Don’t panic if you have “eye floaters”, remember these three points to effectively deal with them

Author: Zhang Hongzhen, Chief Physician of the First People's Hospital of Aksu Prefecture, Xinjiang

Reviewer: Zhang Rongmin, Chief Physician, First People's Hospital of Aksu Prefecture, Xinjiang

In busy modern life, our eyes are like camera lenses, capturing the wonders of the world at all times. However, with the popularity of electronic screens and the increasing burden on the eyes, an eye phenomenon called "floaters" has quietly emerged, causing trouble for many people. Today, we will explore in depth the causes, properties and treatment methods of floaters to help everyone better understand and deal with this eye problem.

1. Unveiling the mystery of floaters

Floaters, a name that sounds a bit sci-fi, is actually a relatively common eye phenomenon. It is mainly manifested by seeing small black or transparent dots floating and flying in the field of vision. These dots shuttle in front of the eyes like mosquitoes, hence the name.

From a medical point of view, floaters are actually a natural aging phenomenon caused by the degeneration of the vitreous body in the eye. The vitreous body, a transparent gelatinous tissue that occupies most of the space in the eye, will gradually liquefy and degenerate with age or other factors, causing the fibrous substances or proteins in it to form clots. These clots move with the movement of the eyeball, thus projecting a moving image on the retina, forming what we call "floaters".

Figure 1 Copyright image, no permission to reprint

The occurrence of eye floaters is not limited to a certain age group, but it is closely related to the natural aging process in the eye. As we age, the degeneration of the vitreous body becomes an irreversible physiological phenomenon, so the elderly are more susceptible to eye floaters. In addition, factors such as high myopia, intraocular inflammation, and fundus hemorrhage may also cause the occurrence of eye floaters.

2. Look at floaters rationally: they are harmless in most cases

When faced with floaters, many people worry that their vision will be seriously affected or even go blind. However, in most cases, floaters are harmless. Although these small dots floating in the field of vision may be uncomfortable, they do not cause obvious damage to vision. They are just images of clots of material in the eye projected on the retina and do not indicate a serious eye disease.

Of course, this does not mean that we can take floaters lightly. If the symptoms of floaters suddenly worsen, or are accompanied by other eye symptoms such as light spots and flickering lights, you need to seek medical attention in time. Because these symptoms may be a signal of fundus problems (such as retinal detachment, fundus hemorrhage, etc.). Therefore, we should maintain a rational attitude towards floaters, neither panicking too much nor taking it lightly.

3. Three strategies to deal with floaters

When facing floaters, we can take effective measures from the following three aspects.

1. Maintain good eye care habits

Good eye care habits are one of the important measures to prevent and reduce floaters. First of all, we should pay attention to arranging the time of eye use reasonably and avoid staring at electronic screens or books for a long time. Every once in a while, we should let our eyes fully rest and relax. We can relieve eye fatigue by looking into the distance, closing our eyes to rest or doing eye exercises. Secondly, we should maintain a correct sitting posture and appropriate eye distance to avoid excessive use of eyes, which will lead to eye fatigue and aggravation of myopia. In addition, we should also pay attention to eye hygiene and avoid rubbing our eyes with our hands or letting dirty water enter our eyes to avoid eye infection.

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2. Seek professional medical advice

When we suspect that we have floaters, we should not blindly deal with it ourselves or listen to the advice of non-professionals, but should go to a regular medical institution in time to seek help from a professional doctor. The doctor will conduct a detailed examination and diagnosis based on the patient's specific situation and give targeted treatment recommendations. For most patients with physiological floaters, the doctor may recommend that they maintain good eye habits, have regular eye examinations, and pay attention to changes in the condition. If the symptoms of floaters are severe or accompanied by other eye symptoms, the doctor may consider taking further treatment measures.

Figure 3 Copyright image, no permission to reprint

3. Adjust your lifestyle to reduce symptoms

In addition to maintaining good eye care habits and seeking professional medical advice, we can further reduce the symptoms of floaters by adjusting our lifestyle. First, we must ensure adequate sleep time to allow our eyes to fully rest and recover. Secondly, we must avoid strenuous exercise and heavy physical labor to reduce the impact and vibration of the eyes. In addition, we can also promote eye health by adjusting our diet, such as consuming more foods rich in vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, etc.

Although floaters are annoying, they are not terrible. Knowing the causes and properties of floaters, we can look at this eye phenomenon more rationally and take effective measures to deal with it. Remember and follow the above three strategies - maintain good eye care habits, seek professional medical advice and adjust your lifestyle, we can protect our eye health while enjoying a clear "vision". Finally, I would like to remind everyone to have regular eye examinations to detect and deal with eye problems in time, so that you can have healthier and brighter eyes and enjoy a better life!