Eye Floaters

So I'm working late at night and into the wee hours of the morning, and checking my email, and there's a notice about "eye floaters" in my inbox. What the heck? A company wants me to check them out, their solution to the annoying problem of visual specks.

First, I have to tell you that this made me laugh, seeing this in my inbox. Second, I have to come clean and tell you that I've suffered from floaters since I was a little kid. It's actually something I researched in the past, wondering what the heck to do about them. Third, it's not often that I have this problem, so not something I focus on.

I read the information by this eye floater person or company, and it seems to be decent. Their solution makes sense to me, based on my experience. I also Googled some other info, since I don't tend to trust the internets. It seems, based on most sites I read, including the Mayo Clinic, that floaters are a result of age and the vitreous fluid around our eyeballs. I like saying eyeballs. Say it out loud. Now try saying it like Roscoe P. Coaltrain, from Dukes of Hazzard. You know you want to. He'd say it like this - eye-bowls.



There. I feel better. And I actually met Roscoe P. Coaltrane at an art festival in Florida once. I had no idea he's an artist.

Here's the deal: I've had eye floaters off and on since I was about eight years old. So an aging issue for me it is not. The company who sent me the info in the first place claims that everyone has the floaters, so that made sense to me. About a bazillion years ago, someone (probably my mom) told me that eye floaters are a result of stress. Now see, THAT makes sense. Especially given the times I've noticed them.

One site attributed floaters to a variety of things, including stress. For myself, I've noticed that those little buggers show up during the worst times in my life. They tend to last anywhere from a few minutes to a few days.

Now. From my perspective. I've never seen myself as a victim or sufferer from floaters. I remember, as a kid, really enjoying the eye floaters. We'd be at a pot luck, or I'd be in class, and I remember tracking them, watching the world around them. The shifting nature of them was too cool. As an adult I still do the same thing when they occur. Watch them as a form of entertainment. Yes, I'm easily amused.

If they happen while I'm driving, I admit it's a distraction. The whole ADD thing, you know. I want to play with the little specks bouncing back and forth in my field of vision, so I lose track of the road. Not a good thing. Heh.

Any way you slice it, all of the literature seems to point to the same conclusion, that floaters are normal, and that they can't really be removed, shy of some drastic measure. That they increase with age. Different sites list different ways to deal with them is all. The company which sent me the eye floater info and started all this uses good old common sense.

Let me know, will ya, if these are a problem for you? Now that I've done a little digging, I'm interested in hearing back from people I know about their experience. I think floaters are way cool, but I'm guessing, based on my reading, that they're more often than not annoying. Either way, tell me!

Until I write again ...

Flea