Why does destruction of the vitreous body occur? Diseases of the vitreous body. Causes, Symptoms, Treatment. Prognosis for treatment of destruction

Processes that cause the appearance in the field of vision of objects of different shapes and sizes that move smoothly when the eyes move - (destruction of the vitreous body of the eye). You can find various designations for this condition: “floaters”, “spots before the eyes”, etc.

The vitreous body is a transparent gelatinous substance devoid of blood vessels. It fills the area between the lens and the retina, giving the eye a spherical shape. The special structure and composition of the substance that makes up the vitreous determine its complete transparency.

Definition of disease

Under the influence of a number of factors, changes occur in the vitreous body. The homogeneous structure of the substance is destroyed: it is divided into thicker and more liquid fractions. The mesh structure of the vitreous body changes, as well as the volume and qualitative composition of its constituent substance. Some fibers become thicker and lose their transparency. This causes them to stick together, forming weaves of various shapes. Also, opaque fragments appear in the vitreous body: insoluble particles of protein, cholesterol, phosphorus, magnesium or calcium salts, cellular elements.

All these inclusions - fibers, particles - are displaced in the vitreous body when the eyes move, “displayed” on the retina, casting “floating” shadows of various shapes and degrees of density on it. In some cases, a person simply “sees” more or less transparent objects.

But sometimes destruction of the vitreous body can lead to mechanical irritation of the retinal photoreceptors. In this case, a person perceives the process as lightning or sparks. It is important to know that the reasons for the appearance of “floaters” are not always explained by the DST process. In some cases, blood, drugs and other substances can enter the vitreous body. This causes visual impressions similar to those perceived by a person during the destruction of the vitreous body.

The symptoms of DST do not include temporary optical effects: “”, which occurs when you hit the head or lift a heavy object, “negative”, which remains in the eyes when looking at a bright light source. The appearance of visual effects similar to DST can also be caused by an increase in blood pressure.

Causes

The reasons causing changes in the structure and composition of the vitreous body are quite numerous:

Destruction of the vitreous body is often a natural consequence of the physiological process of aging of the body. However, the exact age limit after which this process can begin cannot be named. It is different for each person.

Symptoms

Changes occurring in the vitreous body have varying degrees of severity. The causes of DST also influence the nature of the manifestation of these changes. The main sign of the development of destruction of the vitreous body is the “floating” of various not too dense objects in front of the eyes. The shape and degree of transparency of these objects may vary. A person sees “spots”, “fibers”, flies,... In the scientific world this phenomenon is called.

Silver or golden “rain” is visible if there are crystalline inclusions of cholesterol, calcium, magnesium and phosphorus salts in the vitreous body of the eye. These “rains” or “snowflakes,” as patients describe them, have different sizes and shapes. The color of the observed “rain” can also be different: golden, snow-white and even brown.

“Floaters” are best seen against a bright, light-colored surface or when squinting. In other cases, the effects of DST may not be felt.

Possible complications

Ophthalmologists believe that DST in many cases does not cause health-threatening complications. However, the development of opacities can worsen a person's quality of life. Objects that constantly “float” in the field of view interfere with normal visual perception. To perform work or household duties, constant eye strain becomes necessary. A person tries to clear his field of vision of “flies”, which can result in overload not only of the eyes, but also of the cervical spine. Due to serious visual discomfort, psycho-emotional disorders sometimes appear: stress and depression, anxiety, sociopathy.

Multiple opacities in the vitreous region can cause fatigue, decreased reading speed, and contrast sensitivity. The more clearly visible floating objects are, and the denser and more voluminous they are, the greater the degree of destruction.

If the opacities acquire a clear filamentous structure, this may be a sign of atherosclerosis or severe hypertension. “Flashes” or “lightning” are a symptom of vitreous detachment or other dangerous complications. During the process of destruction, films of varying degrees of density sometimes appear in the vitreous body. It is possible to attach these films to the fundus area. This causes a number of pathological changes. Find out about vitreous detachment in.

The most severe form of destruction is “wrinkling” of part or all of the vitreous. Its volume decreases and its shape changes. This process leads to tension in the vitreoretinal connections, which rupture in cases of severe pathology. This causes vitreous detachment, photopsia,. In particularly severe cases, there is a high likelihood of developing blindness.

Treatment

Despite the fact that many patients seek to get rid of floaters through surgery, ophthalmologists are very careful. This is due to the fact that the consequences of existing types of treatment - retinal detachment, hypotension - can be much more dangerous than the manifestations of DST. The use of surgical methods is often not a solution to the problem. This is especially true for destruction in older people.

By medication

Treatment of DST with medications most often does not bring the desired results. Doctors offer patients treatment methods that can help eliminate the causes of destruction and help reduce stress on the visual organs.

Symptomatic drug therapy is also used.

If the patient develops destruction of the vitreous body, the following are prescribed:

Agents that improve vascular patency are also used. They help normalize blood circulation in the brain.

Surgically

Currently, there are two surgical techniques. But such treatment methods are recommended for patients with an existing risk of developing blindness. Surgical methods for treating DST:

But even after successful intervention due to age-related changes, visual problems continue to worsen.

Folk remedies

Self-medication for diseases of the organs of vision is unacceptable. The use of traditional medicine methods should be carried out under the supervision of a physician.

Prevention

To prevent the development of destruction of the vitreous body, it is necessary to develop the habit of a healthy lifestyle: get rid of bad habits, normalize your diet, avoiding eating harmful foods. This will protect the vessels from the progression of atherosclerosis.

It is advisable to avoid prolonged visual stress. The development of DST is prevented by timely treatment of diseases of the organs of vision, as well as ailments affecting internal organs. It is necessary to correct vision in time if myopia or farsightedness develops.

Video

conclusions

The number of people who feel the presence of “floating spots” before their eyes is huge. And although experts say that in most cases this condition is harmless, patients experience significant discomfort. The issue of treating various types not caused by other eye diseases is beyond doubt. A visit to the doctor is necessary in order to exclude the presence of concomitant diseases, both ophthalmological and those related to the functioning of internal organs. But this condition often does not pose a threat.

Questions about how to treat destruction of the vitreous body of the eye and whether it needs to be done are decided in each case individually. The need for one or another type of treatment depends on the characteristics of optical effects, the presence or absence of visual impairment, and the degree of damage to the vitreous body. The influence of DST on a person’s psycho-emotional state and ability to work is also taken into account. But it is important to remember that drug treatment for this pathology is under development, and surgical methods are fraught with the development of dangerous complications.

01.09.2014 | Viewed by: 7,321 people.

The vitreous body of the eye is a transparent substance with a gel-like consistency that is located between the retina, the flat region of the ciliary body and the back of the lens. The vitreous body is an unchanging structure of the organs of vision.

In case of various damages, it cannot repair itself, and the cavity created by the loss of part of the vitreous body is filled with intraocular fluid.

The components of the vitreous body are loose substance and a fibrous skeleton. The loose mass is evenly distributed between the fibrous areas. The viscosity of the gel-like structure of the vitreous directly depends on the concentration of the proteins mucin and vitroquin. The large number of these proteins determines the fact that the viscosity of this eye structure is tens of times greater than the viscosity of water.

The vitreous body has 3 parts:

Posterior (adjacent to the retina).
Ciliary (adjacent to the flattened region of the ciliary body).
Postlenticular with a depression - the vitreous fossa (between this part of the vitreous body and the lens there is a slit-like space).

In the vitreous body there is a partially or completely preserved special canal - the vitreous (clockets) - which is a narrow curved vascular cleft.

This canal runs from the lens to the optic nerve. During the period of intrauterine development of the fetus, an artery runs through the canal, which is responsible for the blood supply to the structures of the eye.

The outer part of the vitreous is surrounded by a membrane adjacent to the inner membrane of the retina.

In addition, in several places the vitreous body is connected to other tissues:

in the area of attachment of the flat zone of the ciliary body and the distal surface of the ligament of cinnamon (the so-called “ciliary girdle”);
at the back of the lens capsule;
in the area of the optic nerve head;
in the macula zone.

Also, the vitreous body is attached to the retina of the eye at the locations of the capillaries, in an area located according to the line of the middle of the eyeball, in the area of connection with the external eye muscles. There are no vessels directly in the vitreous body.

The main function of the vitreous body - the back of the eye - is to maintain the eyeball in the desired shape, holding the structures of the eye in a natural position, which is achieved due to pressure on the retina and other membranes. In addition, the vitreous body is one of the components of the light refraction system in the organ of vision. If the connection of the vitreous body with other structures of the eye is disrupted, it is said to be detached.

Vitreous diseases

Iridocyclitis, Uveitis, Choroiditis

In most cases, dysfunction of this area of the eye occurs due to inflammatory processes in the blood vessels. Thus, iridocyclitis, uveitis, and choroiditis occur with the release of serous exudate in the direction of the vitreous body. This causes clouding of its tissues.

Liquid particles combine with other products of the inflammatory process, stick to different parts of the vitreous body, taking the form of floating flakes.

If pathological processes acquire a destructive character, the phenomena of liquefaction and wrinkling of the vitreous body are added. For example, with the so-called filamentous destruction in this area of the eye, gray thin thread-like particles are detected, twisting together. This pathology often accompanies atherosclerosis, which occurs in conjunction with a high degree of myopia.

Another type of destructive changes in the vitreous body—granular—reduces to the formation of small “grains” of a grayish color.

This phenomenon is characteristic of the development of tumors in the orbit, inherent in inflammatory processes, eye trauma and retinal detachment.

Patients suffering from disorders of fat and sugar metabolism are susceptible to destructive processes in the vitreous body, accompanied by inclusions of particles of calcium, magnesium, and cholesterol salts in it.

Hemorrhages

In patients with hypertension and diabetes mellitus, hemorrhages are sometimes present - effusions of blood into the vitreous body. The same phenomena often accompany eye injury and postoperative complications. Often, after hemorrhage in the eye, connective tissue scars form, which increases the risk of retinal detachment.

As a result of injury or injury, as well as if the operation is unsuccessful, the vitreous body may fall out. Some of its substance is lost, the fibers shift and are strongly stretched towards the wound. If the decrease in vitreous mass is no more than 30%, it is independently replenished with intraocular fluid.

If a significant part of the vitreous disappears, it should be replaced with saline solution, hyalon, silicone, etc. to avoid atrophic processes.

As a result of trauma, damage to the lens can occur - subluxation, dislocation, which also entails a change in the structure of the vitreous body. Occasionally, cataract extraction surgery may be complicated by the formation of a hernia in the vitreous body. Violations of the physiology of the eye lead to unwanted contact of the cornea with the mucous membrane, which can lead to bullous-type corneal dystrophy. If the hernia does not cause such contact, it does not require treatment. Otherwise, an operation is performed - vitrectomy.

Direct injuries to the vitreous most often contribute to its infection or the introduction of various foreign bodies, including those made of metal.

Subsequently, severe inflammation appears, and in the absence of treatment measures, chalcosis and siderosis may develop.

Symptoms of vitreous pathologies

The clinical picture of diseases affecting the vitreous body may vary depending on their type. A common characteristic symptom is clouding, which affects the deterioration of the visual function of the eye. If the clouding develops against the background of an inflammatory process in the uveal tract, in the retinal area, it is secondary.

In this case, the vitreous body contains elements of cells involved in the pathological reaction of the body, as well as fibrin deposits of various shapes - dotted, thread-like, spotty, disc-shaped, powdery, in the form of films, etc.

Exudative discharge can stick to the fibers of the vitreous body, forming cords. Chronic inflammation within the organ of vision causes changes that externally look like brown dotted pigmentation. The area of location of the opacities can be any, that is, it covers one of the sections of the vitreous body, or its entire area.

Diagnosis and treatment of vitreous diseases

During diagnosis, the doctor uses methods such as biomicroscopy, ophthalmoscopy, and ultrasound of the eye to detect opacities and inflammation of the vitreous. Before starting treatment, diseases of the vitreous body should be accurately differentiated from each other, that is, by the type of pathological changes - involutional (degenerative), inflammatory and other types.

Therapy of diseases when diagnosing an inflammatory process is aimed at eliminating the factor that caused this inflammation.

Modern methods of microsurgical treatment, including vitreotomy, vitreotomy, are used to successfully eliminate a number of pathologies of the vitreous body.

Destruction of the eye, treatment - this is today's topic. What is eye destruction? The answer is simple - the flickering of various dots and flies before our eyes.

You need to understand in what situations this symptom is not scary, and when you need to run to the doctor immediately.

What is the reason for the appearance of flying objects - flies before our eyes?

Destruction of the eye, treatment and causes of the problem:

The culprit is the destruction of the vitreous body - the most delicate compactions, the smallest in size in the transparent, internal gel-like structure of the eye.
Destructions are treated very poorly, sometimes it is not possible to get rid of them for the rest of your life. They do not worsen vision, but there is no improvement either.
Sometimes flashes appear before the eyes. This is a sign of peripheral retinal degeneration. Occurs in nearsighted people. This requires laser strengthening of the retina.
To identify foci of degenerative changes, it is necessary to perform an ophthalmoscopy of the fundus.

Symptoms of vitreous destruction and treatment:

In addition to flying flies and flashes, which is inevitable.
There is rapid fatigue, especially with eye strain.
Irritability and nervousness from blurred vision.

What is the vitreous body and where is it located?

Essentially, it is a gelatinous substance without blood vessels that fills the cavity of the entire eye between the lens and then the retina.
It is part of the dioptric environment of our eye. Ensures normal passage of light rays to the retina.

The liquid component of the vitreous body and its composition:

Hyaluronic, ascorbic acids.
Traces of whey proteins.
Various salts.
Everything is enclosed in a shell of thin, especially protein fibrils.

In simple words:

It is a transparent retina with a fibrous structure, but not a completely jelly-like substance.
The vitreous body is surrounded on all sides by a hyaline film.
It is firmly connected to the ciliary zone with the macula.
Under normal conditions, it (the vitreous body) is only transparent, completely.
Destruction of the eye and its vitreous body is a change in its structure, or more precisely in the structure of the mesh due to the denaturation of protein fibrils. The reason is the thickening and loss of transparency of individual fibers.
At the same time, we see before our eyes clouding in different forms - threads, dots, flies, moving after our movements of the eyeball.

Causes of destruction of our vitreous body of the eye and its treatment:

A lot of them.

Age-related changes occur after 40–60 years. A common phenomenon, everything is clear and understandable here. As a person ages, the collagen fibers of the vitreous body break down.

Particles from them accumulate in areas of the vitreous body. The whole process greatly affects the amount of sunlight hitting the retina. As a result, we see floating clouds, strange threads before our eyes

Myopia causes abnormal growth of our eyeballs. As they grow in the eye sockets, they change their shape from normal spherical to modified oval.

For this reason, the blood supply to the eyes is disrupted, which means their nutrition.

You need to know and remember:

When flies, threads, dots flash before the eyes.

Contact your doctor immediately:

This may be the beginning of retinal detachment - a terrible disease. Detachment of the vitreous body itself is possible. You should also see flashes or lightning before your eyes. These are manifestations of voids formed in the ocular vitreous body.
Why is immediate help needed? Delay means possible loss of vision forever.
If flies and lightning appear suddenly, call a doctor at home. Don't hesitate for a single minute!

Treatment of destruction of the eye and vitreous body:

Often no treatment is required for fly flies.

It is impossible to get rid of this completely. Time passes, the opacities partially resolve, and we see better.

In the presence of severe opacities, absorbable drugs are used to improve metabolism.

Wobenzym– tablets for oral administration. Prescriptions usually include: five tablets. three times/day. The course is from two weeks to a month, taking into account the pathology.
Emoxipin– eye drops, the dose is prescribed by the doctor taking into account the severity of the disease. They sting a lot, but they help a lot. Place 1 drop, up to five drops, three times into the affected eye. Time course: one month.
Vitamins and minerals with lutein. Such as “Lutein - Complex” or similar.

Sometimes eye drops with potassium and iodine are prescribed.

If there are more and more flies in front of your eyes, you notice that they are located close to each other and it is difficult for you to see objects. Treatment is inevitable.
Treatment is conservative or surgical - vitrectomy. The essence of the operation: the vitreous body is removed along with floating particles. The eye cavity is filled with saline solution.
But, there are a lot of side effects with this type of treatment. High probability of retinal detachment or rupture. It can be provoked.
Therefore, while one can see, surgeons do not perform such an operation.

Laser treatment – vitreolysis for eye destruction:

A modern method of treating destruction. With the help of a laser, flying opacities are crushed to such a state that they become invisible to the patient, or they evaporate and do not interfere at all.
Such treatment is carried out when there is a strong influence of deviations in human vision.
No folk remedies will help with this disease.
If your eyes are tired, try to do a light massage for the eyes, and exercises for the eyes too.
Take a break from heavy eye strain. Eat more foods: vegetables, fruits, berries with a purple color. Take vitamins, be sure tominerals for its age, especially in winter and spring.
Treatment of eye destruction is a serious matter, but only in isolated cases. It’s better to visit a doctor to be sure about your vision.

I wish you clear eyes for many years to come!

Come visit more often. I am waiting!

5582 09/18/2019 5 min.

Many people are probably familiar with such a symptom as the random appearance of flies, black dots and stars in front of the eyes after prolonged visual strain. However, few people know that behind such a seemingly harmless symptom lies the destruction of the vitreous body - a very insidious disease that can lead to serious complications. In order for you to promptly pay attention to the manifestations of this disease and take the necessary measures to combat it, we will consider the main reasons for its occurrence, methods of treatment and prevention in this material.

What it is

Destruction of the vitreous body is a pathological process leading to the destruction of this segment of the eye.

It can occur in various forms:

vitreous detachment;
its liquefaction;
wrinkling.

This pathology can affect both the entire vitreous body of the eye and a certain part of it.

This disease is not usually associated with a specific one.

So a person may not have the slightest deviation in the direction of myopia and farsightedness, but destruction of the vitreous body will be observed, or it may occur in which the symptoms of such a pathology will not bother him.

When the vitreous body is destroyed, there are no restrictions on driving a car, working on a computer, or other activities. However, this does not mean that this disease can be considered completely harmless and taken lightly. Like other vision pathologies, it requires careful diagnosis and treatment immediately after its first signs are identified.

Causes

This disease, to one degree or another, can be provoked by various factors, including:

severe myopia;
mechanical injuries to the mucous membrane;
inflammatory processes of various nature (for example);
violation of general metabolic processes;
age-related changes;
functional pathologies of some organs (liver, endocrine glands, kidneys).

Concomitant factors for the development of this disease are a lack of essential minerals and vitamins in the body, bad habits that lead to blockage of blood vessels, stress and overwork.

Symptoms

Regardless of what exactly caused the destruction of the vitreous body, in the vast majority of cases there will be only one main symptom: the appearance of floaters, caterpillars, and spots of abstract shape before the patient’s eyes. As a rule, they do not disappear over time. These spots become most noticeable when looking at a plain plane: a white wall, light plain furniture, etc.

These phenomena may be accompanied by fatigue. Photophobia and other symptoms more characteristic of cataracts do not appear with this disease.

During the development of such a disease, the patient may not experience any discomfort at all, except for blackheads, and therefore often misses the initial stages of the development of the disease, as a result of which it becomes an advanced form.

Symptoms of vitreous destruction Of course, it can be more or less intensely expressed depending on its stage and general state of vision. However, since it indicates more complex pathological changes in the eye, when the first signs of this disease appear, the patient must consult a doctor and undergo a full diagnosis and treatment.

Diagnostics

Ophthalmological examinations for destruction of the vitreous include:

general examination;
optical coherence tomography.

These methods usually make it possible to fully establish not only the cause of the disease and its stage, but also to determine possible complications at all stages of the development of this disease.

Usually they can be done within one day. After this, the doctor, having a complete picture of the clinical course of the disease, will be able to prescribe adequate treatment for you.

Treatment

The selection of methods for treating vitreous destruction depends on the general condition of the patient, as well as the stage at which he was diagnosed with the disease . So, if we are talking about the initial forms of the disease, it would be quite appropriate conservative therapy. It is being carried out in several directions:

protection of the retina from detachment;
taking drugs that resolve opacities;
improvement of vascular condition.

For these purposes, drugs such as Piracetam, potassium iodine, and other drugs with similar effects are used. Their dosage, as well as the schedule of administration in each individual case, is determined by the attending physician.

Also read about nighttime contact lenses.

Unfortunately, in the last stages of the disease, such therapy does not provide adequate results. In such cases, the doctor may prescribe a more effective surgery. It can be carried out in various forms:

Vitrectomy– removal of the vitreous body by surgical methods.
Vitreolysis– excision of the vitreous body using a laser.

Scheme of vitrectomy - removal of the vitreous body. Next, the ophthalmologist has access to the retina of the eye in order to fully carry out treatment.

These manipulations are carried out in the hospital of specialized ophthalmological clinics. As a rule, they give a good prognosis for a complete cure for the patient, if, of course, he follows all the doctors’ instructions regarding preparation for the operation and the recovery period.

The patient can count on complete restoration of vision using these treatment methods at all stages of the disease. However, he needs to remember that the sooner he seeks qualified help, the lower the risk of complications and the shorter the recovery period. And these factors play a decisive role in such treatment.

Complications

If untimely or improper treatment is used, destruction of the vitreous body can lead to a number of serious complications, including:

Cloudiness;
Retinal detachment;
Hemorrhages in the chambers of the eye.

These diseases, in turn, are practically untreatable and can lead to complete loss of vision. That is why it is important for the patient to pay attention to the manifestation of destruction of the vitreous body as early as possible, select adequate treatment, and also do everything possible to prevent the formation of this pathology if it has not yet made itself felt.

Prevention

Destruction of the vitreous body can most likely be avoided if simple preventive measures are followed. Among them:

Fight against common diseases of the body.
Quitting smoking, alcohol and other bad habits.
Regular examination by an ophthalmologist, which allows you to identify various diseases in the early stages and take measures to treat them already in the first stages.
Compliance with the general rules of visual hygiene, rational organization of the work regime, especially for people in those professions whose activities involve constant work at the computer.
Correction of the diet with maximum saturation of it with products containing important vitamins and microelements.
Prevention of eye injuries.

Read more about what eye exercises you need to do in.

These preventive measures must be taken even before the disease gives visible manifestations.

It is advisable to focus on them from adolescence. This will make it possible to most likely avoid destruction of the retina in the future.

Video

Vitreous humor is a clear, jelly-like substance that fills the space in the eyeball between the retina and the lens. The structure of the vitreous body does not contain blood vessels, but it performs several important functions in the human visual apparatus. Its elastic shape is supported by protein fibrils, forming a fairly rigid frame. In the normal state, the vitreous body is completely transparent, but if for some reason the protein fibrils become denser or deformed, destruction of the vitreous body of the eye develops.

This is a collective term to define a number of pathologies accompanied by destruction of the tissues of the eye structures. It manifests itself as clouding of the vitreous body in the form of threads, dots, grains that repeat the movements of the eyeball. The pathology is not as dangerous as it might seem to an uninitiated person, but it is also undesirable to ignore it.

In severe cases, clouding will lead to serious visual impairment, retinal tear or detachment, decreased quality of life, and loss of ability to work. But in most cases, destruction can be successfully eliminated with the help of drug therapy or surgery.

Reasons for development

The most common causes of vitreous destruction can be divided into three categories:

Ophthalmological diseases - for example, destruction of the structure of the eyeball is one of the most common complications of advanced cataracts. Injuries and surgical operations also lead to compaction of fibrous tissue.
Pathologies of the circulatory system - with circulatory disorders, the functions of the vitreous body are also disrupted, since the tissues do not receive sufficient oxygen and nutrients, their structure changes.
Myopia or surgery on the lens, when it is replaced with an artificial one.
Age-related changes in the body. In older people, the vitreous body, for natural reasons, loses its properties and characteristics. Insoluble crystals of cholesterol and protein accumulate in it. When light passes through the eyeball, these tiny dense particles cast a shadow on the retina. These small shadows are the very “floaters” before the eyes that begin to bother many older people.

Changes in the structure of the vitreous body of the eye almost never have medical consequences. But it often causes great discomfort for the patient.

Granular or filamentous compactions lead to the fact that the body itself begins to liquefy, lose its shape, collapse and delaminate. It is not difficult to understand why this phenomenon is dangerous: sooner or later the affected eye will begin to see poorly and the person will become disabled.

To understand what happens in the organs of vision during the development of this pathology, you need to take a closer look at the structure and structure of the eyeball. The vitreous body fills the entire back of the eyeball, in certain areas it fits tightly to the retina, and in some places - along the circle of the optic nerve head and along the dentate line - it is connected to it. Thanks to the transparent gel structure, the retina is kept in a liquid state and receives light.

But with age, the vitreous body changes: in the central part it becomes liquid, and at the edges it becomes denser. This process in ophthalmology is called syneresis. Under the influence of its own mass, the gel substance, frozen at the edges, separates and falls into the liquid part in the center of the vitreous body. Detachment of the posterior portion of the vitreous body from the retina is the most common cause of visual impairment; this process is observed in almost half of people by the age of 80. Diabetes mellitus is often the trigger.

Varieties and types of disease

Destruction is primarily divided into two large categories according to its manifestations:

Asymptomatic – does not provoke any discomfort in the patient, does not affect its quality and, accordingly, does not require treatment.
Symptomatic– a person is often bothered by “floaters” before the eyes, “golden and silver showers”, flying cobwebs, etc. Symptomatic destruction may indicate that a retinal rupture or detachment has occurred; it also significantly affects the quality of life, reduces ability to work, and therefore requires treatment.

There are also several types of destruction:

filamentous – observed in young people, manifests itself as multiple dots, cobwebs and floaters before the patient’s eyes, structural changes in the vitreous body are collagen fibers woven together;
diffuse – occurs more often in elderly patients, develops due to age-related changes in the eyeball;
destruction, in which detachment of the posterior membrane occurs and the formation of a Weiss ring - the latter is formed when the posterior membrane is torn off; it can be very dense, with a high content of pigment particles, which significantly impairs the quality of vision.

How to recognize pathology

The main symptoms of destruction of the vitreous body include, as mentioned above, darkening, dots, and cobwebs that appear from time to time before the eyes. Changes in the vitreous body can have a variety of shapes, sizes, configurations, sometimes they are very dense, and in some cases almost transparent and invisible. They are especially noticeable if the patient looks at a clear blue sky or snow cover, that is, a light surface that reflects and transmits light well.

This is what pathological changes in the structure of the affected vitreous body of the eye look like

An important symptom at the initial stage of pathology: when trying to better examine the dots and “floaters,” they move along with the movement of the eyeball, so it is difficult to focus your gaze on them and study them.

In the future, as the pathology progresses, the following characteristic signs are noted:

Black spots before the eyes appear more and more often, there are more of them, they darken, sometimes patients complain of “black rain” suddenly falling on the eyes.
In addition to dots and darkening, lightning and flashes appear before the eyes. This symptom is extremely dangerous: perhaps this is a manifestation of vitreous dissection or retinal detachment; you need to urgently consult a doctor.

Often, a person attributes the long-term manifestation of destruction of the vitreous body to banal eye fatigue after prolonged work at the computer, for example. At first, it’s enough to simply change the type of activity and give your visual organs a good rest. But if the symptoms of the disease listed above bother you more and more often, it is better to be examined by an ophthalmologist.

Barely noticeable cloudiness, black dots and cobwebs floating before the eyes when looking at the sky, glass, mirror - this is the main symptom of the mild stage of eye destruction

Treatment methods

Statistics prove: only in 15% of cases, “spots”, flashes and clouding before the eyes occur due to a rupture or detachment of the retina. Much more often this phenomenon is completely harmless. Over time, the spots and dots themselves fade and decrease in size, or the patient gets used to these manifestations and no longer notices them. But there is other data according to which every tenth patient with a similar diagnosis is ready for surgery in order to finally get rid of floaters and dots before the eyes.

All examinations for suspected destruction of the glass body are carried out using modern equipment - modern and safe

Surgery

Treatment of destruction of the vitreous body of the eye is required only in cases where the symptoms do not go away over time, but intensify and lead to visual impairment.

But even then, systemic drugs or eye drops are not very effective. Removal of the vitreous body of the eye - vitrectomy - will be required. During the operation, the damaged vitreous body of the eye is completely removed, and a saline solution is injected in its place. Moreover, the possible risks and complications of such an intervention are much higher than the danger of the flies themselves.

Laser treatment

A modern alternative method for treating pathology is laser therapy. Vitreolysis is a completely painless, non-invasive and non-hazardous operation that allows you to completely get rid of darkening and thickening of the vitreous body. A thin laser beam is directed to the affected areas, under its influence the collagen seals dissolve and evaporate, the destruction becomes much less or completely disappears.

The targeted laser beam acts exactly where it is needed and helps to quickly and painlessly completely get rid of the pathology.

An anesthetic and a contact lens are first injected into the eyeball. The doctor can precisely control all his actions, and the patient does not feel any pain. The method is the safest and most reliable today, but not always effective: the less destruction and the closer they are located to the eyeball, the more difficult it will be for an ophthalmologist to remove them with a laser.

Other methods

It is impossible to effectively treat the destruction of the vitreous body of the eyeball with folk remedies. But since this pathology develops mainly in people over 65 years of age, with the help of alternative medicine it is possible to strengthen the visual apparatus and slightly prolong the natural aging process.

The prognosis of the disease is almost always good - it can be cured if therapy is started as early as possible and carried out comprehensively and fully. In the most serious cases, the removed vitreous is replaced with a special implant. But since the surgical risk is very high, direct surgery has not been performed in recent years. Laser surgery is preferable, but if the patient for some reason cannot afford it, all that remains is to adapt to the visual defect.

You may be interested in the following materials