The Floater Doctor
James H. Johnson, M.D.
Medical Director
email Dr. Johnson directly:
mail@thefloaterdoctor.com
Located in Dallas - Ft. Worth area of Texas
PUPIL DILATING AGENT (LOW DOSE) FOR SYMPTOMATIC RELIEF of FLOATERS
Mild pupil dilation works! It pretty simple optics. When light enters the eye through a slight larger pupil, the shadows (from the collagen clumps which are your floaters) are reduced. You see less of the floaters.
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We can not recommend full strength dilating meds as the huge pupils let in too much light causing photosensitivity. The full strength meds also paralyze your up close focusing mechanism. These are unacceptable side effects.
Low Dose Pupil Dilating Eye Drops only increase the pupils diameter size by 1.5mm on average (about the thickness of a US quarter), so not much. Amazingly so, that is all it takes to reduce the shadows you see as floaters.
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Long term safety? Glad you asked. There is a case use of low dose dilating agents in children, every day for years to try to reduce the progression and the final, stable endpoint of their myopia. I could not find any long term problems for the health of the eye. About 3% of children did have some red eye irritations which would resolve entirely with discontinuation of the med.
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Check out the sampling of reviews and testimonials, all from patients treated by The Floater Doctor.
Prerequisites and qualifications:
1. US located mailing address. We can only mail to the US.
2. Existing patient of Dr. Johnson. Having already established a doctor-patient relationship whether you were treated or not, or...
3. Purchase and participate in a Tele-Medicine Video Consultation with Dr. Johnson. There are 3 available spots each day. Click button below to sign up.
4. Be over 18 years of age. If younger, your parents may sign you up and must participate in the video meeting.
$125.00 for approx. 30 min meeting.
IT INCLUDES a 4ml bottle (85-87 drops) of custom compounded low dose pupil dilating agent mail to use
I guess we need to repeat: You must be an existing patient to purchase these prescription pupil dilating agents.
If you have already seen Dr. Johnson in person or via Video Consultation, click the button to go to the shopping page. We monitor purchaser's status.
If you live outside the US, you may want to ask your local eye doctor to prescribe it for you. You can download a free PDF document which described the hows and whys of mild pupil dilation in the management of eye floaters.
A Brief Introduction
There are search engine advertising restrictions on the naming of brand/generic medications, so we are talking about the very low dose, custom compounding of a medication that has been used in ophthalmology for over 100 years. It is naturally occurring chemical and originally derived from plants and affects the parasympathetic nervous system. At full strength, it could have you fully dilated for 1-2 weeks and with the light sensitivity and blurred vision that goes with it. When diluted 100x (from 1% to 0.01%) we get a very mild pupil dilation that last about 24 hours.
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HOW YOU SEE YOUR FLOATERS:
When we say "you are seeing floaters", it is not a technically accurate statement. YOU DO NOT SEE FLOATERS, but instead you see the shadows or the disturbance of vision by densities in the vitreous fluid. Those shadows, 'the floaters' you are are aware of are influenced by a few variables. One of the most important of these is the size of your pupils which is normally reactive to the amount of light in your environment. Generally, the brighter it is around you, the smaller the pupils, and consequently the more distinct and defined the appearance of your eye floaters. Conversely, in dim or dark environments (or when wearing dark sunglasses), the pupils get bigger to allow in more light, but the benefit is that the floaters are diminished, softened, and generally less noticeable.
You may have experienced that yourself by instinctively dimming lights, wearing sunglasses indoors, when driving at night, or getting some temporary relief after your dilated eye examination from your eye doctor.
USE OF PUPIL DILATING AGENT (LOW-DOSE) :
One practical application is the use of a low dose pupil dilating agent (0.01%) is to mildly dilate the pupil (increasing diameter by 1.5 mm on average) which can bring some relief from the floaters, but at this dose there should be no noticeable loss of near focusing ability. In addition, the patient will not suffer the extreme sensitivity to light (or the socially weird appearance) that accompanies very large pupils.
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Medically, they are well tolerated even with long term use. It will be nearly inconceivable that very low dose (0.01%) would or could have any systemic side effects. In studies of long term use of 0.05% and 0.01% doses in children confirms this.
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If you have read through some of the eye floater discussion forums where this has been discussed, many people who have used the Pupil Dilating Agent (low dose) eye drops have been very happy with the relief they experience. There is a common frustration, though, in getting their local eye care provider to understand their problem as well as prescribe the modified prescription for them. The other obstacle is finding a compounding pharmacy to mix the eyedrops at a reasonable price. Compounding pharmacies can be very expensive and about US $80-90 or more for just a months worth of medication.
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Our goal is to make it easier and more convenient to at least try out the Pupil Dilating Agent (low dose) for about a month while you go about your business of school, work, and other daily activities that bring about your awareness of the floaters.
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Here is an opportunity for US residents to have a brief video tele-med consultation with Dr. Johnson to establish a doctor-patient relationship as well as to confirm that you are primarily experiencing eye floaters. After that, we will send you a bottle of preservative-free, custom compounded Pupil Dilating Agent (low Dose) eye drops to try out.
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