Floaters In Your Eyes Are Not Spirochetes

Floaters are quite common in patients with Lyme and tick borne diseases. Due to the belief by some that the floaters are spirochetes or bugs in the eye, a very kind Lyme literate ophthalmologist answered this question for us...

Are floaters actually spirochetes?

"Yes you are correct the floaters are not spirochetes. Too small for patients to actually see them.

The vitreous gel is where floaters happen. At birth it is thick and gelatinous. Over time it liquifies ...syneresis...by the time we are older it has portions that have liquified and portions that are gel and more solid.

UV exposure and lifestyle ie smoking and systemic diseases have varying effects on this process.

I believe that with Lyme patients because of ROS and systemic inflammation, cytokines etc this process begins prematurely and at an accelerated rate.

I also theorize that certain coinfections seem to cause floaters as well as other ocular manifestations.

It is interesting to note that MMP9 is elevated in mycotoxin illness and in tear films in dry eye patients.

Many Lyme patients have dry eyes and probably elevated inflammatory markers in their tear film."

NOTE- There are very few LL ophthalmologists in the country and this information is from one of the few who would actually know.

More About Floaters

Video- Floaters in Eyes (50 seconds)

How to Get Rid of Floaters- Video (6 minutes)

Uveitis: role of the physician in treating systemic causes.

Last Updated- April 2019

Lucy Barnes

AfterTheBite@gmail.com