Dark spots can be due to a lot of reasons. They can really make your life difficult, especially if you need to drive far to reach your workplace. Learn about the causes of these dark spots, that block your vision, in this story.
You may describe them to your eye specialist as eye floaters, but they are actually the dark spots that seem to dance or shuffle in front of your eyes. You may have them in different kinds of shapes and sizes. Because of them, you cannot see things properly.
Whatever you see with them in your vision, can well be compared to a photograph with a black spot on it. Whatever is on the other side of the spot is obscured. If you are looking at the middle of a streetlight pole at night, then because of the spot, you may see its stump and the streetlight floating in the air freely.
Causes of Dark Spots
It is normal to have floaters in your eyesight. The chamber of the eye between the eye lens and the retina, is filled with vitreous, which is a jelly-like substance. The light entering the eye is focused on the retina, with the help of the eye lens.
When particles, such as body cells, fibers, pigments, set loose due to wear and tear, come between the lens and the retina, which causes dark spots. As these particles are floating in the vitreous, the floating spots come and go.
Age
The most common cause is related to aging. With advancing age, the vitreous present in the eye starts deteriorating, leading to the formation of protein-strands. When a cluster of such strands comes between the eye lens and the retina, you may experience floaters in your vision.
Infection
The presence of loose cells in vitreous can be due to an eye infection. The lymphocytes infiltrate into the vitreous to fight the infection-causing organisms, which create debris in the form of cells, bacteria, etc., and remain suspended in the vitreous. This debris can also be a cause of the spots in vision.
Posterior Vitreous Detachment (PVD)
Advancing age causes the vitreous to deteriorate, lose its consistency, and shrink. The vitreous is firmly attached to the retina with the help of millions of fibers, and its shrinking causes the fibers to exert a pull on the retina.
In such a situation, the retina or a part of it, may get separated from its base layer, to be followed by retinal tear and hemorrhage. This may create debris in the vitreous and black spots in vision.
Other Causes
YAG laser surgeries, which are used to treat the cataract can lead to the PVD and floaters. A patient, who has undergone a cataract surgery, is prone to retina detachment. When this happens, he or she may face the problem of floaters. Migraine can not only give you headaches, but it can also cause floaters.
Everyone may have to deal with the black spots in vision, at one time or the other. Most of the time, it is not a severe problem. However, it is found that, the people with nearsightedness are more prone to the formation of debris in the eye, especially after 50 years of age.
You can treat them with the help of an eye exercise: Move your eyeballs up and down; this will stir the vitreous and get the floaters or the debris away from the eye lenses.
If the problem persists, visit an ophthalmologist without any delay. If your ophthalmologist diagnoses that they are due to detached retina, then he may advise you to seal the retina with laser eye surgery, freezing (cryo) or vitrectomy. However, these procedures must be handled by a competent doctor.