It may happen to notice, especially on a bright day, the presence of flying flies or filaments that fluctuate as the eyes and face move. These, more properly called vitreous floaters o floaters, constitute in most cases an absolutely harmless disorder which indicates that the gel present inside our eye, the vitreous, has lost its original fluidity and thickening in some points, passes in front of the retina making us perceive these annoying "insects" .
Sometimes, however, their manifestation occurs suddenly and when it is accompanied by the appearance of luminous flashes, it is good to intervene immediately by going to your trusted ophthalmologist for a fundus examination and the execution of specific instrumental tests, such as the bulbar ultrasound and optical coherence tomography (OCT). Often the diagnostic result is completely favorable because it can be what is called detachment of the vitreous body, which occurs when this gel, contracting, detaches from the posterior surface of the eye causing these symptoms without any damage to the vision.
Other times, however, the contraction of the vitreous body creates a traction on the retina that breaks it in one or more points, generating precisely a break retinal. This phenomenon represents a potentially more serious condition in which, if action is taken promptly, a specific laser treatment is often sufficient to circumscribe the lesion and prevent it from expanding.
Other times the break creates a real retinal detachment with a consequent infiltration of the vitreous below it. The detachment of the retina, in addition to being caused by the mechanisms just mentioned, is often also the result of orbital trauma (a frequent example is given by injuries in sports).
In these cases, usually, the symptoms, in addition to manifesting themselves with bright flashes and flying flies, can also include the perception of a dark curtain in the periphery of the visual field, or of a black net similar to a cobweb that remains more or less still even when moving eyes and head. The treatments in this case are more complex and consist of some called surgeries cerclage e vitrectomy.
