Fuck, Floaters

[indstr]

yeah i've had them since i was a kid. i used to call them "sticks flying by"

[MX7]

The first time I saw them, I thought I was seeing single cell organisms, and that my eyes had gained the abilities of a microscope whist I gazed at the sun.

Ah, to think that that childish whimsy was the result of retinal damage...

[tviks]

I started to get these after my LASIK surgery in 2004, and thought that my eyes had been ruined somehow. But I guess they would've showed up anyway. I just never realized they were so common. Kind of a relieve. Just wish there was a way to get rid of them though.

[Emperor Fossil]

Yeah, pretty much everyone gets them, some more so, some less so.

However, as PO suggested, if you get a sudden shower of noticeably dark ones you'd best see your ophthalmologist as it could be specks of blood caused by retinal detachment or tearing, particularly if you also get little moving or flashing light effects at the edges of your vision from time to time.

I've had a torn retina. It wasn't a whole lot of fun.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Whether we like it or not, as we get older, we'll eventually get more floaters in our field of vision -- that is a given, folks... ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[shoe-sama]

i see scanlines
is this normal?

[freddiebamboo]

For the first time at shmups, it's not just you

[Herr Schatten]

I don't seem to have them. Something wrong with me?

[Skykid]

I get this too, in the right eye - although I don't ever notice at all. In-fact, until this thread, I'd forgotten about it completely for many years.

[charlie chong]

EYE LAZERS ARE TEH ANSWER

yesh!



whooooooooshhhhh!!!
unfortuanetely this stupid arse crat burnt an image of yor mums breasts upon my retinalz ..it was fun for teh first 5 mins but now i feel sick

[Shatterhand]

I've had them since I was a kid too. I thought everyone had this.

[landshark]

Wow - I always wondered what these were. Seems almost impossible to describe to someone who doesn't have them. Had them as long as I can remember, well ... around 6th grade is when I recall seeing them.

[it290]

It's all part and parcel of the wonderful human experience. How many people have seen god because they rubbed their eyes a bit too hard?

PS -- shmups.com needs to have a 'no cat images' option for browsing the forum. Maybe a special cat tag so that they can be clearly marked as such?

[Ed Oscuro]

EYE LAZERS ARE TEH ANSWER

yesh!
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d146/ ... ewmew1.jpg

I fought that kitty for my newalone.

[unsane]

I started to get these after my LASIK surgery in 2004, and thought that my eyes had been ruined somehow. But I guess they would've showed up anyway. I just never realized they were so common. Kind of a relieve.

Wow, i've lived this exact same experience! I never had any floaters, then i got LASIK, then i immediately got one. I got scared at the time, but they said it was normal. I wanted to believe them but the timing was bothersome. Perhaps it's not a coincidence, and LASIK can cause this in rare cases...

Hmm, I've never got these before. In rare occasions after sneezing, my vision is clouded with these particles but they disappear in seconds.

I don't think this is the same thing at all. That's more like an explosion of black & white dots due to the impact of a sneeze, or something. Perfectly normal.

I don't seem to have them. Something wrong with me?

No, i think it means your vision hasn't deteriorated as much as the rest of us yet.




This subject reminded me of a more interesting and little-known optical phenomenon: blue field entoptic phenomenon. Focus on a smooth blue surface (blue sky is simplest), and you will see tons of little dots zig-zagging around. It's your white blood cells.

Reading up on that i found another interesting optical phenomenon: Haidinger's brush. Focus on whitespace on an LCD screen (not CRT), and tilt your head. You will notice a faint yellow and purple crosshair where you gaze. It will look like this. With practice, it is possible to see it in the naturally polarized light of a blue sky.