You know what’s annoying? Waking up, or even just going about your day, when suddenly there are floaters in your eyes.
They’re obnoxious, they’re weird, and they’re…well, they’re actually mostly harmless.
But what are they actually?
Floaters are, according to assistant professor of ophthalmology at Yale School of Medicine, Michael Ehrlich, M.D., “small condensations of gel floating around inside the eye, similar to a holiday snow globe being shaken.” They happen when gel in your eyes shrinks or changes consistency.
If you’re worried enough to go get yourself checked out by the doctor, it may be the case that they say nothing is wrong, In this case, you just have to learn to deal with them and ignore them, like seeing the frames on your glasses.
In fact, your brain actually has a way to make up for the obstructed vision, you just have to wait a few months after the floaters appear for this to kick in.
But when are they a worry? After all, in rare cases, floaters can be a sign of inflammation, infection, or diabetes. But floaters are usually only a problem if you start seeing flashing lights that aren’t there, if the number of floaters you see increases significantly, or if you start seeing a shadow in your vision. This could mean one of the shrinking gel floaters has pulled off a bit of your retina, which would cause serious vision problems.
Eye floaters, harmful and not harmful, are most common in women, so if you get them, you’re not alone. Just power through, and pretty soon that cool human brain will compensate for them.
