What is the cause of the black floating object in front of the eye?

When black floating objects appear in front of the eyes, it may be that the patient has floaters. Floaters are a relatively common eye disease that is quite harmful to patients. Its main cause is vitreous liquefaction, retinal detachment, etc., which pose a serious threat to vision and may even put patients at risk of blindness. Therefore, it is imperative to receive timely and good treatment.

Symptoms of eye floaters

Black spots will appear in front of the patient's eyes and will fly around as the eyeballs rotate, like floaters. Their shapes may be round, oval, dot-shaped, line-shaped, etc. It is common that patients are more likely to notice its presence when looking at a brighter background such as the blue sky or white walls. If the floaters phenomenon occurs suddenly and is limited to one eye, the direction of the floaters is irregular, the black shadows block the field of vision, the vision deteriorates and the visual field is impaired, these are all bad omens that must be paid attention to. Intraocular inflammation causes floaters, and the black shadows in front of the eyes are mostly dust-like or floc-like. Vision may be affected to varying degrees. Dust-like and floc-like floating objects are found in the vitreous body under the ophthalmoscope. The three-mirror slit lamp can reveal pathological changes such as exudation caused by mid-peripheral choroidal inflammation and white sheathing of blood vessels. Floaters caused by intraocular hemorrhage feel like moving smoke or ink-like black shadows in front of the eyes, and sometimes there are red or orange floating objects. Under an ophthalmoscope or slit lamp, flake, floc, and mass hemorrhages of varying thickness can be seen in the vitreous body, and the primary retinal lesions that cause the hemorrhage can be seen. Bleeding caused by traction of blood vessels by posterior vitreous detachment is often accompanied by retinal tears, which should be paid attention to.

Causes

1. Vitreous liquefaction and posterior detachment are the main causes of floaters, accounting for about 70% of patients, of whom about 1/4 may have vision-threatening lesions, the most important of which is retinal break formation. Bleeding, inflammation, etc. caused by other reasons can also cause floaters, such as diabetic retinopathy, retinal vein occlusion, Eales disease, etc. 2. Floaters are a subjective symptom of vitreous opacities, which are generally caused by vitreous degeneration. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that this disease is mostly caused by lesions of the liver, gallbladder, and kidney meridians. Insufficiency of liver and kidney essence and blood, lack of source of spirit water; or excessive blood loss, blood deficiency generating heat; or sadness, depression, and anger, liver fire rising; or febrile disease damaging yin, depletion of true yin; or blood heat running wildly, blood stasis inside the body; or damp heat accumulating, turbid qi rising; or phlegm and dampness being trapped inside the body, obstruction of the clear orifices, etc., are all prone to this disease. 3. Vitreous opacities are the most common pathological changes of the vitreous. Lesions of the vitreous itself or adjacent tissues often lead to vitreous opacities. If the opacity is severe or appears on the central axis of the vitreous body, vision will be impaired.