light source) and they’ll stay in view all the time I’m looking at them. The only way I can make them disappear is to tilt my head fully back at which point, the arcs disappear until I put my head back to normal again and they’ll come back.
From what I’ve read, positive dysphotopsias don’t generally resolve over time, (although some articles say they might, especially if the capsule develops some peripheral fibrosis) and are caused by light reflecting or bouncing off the back of certain types of IOL, usually hydrophobic acrylic square edged ones.
RonAKA Matt22935
Posted
I agree that these arc flashes which are right at the periphery of my field of vision look like reflections off the lens edge. However, what does not support that theory is that for me these arcs of light started to happen within a few hours of the the PVD becoming visible. I had never seen them in the 10 months or so since I got the lens, it seems like too much of a coincidence to dismiss them as not being related to the PVD.
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On the positive dysphotopsias, you may get some relief as you age. It is normal for the maximum pupil size in dim light conditions to reduce. I understand a large pupil size can make them worse.
Matt22935 RonAKA
Posted
In that case, it is strange how it seems to have come about during PVD. My dysphotopsias were visible instantly after the surgery but in your case, it does seem that the PVD has caused it.
From what I've read, PVD can compromise contrast by up to 50%. If it can have that much of an effect, I wonder if it's possible that, in your case, it's also causing some form of light scatter that since the detachment is causing you to see reflections from the edge of your lens that you didn't before.
RonAKA Matt22935
Posted
Other than seeing this thing semi floating in my vision, and the flashes in very dark situations, I have noticed no impact on my vision. When my eyes were tested, there was no deterioration in my visual acuity. It is puzzling.
RonAKA Matt22935
Posted
I have had a bit of an aha moment with these flashes I am seeing as an arc of light on the right edge of my IOL eye vision. They only happen with my eye open in a dark environment and a bright point source of light off to my left side. My understanding of the flashes caused by the PVD vitreous separating is that they are not real light, but just the way the eye responds to the detachment. And as a result they should be visible with the eye closed. And when my eye is closed in a dark room I see nothing.
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This is bringing me back to my original thinking that the PVD somehow has caused the IOL to move and give me the positive dysphotopsia effects. Discussed it with the optometrist and she agreed it was puzzling and suggested I discuss it with the IOL surgeon. Not sure when I will get in to see him, but I will bring it up.