Just learned a new thing for us eye-centric types.

Thought I was going blind or something -- there's a piece of yarn floating around in my right eye, and I feared my eyeball was coming apart. Turns out to be age-related (usually) and something you have to just live with.

Floaters are actually shadows caused by collapsing vitreous humor. More serious conditions lead to retinal tears and worse, where you see flashes of lightening inside your eye. Frightening, and since we use our eyes so much for binoz, scopes and such, maybe the younger ones want to know what's ahead.

It was a gut-check for me. I'd decided to trust God through it all, but wondered about braille, becoming a prayer warrior full-time, etc. Africa would have to happen again SOON if the eyesight were on its way out.

Barry

I got floaters from banding my head getting into the car during a thunder storm -- have NOTHING to do with retina tears-- had two docs do thorough exms .. they are caused by bits of the v-humor floating in the eye, and are eventually absorbed .. i went in a more or less concerend manner, and my main eye doc .. who's been seeing me for 20 years -- said you are right to be concerned, but has nothing to do with retina tears -- it cleared up in 3 weeks.

I was sittng in a duck blind with a good hunting buddy. He complained about seeing floaters that were so big he could not tell them from the teal. I suggested that he shoot at it, if it flew off it was a teal.

Thanks for bringing this up. Earl died 3 years ago, that was one of our better laughs, it was nice to rember that hunt.

JD

Worth the read:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medline...achment/ot079102.pdf

http://www.apagrafix.com/patie...ars/retinaltears.HTM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retinal_detachment

welding=brown spots

got 'em.

forever.

Barry,

Was the diagnosis (wet or dry) Age-related macular degeneration?

George

Couple of months ago I begin experincing flashes and floaters. The flashes are now gone and the floaters are nearly gone.

Joe A.

I've got them in both eyes buy the left eye is much worse than the right. The are most annoying when looking at a uniform background like the sky or a painted wall. I first noticed them about 7 yrs ago when I was 37.

quote:

Originally posted by GeorgeS:
Barry,

Was the diagnosis (wet or dry) Age-related macular degeneration?

George

She dilated my eyes (jeez it takes forever to get the iris back from black) and thoroughly looked. No tears, just the floater. Nothing to do except check again in two weeks -- no bouncing until then. Guess that includes recoil. No macular degeneration either.

Have an opthalmologist (not an optometrist, optician, or nurse practitioner or jeffeosso ) check for toxoplasmosis (or other parasites).

Do you cats in the house?

George

quote:

Originally posted by jeffeosso:
I got floaters from banding my head getting into the car during a thunder storm -- have NOTHING to do with retina tears-- had two docs do thorough exms .. they are caused by bits of the v-humor floating in the eye, and are eventually absorbed .. i went in a more or less concerend manner, and my main eye doc .. who's been seeing me for 20 years -- said you are right to be concerned, but has nothing to do with retina tears -- it cleared up in 3 weeks.

Here's hoping, jeffe. Kind of a drag, but I'm relieved it isn't critical. Do you still reload?

Just remembering. :-)

my doc, campbell btw, does a 2 drop thing.. one stings.. and that's the anthesesia .. .the other would really burn, but i was back 100% normal, post dialation, in 10 hours ...

i whacked the HECK out of my knoggin that day... standing up into the car.. OUCH ...

i am pretty much fine.. if this tick with go away!

Get those retinal tears fixed (laser through the eye to seal them up)! They ultimately lead to retinal detachment. Once that happens, get a seeing eye dog & sell the guns. Not something to dismiss. It almost happened to me, I was lucky to have a good Opth locally when it happened. BTW, your optometrist is likely not going to have the gear or exp to tell if you have small tears in the retina, see a specialist. The tears can turn into a detachment in less than 24hrs under the right or wrong circumstance.

Dr. Leidlein is an eye specialist / M.D.
I have been thoroughly checked by an expert. Many thanks.

My eyes are fine. I have a different problem.
I guess if the shoe fits ware it.

Shoot a quick dozen right and lefts of Norma PH through a light 500NE double off a bench. You'll have more floaters than a spring break swimming pool.

Vitreous floaters:
The the tiny ones that everybody gets more of as they get older are like dust motes in the vitreous, the clear jelly that fills the eyeball, between lens and retina.
Almost anybody will have these, more the older you get. May be a tiny bit of cellular debris, protein, waste, a tiny speck of oxidized/inspsissated/thickened/dried-up/nonhomogeneous vitreous.
Yes, you can see them best when gazing at a well illuminated white or light background.
Just as you see dust motes in the air in a shaft or beam of light, though you cannot see them outside of the beam.

The large ones, looking like a fibril or piece of yarn, may appear suddenly and even be heralded by a mild flash of light sensation.
This may happen from a vitreous detachment, a pulling away of the vitreous from the retina, but with no tears in nor detachment of the retina.

The very nearsighted (high myopes), if due to an oblong instead of spherical eyeball rather than corneal or lens variation, may be more likely to have vitreous detachments, as well as the elderly.

Usually this is a benign situation, and nothing can be done about it, and if you were 20/20 before, you will most likely still be 20/20 after, if that booger/floater is not right in the center of vision all the time.
Shifting gaze direction or head position may make that booger float out of the way, but it will be back.

Retinal detachments or tears with showers of many floaters, falling curtain of retina with serious vision changes and flashing of light sensation: Different.

I have had floaters for a good part of my life.
I just fell lucky I'm still alive when I wake up in the mouning sorry I just ignore them.

As a young man, I worked welding. I've still got junk floating around in my eyes.

So what is the medical vision and/or other advice for those 65 or older on shooting hard kicking guns?

I was telling this wiseguy at the gun club that I bought a .416 Rem Mag and a 450/.400 and he has to go and say, "you know what they say don't you..guys your age shouldn't be shooting guns like that.."

I'm in my 40s and have a potential retinal tear in the making and I asked the opthamologist about it in May. Pointed out I shoot a lot of .458 Lott and .577. He's got degrees in both internal medicine and opthamology from a good medical school and is a very thorough person and said he'd never seen a correlation between heavy recoiling guns and retinal tearing, but I'm not so sure. If you have a decent cheek weld it is going to rattle your head pretty well and boxers often get retinal tears and detachments...Guess the jury is out so it depends on if you want to err on the safe side or not.

Kinda surprised me when the doctor told me he wouldn't worry about it, personally, but on the other hand, he may never have shot heavy recoiling rifles and underestimates their recoil levels...