Photo: Screenshot YouTube / TED-Ed
They seem to be swimming. What are those points in the eyes?
Almost everyone has them. These floating points in the eyes that we see when we look at a white wall, for example. If we then move our eyes, it looks as if the dots are floating in water afterwards. What's this? Is that a sign of a disease?
They look like little worms or small transparent dots. If we try to look at them more closely, they disappear again from our field of vision, swim to the side. What's this?
In German in ophthalmology, the French name of these points is the most common: Mouches volantes. That means something like "flying flies". But also in German there are expressions for it: "flying mosquitoes" or more precisely "vitreous flakes".
And just like "flying mosquitoes" these points in the eyes, in the field of vision, sometimes really annoying!
But usually they are not a disease. There are no mosquitoes or other animals. They are quite normal, almost everyone has them. There are small irregularities in the fluid in your eyes.
These irregularities can be small blood cells, proteins, cell fibers or the like that float in your eye. Completely normal. And when light comes into your eyes, these little objects cast shadows on your retina. So you see the floating points. And as these objects float in your eyes, they also move when you move your eyes.
The floating points become clearer as they move closer to your retina. And depending on how bright it is. The brighter it is, the more clearly you can see the floating points, or "flying mosquitoes".
The video below explains the phenomenon in more detail:
