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I am a longtime tuba/euphonium player. I had an eye floater incident this week and wanted to share it with other tubists to see if anyone has had a similar incident.

I am 64 years old and in generally good health although very near-sighted. I have been playing low brass for 50 years (freshman year of high school, 1965.) Although I routinely play a euphonium or a 3/4 size tuba in a concert band environment (and an occasional parade) without any issues, I recently played my brass Conn sousaphone (1925 USQMC model, weighing approximately 45 pounds) with a college pep band at a basketball game. This entailed lifting the horn from the floor onto my shoulder, playing loudly for a minute or less, and then putting the horn back on the floor. I did this at least 15 times during the game, as well as carrying the horn into and out of the arena. Lots of fun, no problems.

Two days after playing, I noted spots in my left eye and went to an eye doctor as to the possibility of a detached retina (something someone my age with a history of extreme myopia might experience.) He checked my eyes, said the retina was fine, and said it was a large floater. I asked what would cause the onset of such a floater, and he said a traumatic event (e.g., a car crash, falling down and hitting one's head) or perhaps extreme physical exertion. I said, what about playing a heavy sousaphone in a college pep band, and he (as a former trombone player) said the huffing and puffing of playing would probably not cause this. However, he did say that perhaps a weightlifter exerting loud grunts while lifting heavy weights might undergo an extreme amount of stress/exertion that could cause such a floater. But he thought that was not likely. I searched the internet and could not find anyone with a similar experience - although who in the world plays a 45 pound brass sousaphone in a college pep band at my age (or any age for that matter??) In any case, I have to put up with this annoying floater until it (hopefully) breaks up on its own and floats to the bottom of my eye out of my direct line of vision.

As I ponder this, I am convinced that playing this sousaphone did indeed trigger this floater. I am curious if any other tubists have had or know of a similar incident.

I had a floater this past year starting in January that turned out to be some blood floating in my left eye (in the vitreous fluid). I noticed a floater one day as I was reading and over the next 2 weeks it got larger and darker, until it was blocking part of my central vision. To me, it looked like a worm laying across my central vision.

I am 31 years old, also very nearsighted (coke bottle glasses or contacts 7.5 & 8.5 prescription), which apparently makes me more susceptible to retinal detachments, and the retina specialist checked me for a detachment as well. I was given a clean bill of health(no detachment), and was told it would dissipate by itself or I could choose to do surgery. I chose the natural path and it did indeed go away. By the end of May/beginning of June, I was back to 100%.

Then one night in a rehearsal, during a long tacet, I blinked and went blurry. At first, I though it was my contact falling out, but then everything had a red hue, then brown, then completely blocked vision in that eye. Once again, I was checked for detachment and it turned out to be just the blood again, but way worse than before. The cloud of blood completely blocked my vision in that eye.

It was decided that surgery would be done in August to take the blood out and cauterize the vein that was leaking once they could see exactly where it was coming from.

A week before my surgery at my checkup, I was told my retina was now detached, not from the bleeding, but a separate unrelated incident of an eye infection causing fluid underneath the retina. My June, July, and appointments both had ultrasounds and my doc showed me the 2 healthy months compared to that last one and what the detachment looked like. The surgery plan now changed to reattach my retina, but I had to take antibiotics and wait until the infection cleared up.

My surgery was on Sept 8 and I gained everything back except my central vision, which will hopefully come back after another surgery.

It's still a mystery what caused all of this for me. My doc has been in practice 46 years and said he was pretty stumped with my progression. I went to a few other specialists for other opinions who all highly recommended I see someone specific, which turned out to be my Dr., so I know he is one of the best in the area.

My guess for my own problem is stress related. This past year has been extremely stressful for many reasons and I think it weakened my immune system enough to let these problems happen. My doc was surprised to learn I had not experienced a trauma, and I demonstrated playing (mouthpiece buzzing high/low and loud/soft) for him and he didn't think that could cause it. He said weightlifters holding their breath in and overexerting themselves can cause this, so I imagine moving a heavy sousaphone with physical exertion and blowing loudly to play it could cause it as well.

I didn't really help much, but it's good to know that you are not alone at least.

I'm no opthamologist but I have been a nurse for 27 years. Blowing hard through a large horn can cause an increase in intra-occular and intra-cranial pressure and could cause floaters. I would think it will go away on its own given time. If you experience any loss of vision in the eye like a black patch in your vision field or a tunnel like effect or severe pain go back to the eye doctor. Usually detached retnias come with pain but not always. Hope you are doing better.

I am 66 and just had something similar happen to me for the 1st time. Driving home from a gig a couple weeks ago I saw flashes of light in my left peripheral. The flashes gradually went away, but I had a floater over there for a couple weeks. My eye doc said it would probably clear up on its own, and it has. The gig was nothing out of the ordinary- played BBb tuba with a brass choir

I have floaters occasionally any they do arrive more often either while playing or right afterwards. My eye doctor seemed to think the added pressure from playing could have a bearing on the floater's frequency.