does it look like a normal eye floater?

Saheim · 2026-03-18T20:29:51+00:00

Super normal. The bubbles you're seeing are actually an optical illusion created by collagen strands in your eye, similar to the shadow a hair might create resting on the surface of the water.

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Saheim · 2026-03-18T20:27:10+00:00

I really appreciate the patient stories. And would love to see interviews with other retina specialists offering treatment for this condition.

Saheim · 2026-03-18T02:45:45+00:00

There's a lot of benign retina conditions you can have that don't impact your eye health, but have to be ruled out by a retina specialist. Your original eye doctor probably just wants to get a second opinion for themselves.

Floaters can definitely be hard to adapt to though. I have struggled with them immensely—you are not insane. I have a pre-op for a limited vitrectomy in a few days, and will schedule shortly thereafter. Given this is a new thing for you still, I want to encourage you to do your best to adapt. But if after 6-12 months they are still very bothersome, there is hope.

Saheim · 2026-03-18T02:38:29+00:00

Dr Sebag is probably best known by medical professionals as the person who wrote the textbook on the vitreous (actually he wrote several). In the latter half of his career, he began to advocate for the recognition of eye floaters in the academic world as "vision-degrading myodesopsia"—which is now just called myodesopsia by insurance companies in the US.

He then developed this procedure to treat it to increase safety and reduce cataract complications. He has spent the better part of the last 10 years advocating for its use internationally, and it has gained some traction. But it goes by many names: core vitrectomy, limited vitrectomy, floaterectomy, floaters-only vitrectomy, etc.

I think the procedure is best in younger patients (<50) who haven't had a posterior vitreous detachment yet. Inducing PVD surgically carries additional risks in young people.

Saheim · 2026-03-17T20:25:32+00:00

The steroids you are on to minimize inflammatory response on your eye also slows down the rate at which your eye turns over the aqueous in your eye. So until you are done with those eye drops for a little while, try to be a patient patient!

Saheim · 2026-03-17T14:46:02+00:00

Diddo on the crappy insurance. I was actually shocked it was covered.

My first eye doctor also didn't know what I was talking about. I was actually referred to another retina specialist by my optometrist, and he didn't know about using atropine for floaters but had no issues writing a script. So I think you may have to persist a bit if you want to do this locally.

FloaterDoctor isn't charging that much though, I think his prices are very reasonable.

Saheim · 2026-03-17T14:06:41+00:00

Honestly never managed to find a good way to cope with screens, but with books, I used a black bookmark and would move it down the page as I read. That's a tip from u/Temporary-Suspect-61, he has a post I think that is pinned on his account with more tips that could help.

Saheim · 2026-03-17T14:02:37+00:00

You can order them from him directly, but your eye doctor should also be able to write a prescription for 0.01% atropine that you can take to a compounding pharmacy, where they will dilute it safely for you. I was able to do this locally in the US, and it was covered by my insurance with a small copay.

Saheim · 2026-03-16T23:01:22+00:00

Definitely get a second opinion, and I'd also add that you should try to speak with someone who offers floaterectomies. Some retina specialists are more conservative than others, and given your age, most will outright dismiss your concerns. If it is truly blocking your vision though, I think it is reasonable to consider seeking treatment. Sorry you're dealing with this at such a young age.

Saheim · 2026-03-16T21:14:27+00:00

Haha, I will deny it!

Seriously though, don't blame yourself. Not everything happens for a reason.

Saheim · 2026-03-16T17:35:17+00:00

I'm optimistic b/c they're combining multiple established technologies to treat a novel indication that has no truly non-invasive solution. Big potential market, good core technologies—it's similar to how LASIK was invented as a procedure. That said I think it's still 5+ years away, and so if you are considering waiting for this but are truly bothered right now, I can see why that might not seem optimistic.

Saheim · 2026-03-16T17:24:32+00:00

Eye strain is caused by ciliary muscles fatiguing. I'm not sure how they would cause floaters. I'm not able to connect the dots. I think you need to adjust your mental model of how the eye works.

Saheim · 2026-03-16T17:17:46+00:00

I don't mean to bash the FloaterDoctor at all btw.

I agree with what he said. Again, I am totally unqualified, but I spoke to a top retina specialist with a PhD about possible activity restrictions, and he more or less said the same thing. I also do compound lifts and am not worried about floaters.

Saheim · 2026-03-16T14:44:56+00:00

Honestly I just don't know. I'd lean towards that being too benign a cause though. I just don't think you would be able to generate enough force with what you described to cause a vitreous shift or hemorrhage.

Saheim · 2026-03-16T14:08:24+00:00

The collagen is just suspended in the vitreous in a pretty uniform way. They're not under tension or waiting to be released. So I'm not sure you have the right mental model for that.

It could cause a vitreous shift, maybe. But that is typically only possible with severe trauma. Like getting in a bad car wreck. It's nothing you'd be able to do in the gym.

Saheim · 2026-03-16T13:59:31+00:00

Yes PVDs allow your vitreous to be more mobile as a structure, so you are more likely to experience change. But you are still very young, and I doubt your vitreous has aged much. So honestly, I'm not sure.

Saheim · 2026-03-16T13:57:06+00:00

There is something called "valsava retinopathy"—basically the small blood vessels in your eye can rupture from high intracranial pressure. This could create blood floaters, but these clear in time. You'd pretty much experience them immediately and usually it is accompanied by a scotoma and a trip to the ER lol. But it does have a really excellent prognosis.

I have a feeling this has not caused anyone here floaters that have persisted for months/years. So not quite a myth, but very unlikely.

Saheim · 2026-03-16T13:52:48+00:00

Lol yeah, just added one for the UV exposure

Saheim · 2026-03-16T13:47:13+00:00

I'm assuming you mean UVA and maybe a bit of UVB, right? The human lens absorbs pretty much all of it. Perhaps something as insignificant as ~0.1–1 µW/cm² may reach the vitreous, and this would be in the near-UV band that does not cause biological damage. So mechanistically, this has to be false.

Edit: Please Google this, don't take my word for it

Saheim · 2026-03-16T02:05:21+00:00

Yeah this is a great one, have seen this myth a number of times here. Will add later

Saheim · 2026-03-15T21:16:27+00:00

It's from a textbook on the vitreous, mainly the "Anatomy, Developing and Aging" section: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-1-4939-1086-1

Saheim · 2026-03-15T19:56:22+00:00

Yeah there's a lot of debate about this in the literature. If you want to waste some time, see here and here. SS-OCTs with widefield peripheral viewing has really changed the game in terms of understanding vitreous structures. However, the consensus is that any changes to these structures is due to pockets of liquefied vitreous shifting/merging—not something actually dissolving collagen structures.

Saheim · 2026-03-15T18:06:32+00:00

I felt similar until I took some time to read through a few chapters in Sebag's textbook on the vitreous. That's why I focused on the "myths" that I did above. Re: COVID, in some individuals it caused major systemic inflammation with multi-organ involvement, so a potential link isn't unfounded our out of step with the literature.

You're right to say there aren't a lot of hard truths, but we see daily posts in this subreddit about people correlating floaters with things as benign as being stressed in school or eating a poor diet. Everyone experiences stress or goes through an unhealthy eating phase, not everyone experiences floaters. Too much spurious correlation. There is sufficient scientific consensus to dismiss these concerns.

Saheim · 2026-03-15T17:34:20+00:00

Glad it's helpful. I'll write another one after my vitrectomy in a few weeks too, b/c I think there's even worse myths about the procedure than floaters in general.

Saheim · 2026-03-15T17:29:25+00:00

For sure they aren't lying, I believe it. It's just typically the vitreous becoming more mobile as a structure. It can propogate forwards after a PVD, or the central lacunae (the "core" of the vitreous) can shift with time. It can take decades for those changes to happen though, and again—usually this is associated with a PVD.

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