Floating objects in the vision - floaters

How can there be worms in the eyes?

Sometimes, when you open your eyes, you find some floating objects inexplicably appearing in front of you, like small oranges. They are in the shape of strips, circles, dots, and lines, and they look like bacteria. Could it be that small insects have flown into the house? When you want to catch them or hit them with your hands, you find that you can't touch or catch them.

When you want to take a closer look at what it is, you find that it disappears again, but when you change your sight, it reappears. Could it be that a UFO has entered your eye? Don't rush to wash your eyes. This is not a flying insect entering your eye. What you see is actually a common phenomenon called floaters. Floaters are not as annoying as their name suggests. Sometimes they are really annoying and a bit annoying, but they are not real insects or objects. They exist in your eyeballs.

When floaters appear, they do deform. Don't be afraid. You may think they are alive, but they are not. First, let's look inside the eyeball. Can you see them? No. Why not try this? These floaters come from the vitreous body inside the eyeball. It is composed of 98% water and 2% protein complex. It is colorless and transparent, a bit like jelly, and supports the eyeball and acts as a shock absorber.

These small floaters are tiny particles in the vitreous body that are projected onto the retina, the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eyeball. Let's use a small prop to explain what these floaters are. We use a plastic bag to simulate the vitreous body, and this piece of paper is our retina. There are some floating particles in the vitreous body. They may be small pieces of tissue, red blood cells, or protein clumps. These substances will move with the eyeball, and when the eyeball stops moving, it will bounce a little.

Most of the time, floaters are not easy to detect. When they are close to the retina, they will appear. Oh, it seems a bit difficult to understand. Then let's do a small experiment. We need to prepare a table, a desk lamp, black cardboard, and a hand. Of course, your own hand will do. We put our hand under the desk lamp. When the hand is closer to the table, the shadow will be more obvious. So when these tissues are close to the retina, floaters will be more clearly seen. When you stare at a glowing white screen, white snow, or a clear sky, these backgrounds with the same color will make floaters appear more obvious.

When the light people see is brighter, the pupil will shrink more. We slightly process the scattered light just now and turn it into a spotlight. Can you see the shadow of the hand more clearly? So the brighter the light, the more the pupil shrinks, and the more obvious the floaters you see. Although everyone may experience this phenomenon, the degree of seeing will be very different. Most of them are normal physiological phenomena, but if the number of floaters increases, or a large area of ​​shadows block your vision, you need to see a doctor.

The article is produced by Science Popularization China-Creation Cultivation Program. Please indicate the source when reprinting.
Author: "Look! My Discovery" Beijing Yami Culture Media Co., Ltd. Science Creation Team Reviewer: Jiang Yang, Deputy Chief Physician of Ophthalmology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital