Floaters and Sports

[JK1985]

Hi,

I am a 22 year old male college student. I've noticed that my floaters have continued to worsen over a 2-3 year period to the point where I even notice them indoors. I've seen the eye doc a couple of times and he says that i have lattice (spelling?) degeneration and moderate myopia but no retinal tear, so he is not that concerned yet.

I have been weightlifting 3-4 times a week for the past month (just started), and it seems that my floaters have worsened. Is there some connection between weightlifting (and/or intense exercise like hockey) and eye floaters? I don't want to give up weightlifting for the rest of my life, but would you advise that I do so?

Thanks.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS]

First be sure that your "eye doc" is a real MD physician ophthalmologist. If you saw a non-MD, non-physician, non-full eye care provider then the examination in my opinion is inadequate and need to see an Eye MD. Find one at www.aao.org

If you did see an Eye MD then call back with your observations and your question.

To generalize, I would not tell one of my patients with your findings not to weight lift. I would advise against standing on the yead (yoga) and violent amusement park rides. For hockey and other violent contact sports wear proper protection including eye protection.

JCH III MD

[JK1985]

Hello,

Thank you for your response. I should have been clearer initially. I really appreciate the fact that you offer advice via the web. Perhaps it will be helpful if I explain my condition.

My current prescription is -1.50 for my left eye, and -4.75 for my right eye with astigmatism.

I have seen the same optometrist (OD) 3 times over the past year. One of the times was for the standard exam. My prescriptions have been changing very frequently (about -0.25 to -0.50 every 6 months). My right eye is significantly weaker than my left, and it appears to be an unexplained phenomenon (I was diagnosed with amblyopia at age 17 when I noticed that my right eye scored worse than 20/40 and the left 20/20). I performed a visual field test for both eyes 3x this year, because my optometrist noticed I have peripheral vision loss in the right eye and he wanted to check if it had stabilized. I have signs of lattice degeneration in both eyes.


Anyway, my question is: I am worried that by lifting heavy weights and doing sprints that I am worsening my condition (increasing floaters, flashing lights and the risk of a retinal tear). My optometrist said I should avoid heavy lifting. Have you observed any correlation between weight lifting and increased floaters?

Thank you very much.
-Julian

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS]

NO

JCH III MD