▲ “Floaters” can cause retinal detachment and blindness. Doctors dissect the symptoms and high-risk causes.
The eyes are the window to the soul, and it is very important to protect the health of the eyes, because once some eye diseases occur, the consequences can be large or small. One of these diseases is called “floaters”. Although it is not painful to the eyes, it is really annoying. How exactly are floaters formed? When interviewed by TOPick, Liang Yulong, an honorary consultant ophthalmologist of Sanatorium and Hospital, dismantled the four high-risk factors of “floaters” in detail.
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“Floaters” may not only appear “mosquitoes”
Dr. Liang pointed out that “mosquito floaters” is just like its name. When patients open their eyes, they will see mosquitoes passing by. They want to take a picture of it but they can’t. The reason is that it does not exist in the outside world, but a foreign body exists. in the eye. Because it floats in the eye, it also moves when the eyeball moves, so it keeps interfering in the field of vision. This situation is called “floaters”. On the medical level, “floating mosquitoes” is a general term. It does not necessarily mean “mosquitoes”. .
“Flying Mosquito” Principle
As for why the above symptoms occur, Dr. Leung explained that the eyes are not hollow, but have a transparent gel inside, which is normally transparent, so the vision will not be obstructed. However, when the transparent gel shrinks and its density increases to form impurities, which block the light, people will see the shadows of impurities in the eyes, move around with the eyeballs, and even block the middle of the field of vision. In the short term, people will feel that there are foreign objects blocking things. , bored.
So is there a way to predict in advance and avoid “floating mosquitoes”? Dr. Leung said that there are no special symptoms before the “floaters” are formed, and patients usually only know the “floaters” when they see them. However, he reminded that there is a situation that reflects the beginning of the disease, and the best treatment period can be grasped:
Because the retina acts as a light-sensing function, some patients may see a flash of light passing by the side of the field of vision when the “floaters” first appear, reflecting the shrinkage of the jelly in the eye and pulling it to the retina, just like a camera pulling a film. If this happens, it is advisable to see a doctor to see if any floaters are preparing to form.
Floaters can cause retinal detachment and blindness
After the appearance of “floating mosquitoes”, the impact can be large or small. Dr. Liang suggested that you should seek medical examination as soon as possible. He pointed out that following the “floating mosquitoes” are formed, they will basically follow the patient for a period of time. There is no panacea to make them disappear instantly. They need to wait for them to settle naturally and slowly swim away from the middle of the field of vision, so that the patients will not feel too troubled . However, once “floaters” appear, it is best to seek medical examination in time, because “floaters” have the risk of retinal detachment and even blindness.
The gel has a strong force when it shrinks, and it may grab the inner retina of the eye and shake it. The retina acts like a camera film, the film cannot be photographed if dropped, and the eyes will also lose their vision due to this.
In addition, the shrinkage position of the gel is different, which may also increase the symptoms of “epiretinal membrane” degeneration. Floaters may develop new degenerative membranes in front of the macula, or swell the macula, making people’s vision blurred; but only a few patients have this phenomenon.
4 risk factors
As for what conditions will lead to the appearance of “floating mosquitoes”, Dr. Liang pointed out that there are 4 high-risk factors:
As people age, the human body naturally degenerates, and the eye gel will naturally shrink. The phenomenon of degeneration is like the shrinkage and wrinkles of the skin of older people, so the “floaters” have the opportunity to increase.
The deeper the myopia, the earlier the “floaters” will form and the easier it is to cause retinal detachment. Myopia is more than 600 degrees; if it is more than 1000 degrees, the formation of “floaters” will be faster and more, and the probability of tearing off the retina will also increase accordingly. Therefore, “floaters” are not limited to the elderly. If children see a lot of close objects, myopia will increase rapidly, and “floaters” will also appear.
If someone in the family has retinal detachment, the probability of “floaters” in the next generation will be a little higher. Due to genetic and other problems, children are also born with more impurities in the eye gel, solid condensation, floating foreign objects in the field of vision, or strong shrinkage of the gel, and the retina is prone to detachment. Although the situation is rare, it is true that juvenile cases from a few years old to teenagers have been encountered clinically. Therefore, if someone in the family has had retinal detachment, the next generation may wish to have their eyes checked to know the probability of the disease.
- Eye or head injuries from extreme impacts
It is also common to directly hit the eye gel and shrink it during exercise, causing retinal detachment.
Treatment and Prevention
Although “floaters” may cause blindness, Dr. Liang also reassures everyone that there is no need to panic. He said that following the initial inspection of “floaters”, as long as the retina is not perforated or detached, patients are usually advised to relax and coexist with it, and there will be no major problems. If the symptoms have been present for ten or eight years, it is unlikely to cause retinal detachment in the future. However, once the “floaters” are pulled to the retinal hole, the hole may need to be sealed with laser to avoid retinal detachment. If the retina has detached, a slightly major surgery may be required to fix the detached retina and prevent blindness.
If you don’t want to be troubled by “floaters”, you must prevent them as soon as possible. Dr Leung recommends:
Sports with extreme impact can be avoided by everyone. The second is to do a good job of sun protection, because the sun is exposed to a lot of ultraviolet rays. It means that if the skin gets more sun, it will shrink and get more wrinkles; the same is true for various tissues in the eyes. You can use more sunglasses to protect it, so that the degradation rate of the gel in the eyes will be reduced. Children and young people should reduce the use of mobile phones, do not look at the mobile phone too close, and do not look at the mobile phone in a dark environment such as the quilt, so as to avoid the deepening of myopia and increase the chance of suffering from “floaters”.
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Reporter: Zhang Pei