Floaters in the eye

[RG137]

I am 22 years old and have had some floaters in my eye for about a year. They havent gotten any worse but I am wondering what I should do about it. They are very bothersome when im in a brightly lit room and when driving and such, mostly distance vision. I do not have insurance so I have not been to see a doctor about this problem. I am near sighted so it is possible that I could have a torn retina I beileve.

Also, if it is a torn retina, Is the procses to repair it painful? I understand that if the retina becomes detatched that it is a more lengthy and painful process. If someone here has had a tear repaired please do let me know about it. I am very afraid and not financially stable with insurances right now.

[Ag-i-doc]

you cant diagnose yourself with a tear, and i cant diagnose you with a tear w/o seeing you, either.  no amount of reading on the internet about symptoms you have or dont have will tell you if you have a retinal hole/tear/detachment or not.  i personally doubt you have a tear, but no one knows until they actually LOOK.

but yes, most of the time a tear repair involves an in-office laser procedure followed by an rx of anti-inflammatory eye drops.  no big deal.  not usually painful.

try not to stress over what the treatment will be for something you dont even know you have.  in fact IMO its UNLIKELY that you have a tear.  just go get an exam and have someone look.  odds are they'll tell you that you dont even need surgery...then you'll feel much better.

[Forum-OD-MP]

if you had a retinal detachment you would most likely know it by now.  usually lots more symptoms than just floaters.  vision loss, flashes, that sort of thing.

you still need to have it evaluated b/c you could have a retinal tear, or even an impending retinal detachmen (one that hasnt yet occurred, but is going to)

but most of the time, for the vast majority of people, a floater is a totally benign condition.

in general retnal detachment repair is costly, time consuming and not very comfortable.  but it could prevent total blindness, so IMO it is certainly worth it for those who need it...

[boogers]

I had a laser procedure done seven years ago after tearing my retina... it didn't hurt, but the back of my brain (my occipital lobe) got extremely hot. The laser was green, and the surgeon shone it into my eye for approximately 30 seconds. The recovery period was two days, I believe - I wasn't allowed to do any physical activity for two days, and I wore sunglasses because my eyes were pretty sensitive.

I get my retinas checked every year now. I had a scare a few months ago with some flashing lights but it turned out to be an ocular migraine!

Go get your eyes tested. Good luck!

[RG137]

Ok, what about a laser surgery to repair a tear rather than a detatchment? I believe a tear is more like what I would have because after reading about detatchment of the retinas and such, im not experiencing any of that. I just have a couple of little floaters that are bothersome in distance vision. Also, again, is this a painful  thing to experience? I've read that it takes around 20-40 minutes to complete the laser treatment.

What sort of recovery time is normally expected assuming it's a tear and not a detatchment?

Sorry to keep bugging you but i've never had a surgery in my life and the whole idea of this scares me a lot.