Random Should I get a vitrectomy for eye floaters?

[cowardescent]

I know in most cases they are considered very benign and usually the patient will just learn to ignore them.

I first developed eye floaters when I came to Ireland in 2009. I went to a GP about it and he found it quite unusual given that I was only 11 years old. He said that eye floaters usually develop in people from 30s onwards. He referred me to an opthamologist and they took a look with an opthalmoscope and captured the images here.

I'm 22 now and have gotten used to them over the years but they still bother me and in the future I'd like to get surgery. I've seen there are two options, a YAG laser, which zaps them and a vitrectomy.

From what I've read, the former is almost certainly unsuitable for someone my age. Most people under 30 who develop floaters develop them very near the premacula bursa. These "young floaters" are in fact microscopic and thus impossible to treat with a laser. The reason they appear large is their position in the eyeball and the way light enters and casts a large shadow of the floaters on the retina.

The only option is a vitrectomy which sucks out the vitreous and replaces it with a saline solution. The trouble is that I'll never get it done in Ireland and would have to go to the U.K. or U.S. And even worse, insurance doesn't cover it so I'd be looking at paying €5,000 - €8,000 per eye. Pricey!

Anyone done it?
__________________

 

[MsDiz]

Gosh that must be super annoying, I’ve had floaters in the past but they eventually fall off my vision so they go away but at the time they were quite distracting, I gave myself a headache just following them around on one occasion.

I’ve never heard of that procedure but have looked into it there and I see in the UK there are places that will do it and you can pay in instalments. It really is a shame you can’t get referred over and have your insurance help pay for it. I’ve had a few ops in England and my insurance has paid the cost.

Actually I just checked and the Mater private hospital in Dublin does that procedure. Be worth sending them a message.

 

[Xorkoth]

I've always had eye floaters, I remember as a little kid, wondering what they were, and just looking at them when I got bored sometimes, noticing how they would reappear every time I moved my eyes and then slowly start to "fall" down, faster and faster as I kept my eyes unmoving. I always figured everyone saw them, I guessed they were bits of microscopic dust I was seeing.

In what way do they bother you? Do they make it harder to see? Having eye surgery seems like an extreme response to them, I would be creeped out having someone suck fluids out of my eye. Seems more like a last resort sort of thing.

 

[FuckinAcidMan]

Wait, I assumed everyone had those.

Mine don't really bother me but they're rather minor and difficult to notice unless looking at say a bright cloudy sky or something like that.

Oh, a white blank canvas or piece of paper with good, bright overhead lighting makes it easy to notice them little dots and squiggles.

More noticable if I have taken psychedelics, particularly phenethylamine varieties.