New floater

[090308health]

Hi, I`m a 27 yr old female who recently developed a new eye floater in my right eye. I have posterior lenticonus in the left eye, and mainy have peripheral vision in that eye. I wear a -3.00 balance in the left eye, and a -3.75 in the right eye. About a month ago I noticed a new floater in my right eye (good eye). The floater looks like a black dot with a little string of "see through" dots attached to it. When I look at it, it darts away. It gets in my central vision at times, then darts up in the corner of my eyes. Could this be a sign of a retinal detachment or a benign floater? I have had floaters my whole life because I am nearsighted I suppose, but this one seems to be more noticable. It shows up more when I`m driving in the day, or looking at the computer, etc. I have an appointment to see my eye Dr. tommorrow, but just wanted to get another opinion. I haven`t had any other symptoms ther than the new floater. Thanks....

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS]

Hello TabA. Do let us know what your "doctor" says.  Floaters like people come in all sizes and shapes. Some move a lot, some move very little. If they are right in front of the retina they are very hard to ignore because of the sharp shadow they project on the retina, if they move forward towards the cornea they are easily ignored because the shadown is faint. Floaters associated with retinal detachment tend to be showers or clouds of black sooty ink like particles, often with bright flashes of light (usually at night and with eye movement), loss of peripheral and/or central vision.

I believe it most likely that your examination will confirm a benign vitreous floater.

JCH III MD Eye Physician & Surgeon

[090308health]

Hi doctor, thanks for your reply. I did go see the eye doctor the other day, & he said he did not think I had a retinal detachment. He was a new doctor that I was seeing, & not my usual eye doctor though. He was brief with me, but said I did not have a retinal detachment. I did have a dilated exam. So I was relieved that he didn`t think the floaters were anything serious. However, he didn`t really explain why I had the floaters... He also said they wouldn`t go away; my brain would learn to ignore them. I always thought floaters  would eventually sink to the bottom of the eye. Do they ever go away? Or will I have to learn to live with these new ones?

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS]

Hi TabA   about one in five people you are have floaters. Because the back of the eye is filled mostly with relatively firm vitreous gel (like jello) not all floaters drop to the bottom and out of sight. The brain is remarkably good in 'tuning them out". If you go looking for floaters by looking up at a clear blue sky and moving your eyes you are likely to be able to see floaters in the future (so can I for whatever consolation that is).

JCH III MD Eye Physician & Surgeon

[090308health]

Ok, thanks for your quick replies... : )

[090308health]

Hi, I forgot to ask a couple more things above... Is the floater I`m seeing a PVD? If so, am I likely to have more PVD`s? And am I at risk for retinal tears with these? Thanks for your time, I know you`re very busy.....