Eye Gel

Floaters are deposits of various size, shape, consistency, refractive index, and motility within the eye's normally transparent vitreous humour. more...

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They may be of embryonic origin or acquired due to degenerative changes of the vitreous humour or retina. The perception of floaters is known as myodesopsia, or less commonly as myiodeopsia, myiodesopsia, or myodeopsia. When observed subjectively, floaters are entoptic phenomena characterized by shadow-like shapes which appear singly or together with several others in one's field of vision. They may appear as spots, threads, or fragments of cobwebs, that float slowly before one's eyes.

Latin-derived Muscae volitantes (meaning 'flying flies'), or French-derived mouches volantes, are a specific type of floater consisting of small spots whose presence is normal and attributed to minute remnants of embryonic structures in the vitreous humour.

Description

Floaters are suspended in the vitreous humour, the thick fluid or gel that fills the eye. Thus, they generally follow the rapid motions of the eye, while drifting slowly within the fluid. Floaters located slightly to the side of one's direction of gaze can be particularly annoying. When they are first noticed, the natural reaction is to attempt to look directly at them. However, attempting to shift one's gaze toward them can be difficult since floaters follow the motion of the eye, remaining to the side of the direction of gaze. Floaters are, in fact, visible only because they do not remain perfectly fixed within the eye. Although the blood vessels of the eye also obstruct light, they are invisible under normal circumstances (and thus not annoying) because they are fixed in location relative to the retina, and the brain \"tunes out\" stabilized images due to neural adaptation. This does not occur with floaters and they remain visible, and, in some cases when large and numerous, very annoying.

Floaters are particularly noticeable when lying on one's back and gazing at blue sky. Despite the name \"floaters\", many of these specks have a tendency to sink toward the bottom of the eyeball, in whichever way the eyeball is oriented; the supine position tends to concentrate them near the fovea, which is the center of gaze, while the textureless and evenly lit sky forms an ideal background against which to view them.

Floaters are not uncommon, and do not cause problems for most sufferers. However, floaters are more than a nuisance and a distraction to those with severe cases, especially if the spots seem to constantly drift through the field of vision. The shapes are shadows projected onto the retina by tiny structures of protein or other cell debris discarded over the years and trapped in the vitreous humour. Floaters can even be seen when the eyes are closed on especially bright days, when sufficient light penetrates the eyelids to cast the shadows. It is not, however, only elderly people who suffer from floaters; they can certainly become a problem to younger people, especially if they are myopic. They are also common after cataract operations or after trauma. In some cases, floaters are congenital.

Read more at Wikipedia.org