Description

Eye floaters are spots in your vision. It may seem to you like black or gray specks, strings, or cobwebs. They may drift about when you move your eyes. The floats seem to dart away when you try to look at them directly.

Most eye floaters are caused by age-related changes that occur as the jelly-like substance (vitreous) inside your eyes liquifies and contracts. Scattered groups of collagen fibers form in the vitreous humor and can cast tiny shadows on your retina. The shadows you see are called floaters.

If you notice a sudden increase in eye floaters, contact an eye specialist immediately, especially if you also see light flashes or lose your vision. These may be symptoms of an emergency that requires immediate attention.

Symptoms

The symptoms of eye floaters may include:

  • Small shapes in your vision that appear as dark spots or bumps, transparent strings of floating material
  • The spots that move when you move your eyes, so when you try to look at them, they move quickly out of your line of vision
  • Points that are most noticeable when you look in a simple bright background, such as a blue sky or a white wall
  • Small ways or strings that finally settle down and drift out of the line of vision

When to see a doctor

Contact an eye specialist immediately if you experience:

  • Many more floaters than usual
  • A sudden onset of new floaters
  • Flashes of light in the same eye, as the floating
  • A gray curtain or a fuzzy area that blocks a part of your vision
  • The darkness on one side or both sides of your vision (peripheral vision loss)

These painless symptoms can be caused by a tear of the retina, with or without a retinal detachment. This is a sight-threatening condition that requires immediate attention.

Causes

Floaters can be caused by the vitreous humor of the changes related to aging or other diseases or conditions:

  • Age-related eye changes.The vitreous humor is a jelly-like substance composed mainly of water, collagen (a type of protein) and hyaluronic acid (a type of carbohydrate). The vitreous that fills the space in your eye between the lens and the retina, and helps the eye keep its round shape. With age, the vitreous humor of the changes. Over time, it liquifies and contracts — a process that causes it to move away from the eyeball from the interior surface. As the vitreous humor of the changes, the collagen fibers in the vitreous form clumps and chains. These scattered pieces of blocking part of the light that passes through the eye. This cast small shadows on the retina, which are seen as floaters.
  • Inflammation in the back of the eye. Uveitis is inflammation of the middle layer of tissue in the eye wall (uvea). Posterior uveitis affects the back of the eye, including the retina and a layer of the eye called the choroid. The inflammation causes floaters in the vitreous. Cause of posterior uveitis include infection, autoimmune disorders and inflammatory diseases.
  • Bleeding in the eye. Hemorrhage into the vitreous can have many causes, including retinal tears and detachments, diabetes, high blood pressure (hypertension), blocked blood vessels, and injury. The blood cells are seen as floaters.
  • Tearing of the retina. Retinal tears can occur when a contracting vitreous pulls on the retina with enough force to break it. Without treatment, a retinal tear can lead to a retinal detachment. If the leakage of fluid behind the tear, which can cause the retina to separate from the back of the eye. Untreated retinal detachment can cause permanent vision loss.
  • Eye surgeries and medicines for eyes. Certain drugs that are injected into the vitreous can cause air bubbles to form. These bubbles are seen as shadows until the eye absorbs. The silicone oil bubbles added during certain surgeries in the vitreous and the retina can also be seen as floaters.

Age-related eye changes. The vitreous humor is a jelly-like substance composed mainly of water, collagen (a type of protein) and hyaluronic acid (a type of carbohydrate). The vitreous that fills the space in your eye between the lens and the retina, and helps the eye keep its round shape.

With age, the vitreous humor of the changes. Over time, it liquifies and contracts — a process that causes it to move away from the eyeball from the interior surface.

As the vitreous humor of the changes, the collagen fibers in the vitreous form clumps and chains. These scattered pieces of blocking part of the light that passes through the eye. This cast small shadows on the retina, which are seen as floaters.

Risk factors

Factors that may increase your risk of eye floaters include:

  • The age of more than 50 years
  • Myopia
  • Eye injury
  • Complications of cataract surgery
  • Complication of Diabetes that causes damage to the blood vessels of the retina (diabetic retinopathy)
  • Inflammation of the eyes

Diagnosis

Your eye care specialist performs a complete eye exam to determine the cause of eye floaters. The exam typically involves the dilation of the eyes. Eye drops to dilate (widen) the dark centers of his eyes. This allows your specialist to better view the back of your eye and the vitreous.

Treatment

Most eye floaters don't require treatment. However, any medical condition which is the cause of the floaters, such as bleeding from the diabetes or inflammation, they should be treated.

Floaters can be frustrating and adapt to them can take time. Once you know the floaters will not cause more problems, with time, you may be able to ignore them or notice them less often.

If your eye floaters in the way of his vision, which occurs rarely, you and your eye doctor may consider treatment. The options may include surgery to remove the vitreous or a laser to disrupt the floaters, even though both procedures are rarely done.

  • The surgery to remove the vitreous humor. An ophthalmologist is a specialist in retina and vitreous surgery removes the vitreous through a small incision (vitrectomy). The vitreous is replaced with a solution to help your eye maintain its shape. The surgery may not remove all the floaters, and new floaters can develop after surgery. The risks of a vitrectomy include infection, bleeding and retinal tears.
  • The use of a laser to disrupt the floaters. An ophthalmologist pointing to a special laser in the floating in the vitreous (vitreolysis). This can break the floats and be less visible. Some people who have this treatment report improved vision; others notice little or no difference. Risks of laser therapy include damage to the retina if the laser is directed in the wrong way.

Preparing for your appointment

If you are concerned about floaters, make an appointment with a specialist in disorders of the view (optometrist or ophthalmologist) for an eye exam. If you have complications that require treatment, you need to see an ophthalmologist. Here's some information to help you prepare for your appointment.

What you can do

Before your appointment, make a list of:

  • Its symptoms, including situations that increase the floaters you see, or sometimes, when you see less and less floaters
  • All the drugs, vitamins, herbs and other supplements that you take, and the dose
  • Questions to ask your ophthalmologist to help you get the most out of your appointment

For eye floaters, some basic questions to ask include:

  • Why do I see these floaters?
  • They will always be there?
  • What can I do to prevent that from happening?
  • Are there treatments available?
  • Are there brochures or other printed material that I can take? What sites do you recommend?
  • I need a follow-up appointment, and, if so, when?

What to expect from your doctor

Your eye doctor is likely to ask a series of questions, such as:

  • When he made his floaters to start?
  • That eye is eye floaters?
  • The symptoms been continuous or occasional?
  • Have you recently noticed an increase in the number of floaters?
  • You have seen the light of the flashes?
  • Nothing seems to improve or worsen your symptoms?
  • Have you ever had eye surgery?
  • Do you have any medical condition, like diabetes or high blood pressure?
Symptoms and treatment of eye floaters