sudden floaters + headache = ?

[c_e]

sorry I accidentally posted this under someone else's thread first so will repost as a new question:

I had an uncommon headache last night and then this morning I woke up with what I believe is a floater (looks like a large tree branch) across my field of vision, from the outer edge right up to the middle of the field along with hundreds of other little round ones. I've never had anything like this before. I'm in good health, 59 years old. Is it common for large floaters like this to suddenly appear in one eye? How does one's retina become detached or tear, anyway? Can a headache have anything to do with it?

Thank you in advance.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

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[c_e]

Thanks for your diagnosis; I was concerned it might have been an RD, so went to see a DO soon afterwards.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

Use the search feature and archives and read about "posterior vitreous detachments" or "PVDs"     They are a normal part of aging of the eye. Headache is not part of the process. In some people as the vitreous strips off the back of the eye it adheres to the retina and can crease a tear which in tear can cause a RD.

Use Google images and type those terms in to see what this looks like, it makes it easier to understand.

JCH MD