Floaters and contact lenses

[kay_]

I've been wearing contact lenses for the past 6 years (I wear glasses at home) and recently I see a few floaters in my vision. I don't know how to get rid of them and they're really frustrating me. Will they go away if I revert to wearing glasses full-time?

Also, I'm considering laser vision treatment procedures. Is it true that eyes get damaged by contact lenses so much that I'd have to stop wearing them and wear glasses for about 1-2 years before my eyes get healthier for the procedure?

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS]

1. There is NO cause-effect relationship between floaters and contact lens.
2. Use the search feature and read about "floaters"
3. No they won't go away if you wear glasses.
4. Most eyes are NOT damaged by long term contact lens.
5. Your last sentence is false.

JCH MD

[kirsty1986]

i have just had my natural lens replaced in my right eye, and am supposed to be having my left eye done, not sure if i want it now, as i have a huge floater and blurry vision, which i never had before. will this floater break down or dispear? is my blurry vision normal. my doctor never told me about the after effects of surgery. please help.

[distracting]

wouldn't you say there is a cause and effect with being myopic and floaters though?

[JodieJ]

How long ago was it that you had your right eye done?  If a monofocal IOL was used with a target of good distance vision, then it's normal and expected that your near/intermediate vision will be blurry.  (Is this your situation?  Or did you receive a multifocal implant?)  What does your doctor say about your blurry vision and floater?

I'm assuming that you did not have cataracts.  Why was your natural lens replaced?  It makes me very uncomfortable to learn that your doctor didn't discuss what you might experience after surgery.  Please don't do ANYTHING to your left eye if you're not satisfied with the vision in your right eye.  You may want to see another ophthalmologist for a second opinion about your right eye.  Keep us posted on your condition.  Your answers to my questions might be helpful to the forum doctors.  

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS]

-

[kirsty1986]

hi, thanks for the advice. basically i had the op done on monday 14th july. My lenses in both eyes are displaced. I have no idea what what done in the op, all i know is that they called cataract extraction with iol lens. basically all my life docotors and opticians said there was nothing any1 could do, with being so badly short sighted it has had massive effect on my whole life, i used to be scared of going for a job with computers, i then learnt you can actually make the settings bigger! however my last manager basically thought i had a disabillity and said i shoudn't be working there, im not thick i jst have to be more careful than others as i have to hold things very closely. I have been for promotions and not got them which i no is due to my eyesight, i can't drive so it take me 2 hours 2 get 2 work and 2 hours 2 get home, which drives me mad, but i do enjoy my job. anyway, i decided to go to moorfields in london england(i live in uk) and they said no problem they could replace my lenses and give me better distance vison. however on the day i met 2 new doctors who would be doing the op, they scared me by telling me i may not even get any better sight than what i do already with glasses or contacts, and also i may get a detatched retina! However he did say what ever happens i would need surgery at some point in my life as the len could move so far out and drop off, so i went ahead but no1 could prepare me for what i see now, its like having the wrong strenght contact lens in, i have a check up with the doc on the 30th july, so hopfully my q's will be answered. I don't no if the blurryness is 2 do with the stitches being in? or the brain having to adjust to a new lens and still having the other1 in my left eye displaced? also this massive floater is annoying but according to moorfields accident and emergency it should disperse or settle at the bottom of the eye it can just take a while as im young and my jelly is very soft! but if my vison improves and i can read with glasses or whatever and i can read a number plate, i guess floaters are a small price to pay for vison ive enever had.
Thanks for reading this.

[kirsty1986]

just to let you know, the floater is at the top of the eye n moves round obviously, it's like 3 lilttle clumps of blood together which is of course making it look bigger! ive also noticed other floaters to but they don't bother me like the big 1. in your experience is it normal after the surgery?and if it is do they usually disperse and settle?

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS]

1. Floaters are more common in a myopic patient and occur at a younger age.
2. In the great majority of cataract operations the operation itself does NOT cause the floaters. The floaters are already in the eye but cannot be seen because of the reduced vision caused by the cataract. once the cataract is removed and the eyes sees better it sees the floaters. Think about walking into a dark room where you can barely see, you then turn on the room light and you see furniture in the room. Turning on the light didn't cause the furniture, it was there just "in the dark" that is the most common reason for the floaters. Much less common are bleeding in the eye or major changes in the position of the vitreous in the back of the eye.

JCH MD

[kirsty1986]

i didn't have catarct surgery though and i could see without my glasses before and with them jjust not far away, so i did not have them before! as i don't have them in my left eye that hasn't been opertaed on, so i disagree with you there in my case

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS]

-