The Deflated Cheerio

Last night, finishing up the exciting task of weeding, I started noticing some black ”cracks” in front of my right eye and a few flashes of light. Later I noticed it was actually an irregular circular-shaped black-edged floater inside my eyeball, about ¼” in diameter, constantly changing position and shape and sometimes even flipping over. It was very annoying, but there was no pain. Today after church I called my optician, who lives in Farmington and has an office in Bountiful who said he was just leaving to see a patient in his office and would take a look at my eye if I wanted to come in. (what great timing!). After dilating and examining my eye he announced that it wasn’t a retinal detachment, but a vitreous detachment, which is quite common (particularly among nearsighted people) and not as serious. He saw the floater which he called a deflated cheerio! My vitreous is about 60% detached and so far the retina is still OK. I have to go back about every 2 weeks and have the dilation done again hoping to see that the vitreous is detached completely without damaging the retina. Oh, goody. The best part is there is nothing they can do about the floater. The doctor said I would get used to it and eventually it would probably sink to bottom of my inner eyeball. I hope so. Here is info from the internet…my single floater is considerably larger than mentioned here.

Facts About Vitreous Detachment
Most of the eye's interior is filled with vitreous, a gel-like substance that helps the eye maintain a round shape. There are millions of fine fibers intertwined within the vitreous that are attached to the surface of the retina, the eye's light-sensitive tissue. As we age, the vitreous slowly shrinks, and these fine fibers pull on the retinal surface. Usually the fibers break, allowing the vitreous to separate and shrink from the retina. This is a vitreous detachment. In most cases, a vitreous detachment is not sight-threatening and requires no treatment.
As the vitreous shrinks, it becomes somewhat stringy, and the strands can cast tiny shadows on the retina that you may notice as floaters, which appear as little "cobwebs" or specks that seem to float about in your field of vision. If you try to look at these shadows they appear to quickly dart out of the way. One symptom of a vitreous detachment is a small but sudden increase in the number of new floaters. This increase in floaters may be accompanied by flashes of light (lightning streaks) in your peripheral, or side, vision. In most cases, either you will not notice a vitreous detachment, or you will find it merely annoying because of the increase in floaters.
A vitreous detachment is a common condition that usually affects people over age 50, and is very common after age 80. People who are nearsighted are also at increased risk. Those who have a vitreous detachment in one eye are likely to have one in the other, although it may not happen until years later.
Although a vitreous detachment does not threaten sight, once in a while some of the vitreous fibers pull so hard on the retina that they create a macular hole or lead to a retinal detachment. Both of these conditions are sight-threatening and should be treated immediately. If left untreated, a macular hole or detached retina can lead to permanent vision loss in the affected eye. Those who experience a sudden increase in floaters or an increase in flashes of light in peripheral vision should have an eye care professional examine their eyes as soon as possible. The only way to diagnose the cause of the problem is by a comprehensive dilated eye examination. If the vitreous detachment has led to a macular hole or detached retina, early treatment can help prevent loss of vision.