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Floaters (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter SuperDuty
- Start date
OK I've moved it for you.
CharleyBird
Well-known member
Oh yes; note that mine are age related, started seeing them mid 50's.
The more plain/white a view was, the more I became aware of my floaters & sinkers. Out of focus... small grey dots, an occasional small ribbon, one larger double dot.
Looking at a white wall, the ceiling, net curtains, or the sky they were most obvious.
Looking at a contrasting jumble of shapes and colours they effectively vanished.
So, I've learnt to ignore them.
I reckoned logically(?) that a premium binocular view would make them more noticeable whereas a less sharp binocular will perhaps reduce their effects, blurring their effects.
However in practice, this turns out not to be, the best binocular image works better for ignoring them.
If I'm properly focused on the subject in view rather than looking for faults, my brain will ignore floaters and sinkers as it generally does without binoculars.
The more plain/white a view was, the more I became aware of my floaters & sinkers. Out of focus... small grey dots, an occasional small ribbon, one larger double dot.
Looking at a white wall, the ceiling, net curtains, or the sky they were most obvious.
Looking at a contrasting jumble of shapes and colours they effectively vanished.
So, I've learnt to ignore them.
I reckoned logically(?) that a premium binocular view would make them more noticeable whereas a less sharp binocular will perhaps reduce their effects, blurring their effects.
However in practice, this turns out not to be, the best binocular image works better for ignoring them.
If I'm properly focused on the subject in view rather than looking for faults, my brain will ignore floaters and sinkers as it generally does without binoculars.
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For daytime observations with modest magnifications and relatively large exit pupils, the floaters in my eyes don‘t bother me much. They become more of a nuisance at night when observing with high magnifications resp. small exit pupils. Binocular observation generally appears to be easier for me than using telescopes, day or night, since each eye compensates the impact of floaters in the other eye.
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Ignoring floaters helps when the amount of floaters is not huge. But when for example it becomes a nuisance when reading a book ignoring is not a option anymore.
Or when looking at a bird who shows itself only for a few seconds and at the same moment a cluster of floaters is disturbing or even blocking your view of the bird. Ignoring is impossible.
Or when looking at a bird who shows itself only for a few seconds and at the same moment a cluster of floaters is disturbing or even blocking your view of the bird. Ignoring is impossible.
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Yes, I have the little grey almost transparent amoeba like floaters in my left eye, nowhere near as many as I had before and after my first two eye procedures earlier this year, but better further to my recent cataract surgery. There are enough to make me aware of them against a plain background (for me it's when following raptors on the wing against the backdrop of the sky, the bluer and brighter the more evident they are). But, as CharleyBird says, you just accept them and learn to ignore them. They spoil the view through binoculars no more than they spoil the view without binoculars, in my opinion. You do learn to live with them.
More annoying than the floaters in my left eye, is the large cloudy out of focus area which corrupts the view through my right eye which is caused by an area of the vitreous which has attached itself to the retina and stuck. I don't fully understand the mechanics of it, but it distorts the shape of the retina, I believe, and the effect is like an area of frosted glass swishing around my field of view. Adding this to the different colour cast and brightness in the eye ( which is at stage two cataract), adjusting the dioptre setting on a binocular can be a very lengthy process and sometimes nigh on impossible.
That all said, I really sympathise, floaters play with your mind as much as your eyesight, but they will only affect your enjoyment of your binoculars as much as you allow them to.
More annoying than the floaters in my left eye, is the large cloudy out of focus area which corrupts the view through my right eye which is caused by an area of the vitreous which has attached itself to the retina and stuck. I don't fully understand the mechanics of it, but it distorts the shape of the retina, I believe, and the effect is like an area of frosted glass swishing around my field of view. Adding this to the different colour cast and brightness in the eye ( which is at stage two cataract), adjusting the dioptre setting on a binocular can be a very lengthy process and sometimes nigh on impossible.
That all said, I really sympathise, floaters play with your mind as much as your eyesight, but they will only affect your enjoyment of your binoculars as much as you allow them to.
What are floaters?
Dots, circles, clouds, cobwebs, lines or other shapes that look grey, white or are see-through may be floaters.These can move or stay in one place and are easiest to spot when you look at a plain background like a blue sky or a blank wall. They are usually small and most of the time they quickly move out of your visual field.
Floaters are tiny pieces of debris in the eye’s fluid, known as the vitreous humour. This is the jelly-like substance found in the space in the middle of the eyeball. As children, the vitreous humour is fairly solid, but as we age the ‘jelly’ naturally becomes more watery. Floaters occur when clumps of the vitreous humour start moving around within this watery substance.
The dots or strands formed cast shadows on the retina, which leads to an interruption in vision and therefore the appearance of something floating in front of your eye.
I've always had them. I used to amuse myself as a schoolkid, looking out the classroom window and studying them rather than Mathematics (this explains much...). I think mine are getting worse now that I'm in my sixties; at least I've noticed that sometimes, I seem to have the exact same floater for a couple of days.
JTweedie
Well-known member
I first had some in my late 30s. I had never even heard of them until I got some. Sometimes they're noticeable for me, other days they're not. I found the worst place for them was in my work's office because the meeting rooms have plain white walls and the floaters were really obvious there. Thankfully more generally, it's not got so bad as to be a problem for me at the moment.
jan van daalen
Well-known member
What you describe as 'frosted glass' is the symptom of Macula degeneration which often comes with age.
It will probably increase (sorry mate) in time.
Hopefully not but the next step is noticing 'fireworks' on the edges of your view which indicate that the retina is getting loose. In that case you will need surgery right away.
Cosy thread SuperDuty.....
Jan
Lerxst
Well-known member
I find them less obnoxious when I've managed to get a bird in my bins, but my situation is different. I have lost all vision in 96% of the nominal visual field. So I cannot see most of my floaters, but when they do get into my narrow central tunnel vision, they are very noticeable and can really ruin the view. Having a large image of the bird makes them less disruptive than it would be otherwise. Also I am constantly moving my eyes side to side and up to down in order to scan, even when using bins, and this movement makes their appearance in my visual field more transitory.
beacon hill
Well-known member
Had floaters and Tinnitus for as long as I can remember.
Would drive some crazy when there both get bad at the same time.
Just one (two things) that have learnt to live with.
Would drive some crazy when there both get bad at the same time.
Just one (two things) that have learnt to live with.
I developed them in my left eye back in January. So far I've found it relatively easy to acclimate to them.
Jan, I'm 100% not disagreeing with you, your diagnosis agrees with my own gut feeling and best guess self diagnosis.
But, two consultant opthalmologists, along with my lovely and very thorough optometrist, tell me there are no signs of macular degradation, drusen etc., which might be causing this. The change in my right eye was sudden and I assumed was another tear and potentially another detached retina, such as I had in my left eye back in March this year, so I went straight to my eye clinic for diagnosis and correction. After scans/photos and a detailed dilated eye examination which, from memory, I believe also involved the consultant going into the eye socket around the sides and back of the eyeball (very unpleasant!), the opthamologist drew a blank, he could find no visual evidence of what the problem might be. A second consultant opthamologist repeated the examination a few weeks later, at a check up to make sure the reattachment of the retina in my left eye had been successful. Again, she could find no evidence of what might be causing it either.
Whatever it is rarely affects the central area of my vision (reading and driving no problem), it's more peripheral for the most part, but does sometimes affect the centre, although a couple of blinks normally clears the problem. Nobody has been able to give me a positive diagnosis of what is causing it, apart from the suggestion that it could be some vitreous stuck to the retina (which to me sounds like drusen).
Anyway, I'm fully prepared for another retinal tear and detachment, I've been there before and know what to expect.
