Those Squiggly Thing Impairing Your Vision Sometimes Are Actually Called Floaters

A person might have excellent eyesight altogether, but sometimes they might see weird floaty things in their vision that will have them doubting their eyes. If this sounds familiar, don’t worry! This is actually a very common phenomenon and is known as a floater. Let’s find out more about these wormy vision blockers!

The Floaters

This common phenomenon plagues almost 76% of people who have perfectly fine eyesight. In this, people experience moving structures like little worms obstructing their vision. This usually occurs if you look directly at something bright like the sun or a screen for a long time. These shapes seem to move and change shape, and you often end up running to wash your eyes to get rid of them. In actuality, these things are known as floaters, or muscae volitantes. These tiny objects within your eyes could be anything, bits of tissues, protein clumps, or even red blood cells, all floating in the vitreous homur, which is a substance between the retina and the lens. But what actually happens to get these floaters to appear in your eye?

The Process

What happens is actually quite simple. When light enters the eye, it comes in through the lens, and certain cells on the retina are activated. However, floaters that are moving around in the vitreous homur cast a shadow on the retina, making these peculiar images appear.

How to Get Rid of Floaters

The best way to have the floaters go away is to do nothing at all. Ignoring them usually helps your eyes adjust to the light again, and these worm-like structures disappear from your vision. Wearing sunglasses when you’re looking at something extremely bright and going outside in the sun helps in preventing these floaters from appearing. Next time you have these squiggly items in your vision, don’t worry. Just sit and wait until they naturally disappear! However, if it’s a recurring problem, consulting your doctor can never go amiss.