Hello xevious,
Thanks for your opinion and good evaluation on the 8 hour exposure thing.
looks like me and you have some common eye situations, I'm also fortunate with good eyesight 9.5/10 each eye, I guess that's 19/20 by your country's medical terms, but my focus is still working now at my late 30's or early 40's (basically my 40th birthday is a year and some months away).
I have driven only cars and bicycles, I have driven cars of my ownership for more than 20 years, and had my fair share of pressure changes and a lot of vibrations (awful roads), but as it is the case with my sunlight long term exposure levels, I have not drived so much the past few years, only about 5% of the mileage I used to cover before 2011, and yet the floaters started in the recent years, but I know exactly how and when I finally triggered them out. The floaters started on me early although my 70 years old parents still don't have them, so it's not genetic nor natural premature, I caused them to myself with violent physical movement and the several falls on the back of my head through out my life, especially the first one at the age of 9 which was so strong, and near death experience, I passed away from morning till afternoon hours alone under the sun. Afterwards, the back of my brain kept frequently hurting me in full 24 hours cycles, every two weeks, or every 1 month sometimes, that continued for about 3 - 4 years then it all stopped at adolescence I guess. Then later I fell several times on the back of my head, either from on top of a ladder or walls and such things along the road of life, but I seem have gained strength in that area, stands up immediately a walk home for wound cleaning. But the violent movements that finally gave me the floaters and headache were the abnormal physical exercises I created for no logical reason 4 years ago, I was training like an Astronaut for impulsive reasons, I was possessed that chaos was coming towards my direction, and it was (I live in Syria), and was preparing for Armageddon I guess, but the storm of chaos eventually shifted away from me without needing my physical intervention lol.
*Rest in peace everyone whom lost their lives fighting the right battle, and thanks for every effort that went in the right direction, and is still going on. The right direction in Syria is subtle, mainly it is the direction of the silent many who knows the real history of the region, not the Arabic Islamic history that the Arab Nationalists authoritarian regimes, especially in particular the most active Al- Baath party, the ruling party in Syria now, and in Iraq before 2003, whom imposed their version of history and their education system on us the past 70 years, with covert collaboration with the Arabian Gulf states and the various Islamic organisations and brotherhoods, and with official collaboration with the Islamic republic of Iran, and recently Islamic Turkey.
Back to my optometrist, I didn't tell him anything about my physical activities, but he actually told me, he said the floaters are due to violent movements and I need to stay away from such activities. He was right, I tried to ask other questions, he said they were not a factor, and strictly insisted on his instructions.
I did my homework, a lot of online searching, especially after the recent retinal degeneration (transformations) diagnostic, and I came across the nutritional factor, and although my overall diet is relatively considered very good, but I found out I was lacking the nutrients that are especially good for the Retina, and I fixed my diet accordingly the past 6 months, I can say that I'm feeling better now, my condition has stopped progressing so far, that I'm not in so much hurry to take my next eye exam appointment.
As for a 2nd opinion, I was thinking of taking one when I was feeling worse, now I don't feel so urged, actually my doctor is considered the best in town, and the second reason is that I can barely stand one Iris dilating drops and flashlight exam every 6 month, I really think they are not good for my retina, my green eyes are so photophobic. So I'm now looking forward for the next generation of eye exams, the camera recording through the pupil, that does not require dilating the Iris and the use of flashlight, if I can manage to find this technology, anywhere nearby, I'll gladly take one of those for their higher accuracy and relief. That's the only situation I say no to flashlights lol.
Thanks, good luck to you too.
(yes, I know that's glare not UV). But UV damage to the eyes from the sun is a gradual thing, such as increased risk for cataracts. You like your sunglasses? USE THEM, especially if they're good quality. Btw, sunglasses need to be more than just reducing UVA/UVB exposure, but also have full optical correctness. The latter is often overlooked. I would stay away from unusually shaped sunglasses, because they're very likely far from optical correctness. While you can also check for focus change with/without glasses for short range, there is also the matter of long range. Because optical correctness is important, I try to stick with well known and trusted brands. Most of my sunglasses are made by Nikon. Their optical clarity and correctness is fantastic. Two of my favorites are made of tempered glass (a bit heavy), but I also have a pair made of polycarbonate (light). There are many other good brand choices out there as well.
