Eye Floaters (advice and experiences??)

[Mathom]

Free specs? Im paying £400 plus for mine. I have to get new ones each year too.

Im going to have to ask about that. Maybe its because im only in my 40s and this is a condition of older people or something, but im definately going to ask about it.

 

You'd not get £400 frames free! I think I can have something like £60-£80 worth free every year - and if you go somewhere like specsavers all the prices include the lenses, and you can sometimes get 2 for 1 offers. I can spend that cash on contacts if I like, too.

 

Do your spex have to be specially made because they're complex (i.e. you cant get 'em in one of these one hour labs)? If so, you'd possibly be entitled. It's worth asking.

[Jabberwocky]

You'd not get £400 frames free! I think I can have something like £60-£80 worth free every year - and if you go somewhere like specsavers all the prices include the lenses, and you can sometimes get 2 for 1 offers. I can spend that cash on contacts if I like, too.

 

Do your spex have to be specially made because they're complex (i.e. you cant get 'em in one of these one hour labs)? If so, you'd possibly be entitled. It's worth asking.

Yes it takes them a couple of months to make the lenses plus they have to be darkened. Theyre complicated things so i suppose thats why they cost so much. Plus i have to get frames that have small lenses and then the lenses have to be thinned down a lot.

Come to think of it, to stop me from having the thick lenses i suppose the moneys worth it.

[Mathom]

Yes it takes them a couple of months to make the lenses plus they have to be darkened. Theyre complicated things so i suppose thats why they cost so much. Plus i have to get frames that have small lenses and then the lenses have to be thinned down a lot.

Come to think of it, to stop me from having the thick lenses i suppose the moneys worth it.

 

I just go for the best cheapest frames I can get - well, best value, and ones that don't look too speccy, which is hard as I have to get tiny frames. Then if you have any cash left over you can get lenses thinned down etc. Plus you can add your own money in if you want more epensive ones, which I usually end up doing, just to get the best i can.

 

Sounds to me like you might have complex lenses too. Get thee to an optician!

[Jabberwocky]

Yeah they are complex. Itd be nice if they allowed me to get lasix or something but it wouldnt work on me. If they ever manage how to do eyeball transplants Im going to ask to have cats eyes fitted just to freak the kids out.

[Greybeard]

yes. consultant asked me about flashes I DO have them but thought they were because of my frequent headaches.

 

Keep your eye on the flashes

 

But, seriously, the thing you should take close notice of is how straight lines appear in your vision with the affected eye. Any hint of curvature in lines that should be straight, particularly vertical lines, and you should get yourself to the emergency eye-clinic at the Hallamshire ASAP.

 

Quite a lot of older people suffer a 'detached retina' and don't realise the significance of the symptons until it's too late for laser surgery. In fact it's often not a physical detachment of the retina but an intrusion of fluid behind it that distorts/displaces the retina and seriously impairs vision.

 

I'm told that it is quite unusual for both eyes to be affected in this way and it is usually the eye affected by 'floaters' that is most at risk.

 

Anyway, - do be vigilant

[Jabberwocky]

Now thats worrying because ALL vertical lines for me bow outwards no matter how long or short they are.

[Mathom]

Yeah they are complex. Itd be nice if they allowed me to get lasix or something but it wouldnt work on me. If they ever manage how to do eyeball transplants Im going to ask to have cats eyes fitted just to freak the kids out.

 

And you'd be able to find your way to the fridge in near total darkness! Bonus! Just don't go pooping in a little box in the corner of the kitchen.

 

Get some of those cats' eye contacts. Or some of those white ones that make it look like you have no iris and pupil.

[TheBlueDragon]

I get them all the time, I was told they are something todo with dead cells in your eye (or something allong the lines)

 

Had them since I was in junior school

________

Lovely Wendie99

[crookes]

I've had stacks of them for years, even when my eyesight was fantastic. Look into a clear sky and they look like a flock of birds. Sometimes a large one will make me duck as if something is going to hit me in the eye. I've just learned to live with it, along with tinnitus.

[S8 Blade]

I've just got the one in my right eye, and as I look straight ahead it's set on my lower right hand side.. about 5 o'clock. Can be quite good fun trying to look at it.. 'cos wherever I look - it moves! It's when they don't move that it can be dangerous. General floaters will move whichever way you look, you;ll never be able to look directly at them. they're just a build up of cells that get in the path of the lights entering your eyes. hence the shadow effect. They can be lasered to seperate the cells but usually only in extreme cases.

 

Detatched retinas, or vitreous detatchments can give the effect of a curtain coming over your vision, as well as floaters - but these don't move. also flashing lights. Any sensation of flashing lights needs to be checked at eye casualty @ Hallamshire, or if it's out of hours then go to A & E. It doesn't matter if it turns out to be nothing - you've only got one pair of eyes, they can never be replaced. Don't bother going to the optician - the number of people that I've seen at work, and advised them to go to eye casualty, and they think i'm being rude or we can't be bothered to see them because that's the advice I've given them. We tell you to go up there as that's where you can be checked & that's where you can be treated!!!!!