Eye floater surgery?

mr_fegelien

Has anyone undergone surgery for eye floaters? I know in most cases they are considered very benign and usually the patient will just learn to ignore them.

I first developed eye floaters when I came to Ireland in 2009. I went to a GP about it and he found it quite unusual given that I was only 11 years old. He said that eye floaters usually develop in people from 30s onwards. He referred me to an opthamologist and they took a look with an opthalmoscope and captured the images here.

I'm 22 now and have gotten used to them over the years but they still bother me and in the future I'd like to get surgery. I've seen there are two options, a YAG laser, which zaps them and a vitrectomy.

From what I've read, the former is almost certainly unsuitable for someone my age. Most people under 30 who develop floaters develop them very near the premacula bursa. These "young floaters" are in fact microscopic and thus impossible to treat with a laser. The reason they appear large is their position in the eyeball and the way light enters and casts a large shadow of the floaters on the retina.

The only option is a vitrectomy which sucks out the vitreous and replaces it with a saline solution. The trouble is that I'll never get it done in Ireland and would have to go to the U.K. or U.S. And even worse, insurance doesn't cover it so I'd be looking at paying €5,000 - €8,000 per eye. Pricey!

Anyone done it?

PsychoPete

Oh squiggly line in my eye fluid.
I see you lurking there on the periphery of my vision.
But when I try to look at you, you scurry away.
Are you shy, squiggly line?
Why only when I ignore you, do you return to the center of my eye?
Oh, squiggly line, it’s alright, you are forgiven

loughrey

Yeah, I did 12 years ago. Best decision of my life. Going to get my other eye done now. I was exactly your age at university when I had my vitrectomy done

ngunners

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118728757#Comment_118728757

Hi Loughrey, are you getting the other eye done in Ireland or UK? I have developed very bothersome eye floaters over the last year or so. Getting tired waiting for my brain to adapt.