After a year long procrastination, I finally paid a visit to the ophthalmologist at ISEC (the same doctor who operated on Cassandra’s eye Chalazion 2 years ago) to have my eyes checked as I have been seeing swinging black dots known as floaters in my eyes (especially on my right eye) for the past 1 year. After briefly seeing the eye doctor for about 5 minutes, I was given eye drops on both my eyes to dilate the retina. I then waited for another half an hour for the retina to dilate before going in to see the doctor again to have my eyes checked by a machine. I did not know that the eye drops would sting my eyes so badly. When the first drop touched my eyeball, I yelled out in pain as the drop began its work to sting my eye. I could not open my eyes for about 5 minutes after the first drop. After the remaining drops, I felt giddy as my vision blurred and I could not even read words from my mobile phone. For the next 3 hours, my vision was blurred and I felt a tad giddy too.

Rascal no. 2 snapped this picture of me after the eye drops.

Doctor’s diagnosis:
I have minor floaters on both my eyes. Nothing alarming BUT I must see an eye doctor immediately IF :1) The floaters have increased
2) I see flashing lights
3) I see shadows
4) My vision is suddenly blurred

What are floaters?
You may sometimes see small specks or clouds moving in your field of vision. These are called floaters. You can often see them when looking at a plain background, like a blank wall or blue sky. Floaters are actually tiny clumps of gel or cells inside the vitreous, the clear gel-like fluid that fills the inside of your eye. Although the floaters appear to be in front of the eye, they are actually floating in the vitreous fluid inside the eye.

What causes floaters?
When people reach middle age, the vitreous gel may start to thicken or shrink, forming clumps or strands inside the eye. The vitreous gel pulls away from the back wall of the eye, causing a posterior vitreous detachment. This is a common cause of floaters.

Posterior vitreous detachment is more common in people who :

1) are nearsighted
2) have undergone cataract operations
3) have had YAG laser surgery of the eye
4) have had inflammation inside the eye

The appearance of floaters may be alarming, especially if they develop very suddenly. You should contact your ophthalmologist (eye M.D.) right away if you develop new floaters, especially if you are over 45 years of age.