Living with DVS

Unfortunately, there is a distinct lack of good advice to help sufferers of Degenerative Vitreous Syndrome live with their floaters. Physically, opacities are usually harmless, but psychologically they can affect your life via preoccupation, distraction, inability to concentrate and depression.  They are sometimes compared to Tinnitus in this respect.

Firstly, don't try to cope alone; try to get support by telling your friends and family and help them to inform themselves about the condition.  If you are having trouble persuading people of the seriousness of the condition, you can download our Background summary document which may help. There are a number of organisations who can help with the practical and emotional impact of eye conditions listed in our Support Agencies as well as online communities including our own.

For useful ideas and advice on how blind and partially sighted people can make the most of their remaining vision, download a free copy of , See for yourself from the RNIB.

The following tips have been recommended by floater sufferers for floater sufferers. If you would also like to make some suggestions or contributions to this article, please let us know!

1. Wear sunglasses. Sunglasses reduce the amount of light getting into your eyes. This reduces the strength of the shadows cast by floaters on the retina, making your floaters appear fainter. Alternatively, a British company called Cantor & Nissel manufactures contact lenses with tinted pupils, enabling you to darken your vision without sunglasses.
2. Dim your computer monitor. Floaters often become more noticeable when looking at the large, bright, white areas on a computer monitor. Try decreasing the brightness, or lowering the backlight, of your computer display. The less light shining off your display and into your eyes, the fainter your floaters will appear.
3. Consider an alternative to white walls. White walls will make floaters appear darker and more noticeable. Either re-paint the walls in dark colours, or put up some wallpaper with a high contrast pattern. If re-decorating isn't an option, try putting up some picture frames, to give you some points to focus on, against those large expanses of white. Detail and complexity are good; minimalism and plainness are bad.
4. Try tinting your windows. Just as sunglasses make floaters appear fainter outdoors, applying tinted window film to your home will achieve the same effect when you look outdoors. By actually being able to see the world outside, rather than having it hidden by drawing the blinds, you might find yourself more tempted to go out into it.
5. Ask someone else to drive. After the initial onset of floaters the eyes/mind will instinctively try to focus on them. This reflexive action is hazardous because it distracts from the task of driving.  Eventually, the brain may become desensitized to the floater motion particularly in the peripheral vision.  Unfortunately, when driving, peripheral movement could be a floater, or it could be a car or child.  In addition, large floaters may create an unexpected distraction when passing through the optical path resulting in temporarily blurred vision. Each of these circumstances create the potential for distraction or slowed reaction time which could result in, or cause, a serious car accident. In the interest of safety, if you feel that your vision is compromised, ask someone else to drive.
6. Try not to move your eyes too much. Our brains are highly adept at detecting moving objects. Unfortunately, eye movement creates floater movement. Try moving your eyes in a slower, more relaxed way. The less you move your eyes, the less your floaters will move, and the less visible they'll be.
7. Face your fears head on. Avoiding bright light and plain expanses will reduce the visibility of floaters; however, continually avoiding them can create a phobia, whereby you fear going outside or into bright interiors. Force yourself to go out into the sun. If you can deal with the worst conditions, everything else will be easier.
8. Declare war on floaters. Adopt a positive attitude by accepting that floaters are physically harmless, microscopic debris, and reject their negative impact on your life. Practice ignoring them by moving your eyes and letting the floaters rush past without changing your point of focus. With practice, you'll learn to keep your attention on real objects and not on the floaters.
9. Focus on the positive. Focus on everything that you can still see, rather than focusing on the floaters. Think about the colours, the detail and the movement in the distance, not the moving threads in the foreground. Think about the 95% good, versus the 5% bad. 95% is much nearer to 100% than 5% is, so be grateful that you're much nearer to being fully sighted, than being blind.
10. Try adapting to a visual condition worse than floaters. For example, try living for a few hours with one or both eyes closed. If you wear glasses, try not wearing them for a while and notice how much worse your vision could be. Afterwards, when you go back to your normal vision with floaters, you might appreciate it more.
11. Take more photos and video. If you go on holiday, your floaters will be there with you, but not in the photos and video you bring back to view and share with others. Be grateful that your camera sees things more clearly than you do.
12. Go out on sunny days and keep moving. Sitting indoors doing nothing will ensure that you notice and think about floaters. Outdoor environments, however, such as cities, parks, forests, are full of detail which will disguise floaters. To that end, try playing tennis, frisbee, or football/soccer. When you are at rest, floaters will receive your full attention. When your brain is challenged with coordinating hand/foot and eye movements it will abandon its preoccupation with floaters.