Hi, I’ve been on this thread for a number of months researching and considering my Floaters Only Vitrectomy. I had the procedure done on 12/3/20 and am, initially, pleased with the results and hoping for further improvement in 2021.

Eye floaters are specs, circles, “threads”, blobs..any number of various shapes and sizes (as you mentioned, others have described in this discussion group). As I understand, they are made up of collagen, protein or pieces of the vitreous membrane or other membranes that get stuck in your vitreous humor and obstruct the free-flow of light to your retina. This “debris” stuck within your vitreous humor causes varying degrees of obstruction to your vision and, thereby, has varying effects on quality of vision.

As I, previously, described, I put up with tons of floaters in each eye for most of my life until this year. After my December 2019 cataract surgery and placement of IOL, I got a new floater (or group of floaters) that I’d describe as follows: a wide area of 50-100 small, grouped circles that passed through my main vision field consistently. My retinal surgeon called it a “veil-type” floater(s). Driving got very challenging as the “veil” would go to the left, then right through my main focal point of vision. Surgeon described it as “like a windshield wiper.” It caused me visual confusion and got scary. After reading a lot of this group’s experiences and researching, I decided that my problem lessened my quality of life enough AND the surgery was low enough risk that I’d have it done. Ok, enough on that.

You can look up Floaters and Flashes Animations at various Youtube sites online to see very good representations of what they look like to those afflicted with them. I don’t know how they replicate these animations, but they are very realistic. Sum: Most people have eye floaters, especially when you get to be over 60 years old. Anyone with the problem just has to decide if the floaters are a significant factor in vision degradation and quality of their life in considering sticking with status quo versus getting surgery.

Good luck, Bob

@stuckonu it was good to hear some details about the issues with your vision, apart from the issues you’ve had with the many providers you’ve seen. A couple thoughts and comments in response to yours:

As I said once before in this thread, the term, floaters, seems to me to be a misnomer, because the floaters I experienced from my deteriorating vitreous were unlike any other floaters I had experienced. They certainly were more debilitating. Your brief description of “colors and lights” is unlike my experience although the comment “shapes and movement” was part of mine. I was reassured when I read all the descriptions from other people that we shared the commonality of moving phenomena that obscured vision. The description of that phenomena did vary just a bit from person to person but gauzy wisps and pond water under a microscope seemed to resonate. Colors and lights reminds of the phenomena experienced by some with migraine headaches. Whatever your experience, your vision is a constant struggle with varying degrees of impairment. That constant struggle and effort is a shared experience here. And hearing the experiences of other people makes one not feel so alone or that they are imagining things.

I’m not sure how someone on the phone would say with certainty whether or not you should have cataract surgery without examining you. I get that sometimes more than one issue is present and can confound a diagnosis and solution, but that struck me as unusual.

You mention without elaboration an EXPERIMENT. Not understanding what that entails, I can’t comment.

After seeing Ophthalmologists and a Vitreous-Retinal specialist and after a long history of unusual issues without resolution, I would probably be headed to a trusted research and teaching facility such as Mayo or other such institution.