Floaters. If you see a sudden increase in them, get a referral to an ophthalmologist ASAP.

I got grounded for insisting I saw these when I was younger. I am now vindicated 😎

Floaters in the vitreous of the eyeball (aka clumps of your vitreous that got stuck together as your vitreous gel started to liquify, which happens naturally with age for everyone).

They're normal if they appear gradually as you age. Most common in people with myopia. Can be caused by a variety of things including hits to the eyes or head, possibly by steroid eye drops, anything that increases the pressure in your eye, or just plain old aging.

They never go away but if you're lucky they might "settle" or get stuck to the side. Never happens for a lot of people though, and they can be quite distressing for many people - especially for people who have many large and moving floaters.

Most mentally healthy people will neuro-adapt and they'll become less noticeable over time. It can take about six months before this happens though and it does suck at first. I got some new ones after LASIK and I was pretty upset. Now I only notice them on light backdrops like snow or my shower. But even then I just notice them briefly and my thoughts quickly move elsewhere. No stress.

For people who are absolutely driven insane by a large number of them, there is a risky surgery to remove them, but if it goes wrong you can be looking at blindness so you definitely need to weigh your options.

The non-surgical laser treatment for floaters doesn't work. It seems to maybe work for some people in the short term but most people report that it doesn't help in the long term. It can even create more floaters or break up your big ones into many smaller ones that move more. The laser is also dangerous for younger patients because the floaters are closer to your retina when you're younger. The laser can cause damage to the retina and it's hard to avoid doing that when the floaters are close to it.

There are currently a couple groups researching how to get rid of them non-invasively. Last bit of news I saw said a group had been using gold flakes and a new type of laser to successfully and safely break them down. Personally, I will get mine treated if there is a non-invasive way to do so, but I'm not too bothered by them so I can wait for that.

Worth noting that if you suddenly get a lot of floaters and are feeling pain in your eyes or seeing bright flashes that look like a camera flash, you need to go seek medical attention immediately as these are signs of a retinal tear. Retinal tears are treatable but only if you go take care of them immediately. The consequences are not taking care of them quickly can be severe.

For most people, these are harmless and just a part of getting older. You'll get used to them.

Taking a screen shot with your eyes

Everyone on here talking about theirs going away over time and I'm wondering if I'm supposed to go in for regular scraping as I get older

Mine disappeared as I got older, like around 25 or so. Now if they or similar visual effects come back it means I need to rush for my migraine pills or I'm in for some serious ass whopping... Don't know what I did to my old friends to deserve that kind of treatment.

Awwww man. I just now realized that my little eye buddies disappeared at some point. Wonder where they went. I hope it was on vacation.

Oh wow I used to see those all the time when I was younger but it's been years lol!

Floaters are one thing, but what about the internal electric / static activity you can see, what is that called? I was always way more intrigued by that than some eyeball sludge.

Do you see a reflection of neural activity or something? Just like floaters they're only visible when looking at larger plain things with 1 colour. They seem projected, and less obvious than the floaters but more common in your whole view.

Oh squiggly line, I see you there in the periphery of my vision

I think my eye sight must be getting worse cos I've not seen these in years!

I know they are not parasites, but what are they? Strings of dead cells? Dead optical nerve? Any biologists here?

If nobody got me, I know the floaters and searing, incapacitating pain on the sides of my head got me

The first snowfall of this year made me realize the extent to which I have an entire fucking universe within me. Mostly in my eyeballs, apparently. So many white backdrops to highlight them. It was alarming.

HOW DID YOU TAKE THAT PHOTO

I thought I was just weird.

I'm so relieved the comments validated what I thought this was about, and I'm not alone :)

XP wallpaper?