Monday, October 8, 2007

Eye Fibers and Floaters

I had an eye fiber yesterday. As usual, it began with my eye feeling dry and irritated enough that I eventually noticed it and realized I had something in it. After a good bit of blinking and eyeball rolling, I managed to get part of it to the corner of my eye and fished it out.

It's amazing how long an eye fiber can be. Feels gross to pull it out, but more annoying to leave it in. This one was about three and a half inches long. They seem to be more frequent in the winter when I'm wearing wool.

Eye fuzzies make me nuts and I wonder if anyone else has a problem with them. I tried Googling eye fiber, eye fuzzy and fiber in eye. Found lots of stuff about fiber optics, macular degeneration and a band called Tangle Eye. I tried detritus in eye -- boy, are there a lot of bands out there with weird names.

How about a parallel path? Let's look up eye floaters. 826,000 entries for that one. I've had floaters as long as I can remember, so I suspect they were congenital. Being a science fiction reader as a child, I used to fantasize that they were little aliens trying to take over my brain. Which, to me, was more acceptable than the alternative that I had worms in my eyes. I wouldn't tell the adults about them for fear that they would "do" something to me. Which is the same reason I took a razor blade to the only plantar wart I ever had two days before the doctor's appointment. Mom was PO'ed, but it never grew back.

To be honest, I've always found floaters rather entertaining; they were great to play with during those long and boring lectures college kids are often subjected to. I've had them so long, I don't see them unless I'm tired or go looking for them.

Next I searched eye annoyances and found things from examples of extreme ugliness to dust and grit. No long and kinky fibers.

Am I the only one who gets eye fuzzies?

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sure, I think we all get alien matter in our eyes from time to time. The worst is when you are wearing contacts and sand gets in there somehow. Actually, that brings back fond memories of spending hour after hour on the beaches of Southern California. I have never tried to name other types, usually just complain, "I've got some ?@#* thing in my eye" until I can manage to get it out. KC

Unknown said...

Aliens inside your eye, huh? Well, you might enjoy this video showing what these floaters REALLY look like: vitreous floater video.

Not quite as entertaining, I'm afraid! Great blog!

Wunx~ said...

Hey KC, I've had that problem too. Worst part is the afflicted eye shuts tight and is almost impossible to force open to get the dang sand out.

Cool video, Tom, that's the sparkliest eye I've ever seen.

Anonymous said...

I wouldn't joke about eye floaters too much. Some of us have them REALLY bad, as in, they're everywhere you look, in all light conditions (even at night) and they're directly in the centre of your vision. Impossible to ignore, and impossible to look away from.

Eye floaters can materialise in healthy eyes literally overnight, and will be with you for the rest of your life. I'm not joking when I say they can turn you from an outdoor/sun lover, to a recluse who spends all their time indoors in the shadows.

Wunx~ said...

Hey Anonymous -- Sorry to hear your floaties are so bad, wish there was a simple cure for them. Though mine aren't nearly as debilitating, I find that the best way to cope is to make jokes -- about many things in life.

Anonymous said...

I've had this problem for so long I can't even remember. It did seem to begin happening when I started wearing contacs, and has long since kept up even after I stopped wearing them. These 'fibers' at times really do look like fuzzy threads that come from fabric and they are VERY annoying. I hate that there are other people who suffer from this, but I have to say I'm sure glad to know I'm not the only one!

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AlwaysBeKind said...

Wow! I've been plagued by these suckers at least monthly. Usually invades overnight. For awhile I assumed I was knocking "sleep" into my eyes as I wakened, rubbing my eyes. Nope, just yesterday, I used a bowl of water and eventually fished out a long fibery thing. (Eye wash cups don't work for me: too confining and I won't open my eye.)
As soon as I got it out, my eye went back to normal! I don't wear contacts and can't even put eyedrops in my eyes. I am comforted to see that I am not alone. I laughed when I read the alien comment because I had the same crazy thought during my adolescent years. Cue Twilight Zone music...

Rainey said...

I have always gotten them but had no idea what to call them until recently my boyfriend saw me pull one out and said "you have fibers in your eyes." I sure wish there was more information about them. What are they are why do I get them?

Moogin said...

Hi, I'm not even sure if you're still using this blog, but I wanted to let you know that this is the first website I've found that exactly matches the description of the pain I've been experience. I'm glad and somewhat horrified that other people experience this. I've suffered from trichotillomania (OCD hair pulling). My trich focused on my eyelashes and eyebrows. I went 6 years with absolutely no hair on my face because i would pull it out. Anyway, suddenly I've stopped pulling. I now have one half of my face that has grown back completely. The other, not so much and it's because of these little fibers that are all around and inside my eye. It's almost like tiny spider webs and it itches like crazy! It's caused corneal puncture from rubbing and I've been to so many doctors and ophthalmologists, no one has an answer. Did you ever happen to find out what it was?

Thank you for sharing by the way.