Swimmies
Posted by in Living at 2:46 p.m. on Sept. 14th, 20045 Comments 0 Pings
It’s gotten pretty bad lately; not only are the little amoebae running around, but there’s little sparks that show up and go around in circles. Maybe it’s because I used to sit around in the dark and poke my eyelids so I could see the pretty lights. We were too poor for real firecrackers, I guess.
The lights you see when you push your eyeballs are called phosphenes, by the way. I’m not sure why I know that.
Comments
Justin
September 15, 2004 at 8:49 a.m.:Swimmies? I like that term... I've seen them since I was a kid, too, and I used to really wonder if I was the only person to see them. Everyone I ever asked never saw them.
Sometimes they are joined together by thin strings like those science class atom models.
Anyway, thanks for posting about this - I'd mostly fogotten about them.
Ric Locke
September 15, 2004 at 9:46 p.m.:Another name for them is "floaters." They're bits of the aqueous humor -- the semiliquid stuff inside the eye -- that have become congealed. They get worse as you get older. I used to have a job that required looking into an optical system at a very small target. One floater, in my right eye, looks like a tangle of string embedded in Jello, and it's exactly in the center -- just where the target is. So I can't do that job any more.
But they're common. No, you aren't crazy. You aren't going blind, either, but it's worth a visit to an opthalmologist -- an eye doctor who does medical things rather than measuring visual acuity -- to confirm what's going on.
Regards, Ric Locke
KevinO
September 23, 2004 at 8:49 a.m.:Yep, got'em also. Nothing a good dose of Murine won't clean up. I had Lasik done in Bangkok a few years ago and the Doctor said to do a dose of eyedrops at least once a day to clean out the dust and pollution and whatever other crap gets in your eyes every day. She said that everyone should do this, not just Lasik patients. Living in Shanghai where the air is less than perfect (*hack!hack!), I've taken her advice and it helps a lot. Havent had conjuctivitis or any other eye problems since...
Cobby
September 14, 2004 at 8:34 p.m.:I see those bubbly thingies, too. You're not alone Friend ;-)