Eye Floaters

[TheBoneDoctah]

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I am a current medical student with TONS of eye floaters. I have had them for over a year now and they are getting worse. I can't study in rooms with white walls and focusing is incredibly difficult while on a computer. Going outside makes me miserable and I am contemplating vitrectomy to rid me of these things as it is ruining my quality of life.

Does anyone know why there isn't more research going to find a cure/procedure to safely remove floaters? I am no doctor, but it seems crazy to me that we can grow an ear on someone's head with medical miracles, but can't remove a little bit of collagen from the eye.

PS. I have had my eyes checked and don't have retinal detachment 🙂


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[idkididk]

A retinal specialist I work with explained it to me this way: it's like shooting down flies with a gun. Some surgeons might do surgery/laser, but the risk outweighs the benefit.

 

[airplanes]

but can't remove a little bit of collagen from the eye.

Perhaps because there's just a tiny bit more to it than that.

 

[NoSpec]

I am a current medical student with TONS of eye floaters. I have had them for over a year now and they are getting worse. I can't study in rooms with white walls and focusing is incredibly difficult while on a computer. Going outside makes me miserable and I am contemplating vitrectomy to rid me of these things as it is ruining my quality of life.

Does anyone know why there isn't more research going to find a cure/procedure to safely remove floaters? I am no doctor, but it seems crazy to me that we can grow an ear on someone's head with medical miracles, but can't remove a little bit of collagen from the eye.

PS. I have had my eyes checked and don't have retinal detachment 🙂


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Ultimate Answer: There's plenty of good retina specialists in Kansas City, you just need to see one and talk to them about it.

Long Answer: "idkidkidk" has it right that many retina specialists are conservative and almost never perform 'floaterectomies.' A lot of people with bad symptomatic floaters are high myopes, and they are at higher risk of retinal detachment with any intraocular surgery anyway. And generally you can see better through those floaters than you can through a detached retina. BUT, modern vitrectomies are not what they were even just a decade ago since smaller gauge equipment has become more commonplace. They've got like, 27 gauge vitrectors now. It seems to have made a big difference in the opinion of retina doctors I've talked to, and maybe it's because of that but it seem that more offer to perform vitrectomies for people that are very symptomatic from floaters who have given their brains plenty of time to adjust but just can't seem to do so.

I don't know any retina doctors who do 'laser' floaterectomy which seems to refer to YAG vitreolysis to the floaters. Seems like something that might be frowned upon, but I have seen it recommended in journals and online. I'm just imagining creating plasma in the vitreous and jombling those vitreous strands all around tugging the retina with every pop. Would be curious as to what others here feel about it.


But anyway, there's other individual factors to consider in any situation. See a retina doctor.

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

Perhaps because there's just a tiny bit more to it than that.

Im aware


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