Suddenly Seeing Squiggly Lines? 3 Possible Causes Of This Eye Condition

As you gaze at the clouds outside during your lunch break at work, you suddenly see hundreds of moving squiggly lines.  After returning to your desk, you become alarmed when you still see these moving objects floating across your computer screen.  If you can relate to this scenario, one of the following 3 possible causes might be the reason for your eye condition.

Age

The aging process is the most common reason people suddenly begin seeing squiggly lines, often called floaters.  Your eyeballs contain a gooey material called the vitreous.  This squishy matter helps give your eyeballs its noticeable round appearance.  As people get older, their vitreous becomes less solid. 

As it turns into more of a liquid substance, the vitreous sometimes becomes stringy.  Parts of the vitreous can even become separated from the eyeball.  These separated pieces of vitreous matter can affect the manner in which your eye sees light. 

They place shadows on your retina.  These shadows cause you to see floaters.  While the following 2 causes of floaters can damage one's sight permanently, age related floaters are usually harmless.    

Detached Retina

Unlike age related floaters, those resulting from a detached retina are alerting someone of a serious eye condition.  In addition to seeing squiggly lines, this problem usually presents other symptoms including:

• Blurry sight
• Loss of sight in an area of one of your eyes
• Intense representations of light

The retina is located at the back of the eyeball and can sense light.  As your retina senses light, it causes nerve impulses to send an image of what you are seeing at any particular time to your brain.  When your retina becomes detached, it pulls away from the layers of matter that support it.

Because a detached retina can permanently damage your vision, you should contact an eye doctor immediately if you begin to suddenly experience floaters or any of the other symptoms of this malady.  Surgery is often needed to reattach the retina.  When detected early, some people recover completely from this type of eye condition.

Diabetic Retinopathy

In addition to a detached retina, diabetic retinopathy can also affect the retina portion of your eyes.  This condition stems from having too much sugar in your bloodstream.  A healthy retina is constantly provided blood by robust blood vessels.  Unfortunately, the abnormal amount of sugar in a diabetic's bloodstream can destroy the blood vessels that support the retina. 

When these crucial retina sustaining blood vessels are damaged, a person might experience floaters and other types of eye problems including:

• Problems with night vision
• Blindness
• Blurry sight
• Inability to differentiate colors

Effective treatments for diabetic retinopathy include:

• Surgery that utilizes a laser to end the release of blood into the retina by damaged blood vessels
• Surgery that uses a laser to diminish impaired blood vessels

While your sudden onset of floaters might simply be resulting from getting older, they may be stemming from a more serious eye condition.  Therefore, if you are experiencing squiggly moving lines in your vision, you should consult a trusted eye doctor like Quality Eye Care immediately.  Your future sight might depend on your prompt action.