Flies can also arise due to more serious pathologies. These include inflammation in the back of the eye (posterior uveitis), vitreous hemorrhage (many causes: diabetes, hypertension, blockage of blood vessels, trauma) and rupture of the retina. More flies can appear after eye surgery and when using some eye medications.
One of the main causes of flies is age-related changes. Over time, the vitreous body changes (it becomes less transparent, more fluid) and small lumps form in it.
Most often, they are associated with the natural process of detachment of the vitreous body. Such flies are harmless and, as a rule, disappear themselves. In very rare cases, when large lumps interfere with vision, they can be removed surgically.
To begin with, flies are not an optical illusion, all these floating objects are real. They are tiny pieces of the vitreous body – a jelly-like substance that fills the eyeball. You see the shadows that these clots cast on the retina.
“Red flags”, which should alert and become an incentive to sign up for a good ophthalmologist:
- flies appear suddenly;
- their number is increasing;
- you notice flashes of light in the same eye as the flies;
- vision has become blurred;
- peripheral vision worsens (darkness on one or more sides).
All of these symptoms can be signs of retinal detachment. Without treatment, this condition can lead to complete loss of vision.
Only after a thorough examination, the doctor will be able to advise a way to get rid of flies. In rare cases, as we wrote above, surgery may be required. Previously, surgical treatment was a replacement of the vitreous body, and this is a rather dangerous and difficult invasive operation.
Nowadays, doctors increasingly prefer laser technology, namely laser vitriolysis. However, despite the available data on the successful application of the new method, it has not yet been implemented everywhere and continues to be investigated (in Russia there are clinics where such operations are performed).
