What Exactly Are Those Floaty Things In Your Eyes?

#1 What Are These Little Things Floating Inside My Eyes?

Have you ever noticed a strange little worm-like speck drifting aimlessly about in your field of vision?

#2 These annoying little squiggly lines, or “cobwebs,” are called floaters and are experienced by around 70% of people. So what are they?

#3 The scientific name for these "floaters" is called Muscae Volitantes, or "Flying Flies," but they are not insects or any kind of fly at all. They are not even specs of dirt or dust.

#4 Floaters are tiny objects that cast shadows on the retina, the light sensitive tissue in the back of your eyes.

#5 The floating objects might be clumps of tissue, blood cells, or bits of protein. The seem to bounce a little when your eyes stops or move quickly because they are suspended within the The vitreous humour, the clear gel that fills the space between the lens and the retina of the eyeball.

#6 The floaters are not visible all the time. They become more visible when they get closer to the retina. Just as when you place your arm down under a light, the closer you come to the surface, the stronger the shadow appears. And, this usually occurs when you are staring at something bright like the sunny sky or your computer monitor.

#7 The brighter the light is around you, the more your pupil contracts. This is what makes the floaters appear clearer and simulate the activity of something moving within the eye. When looking at snow, or the sunny sky, or a bright blue light, the floaters may come and go with your eye movements.

#8 There is another visual phenomenon that is similar to floaters, but is in fact, unrelated. You may have seen tiny spurts of lights appear when staring into a bright light.

#9 This is called the Blue Field Entoptic Phenomenon, and is the opposite of seeing those 'floaters'.

#10 You are not seeing shadows, but little moving windows allowing light stream into your retina.

#11 The windows are actually caused by white blood cells that are moving throughout the capillaries along the retina surface. The cells are so big they leave spaces that follow your retina and move along with your pulse throughout the eye.

#12 Sometimes you may notice what appears to be a long dark tail following the white dots. This is your red blood cells that have been blocked and are bunched up by the large white cell that is travelling through the capillaries.

#13 Normally Floaters are usually just an annoyance that people get used to from childhood, but sometimes as we get older and our cells shrink a bit, they can hamper vision and therefore require surgery.

#14 This procedure involves removing the vitreous and replacing it with a saline liquid.