Floaters are deposits of various size, shape, consistency, refractive index, and motility within the eye's vitreous humour, which is normally transparent. They may be of embryonic origin or acquired due to degenerative changes of the vitreous humour or retina. The perception of floaters is known as myodesopsia, or less commonly as myiodeopsia, myiodesopsia, or myodeopsia. Floaters are visible because of the shadows they cast on the retina or their refraction of the light that passes through them, and can appear alone or together with several others in one's field of vision. They may appear as spots, threads, or fragments of cobwebs, which float slowly before the sufferer's eyes. Since these objects exist within the eye itself, they are not optical illusions but are entoptic phenomena. Floaters are suspended in the vitreous humour, the thick fluid or gel that fills the eye. Thus, they generally follow the rapid motions of the eye, while drifting slowly within the fluid. When they are first noticed, the natural reaction is to attempt to look directly at them. However, attempting to shift one's gaze toward them can be difficult since floaters follow the motion of the eye, remaining to the side of the direction of gaze. Floaters are, in fact, visible only because they do not remain perfectly fixed within the eye. Although the blood vessels of the eye also obstruct light, they are invisible under normal circumstances because they are fixed in location relative to the retina, and the brain "tunes out" stabilized images due to neural adaptation. This stabilization is often interrupted by floaters, especially when they tend to remain visible. One treatment is laser vitreolysis. In this procedure a powerful laser (usually an Yttrium aluminium garnet "YAG" laser) is focused onto the floater and in a series of quick bursts, the laser vaporizes the structure into a less dense and not as noticeable consistency. However, it should be noted that there are various types of floater formations and some are more receptive to laser treatment than others. Laser treatment is not widely practiced and is only performed by very few specialists in the world. Many ophthalmologists are not even aware that the laser treatment procedure is an option. While each case is different, many people have seen improvement in floaters through this treatment. It is an outpatient process, which is much less invasive to the eye than a vitrectomy, with fewer side effects. [READ THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE]
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