white smudges in vision?

[greenwood112]

For about a year and a half I often have white spots or smudges in my field of vision when I read.  I don't see them unless I am looking at a computer or book (I see them now as I type...the last two letters of whatever I'm typing/looking at are smudged).  It is specifically a white, translucent spot seen on the black writing and is annoying because it basically blocks part of whatever I'm reading.  I also find that sometimes my vision seems bleary no matter what I do but it's not like I can't see.  It's more like I just can't quite clear my eyes and nothing is sharp. I went to an optometrist today who looked at my eyes and does not see any real problems.  She didn't even see floaters. Although my eyes are pretty good, she gave me a prescription in case I wanted to see if it helps the smudge marks...it is as follows: OD: Sphere: pl (I assume this means just plastic...no RX?), Cylinder -.50, Axis 145 and the other eye OS: sphere, +1.25, cylinder -1.00, Axis 077.

I don't understand what the cylinder and axis mean, but I know that +1.25 isn't much of a prescription.  Then my friend said something to the effect of the -1.00 cylinder will almost cancel out what little prescription is there.  Is that true? She said it would become +.75 which is not going to make any difference to my vision.  I don't know how she knows this but she has glasses so she has more exposure than I have and sounds like she knows what she is talking about.
So I guess my questions are 1) What do you think could be causing the white smudges in my vision when I read and is this unheard of?  2) Is it likely that a low prescription will make any difference?  3) Will the "cylinder" numbers of -.50 and -1.0 cancel out the prescription and, if so, how will -.50 affect the prescription of the eye that just says pl (assuming it means plastic only)?

Thank you for your time!

[allmymarbles]

Surgery for a macular problem? I thought there was no treatment for it.

[caren123]

Regarding the white smudges: my experience was that as I tried to read a page of print, it looked as if the ink of the print had faded in several places on  the page.  The white spots or clouds  were not stationary; they appeared and disappeared and interfered with my seeing objects clearly.  I also saw wavy distorted lines on the Amsler grid.  It was determined to be a retina (macular) problem and it cleared up after surgery.  Your case may be different, but that was my experience.

[Ray T Oyakawa, MD]

1) It could be a macular problem--see an ophthalmologist. 2) Not for the smudge. 3) No.

The right eye prescription is nothing.  The left eye shows a little hyperopia with some astigmatism.

Dr.  O.