I Went To See An Eye Floater Doctor

People who are close might have noticed, that I like to wear sunglasses even indoors. Most do not know that I suffer from eye floaters. Eye floaters are the lines or dots one could see looking at a bright background.

I have noticed them first in February when I was on vacation in Catalina Island. Since then, I went to see three ophthalmologists. The last one, Dr. Johnson in Irvine, CA was a specialist in this field, known for his laser treatment of eye floaters.

I went to see Dr. Johnson on 9/17. It was an experience worth noting. The meeting was fairly expected, but he gave me some extra information and insights, which is hard to find on the Internet. He spent an hour just talking, and illustrated coagulated proteins in the vitreous cast shadow on the retina, causing the perception of the floaters. After all, it is unknown what has caused the proteins to clump together, and he gave an assumption that the environment factors, like unhealthy diet, could cause the inflammation or unexpected change in the eye.

Making sure that I have all the information I need to know, Dr. Johnson started to inspect my eye. I have been told that most young patients have the floaters too close the retina, an unfavorable condition for laser treatment. The device is the same one that he used to operate with laser. He attached a contact lens-like lens in my eye, between the microscope-like device and my eye. It was not uncomfortable when he did the inspection. It took about 5 minutes for each eye.

Unfortunately, I was not a candidate for the treatment, as my age predicted. Dr. Johnson discussed other treatment options, like vitrectomy, that usually carries too much risk for an otherwise healthy eye. Yet, some people went for it. As the severity of the symptoms are different for each person, and the tolerance of each person differs. More importantly, many people are stuck at the stage to “fix it,” whereas some have obtained acceptance. It is hard to say which stage I am at, because I am still optimistic that it can be treated, or mitigated, and it does not cause me great distress if, in the end, there is nothing that can be done.