Eye Floaters, What are they?

They are small spots that move in front of your field of vision. They usually happen when you look at something bright (blank white paper, clear blue sky). If the floaters become large in size they may overshadow your vision, let's deep more and talk about it's symptoms , causes and what is the perfect way to treat it.

Eye Floaters Symptom

As its name implies, it floats around in your eye, and move away when you try to focus on them. They may appear as:

• Blackish or greyish dots.
• Zigzag lines.
• They usually don’t go away but you learn to ignore them.

Eye Floaters Causes

They are usually made from small flecks of collagen. That are part of the vitreous body of the eye. If you suffer from nearsightedness and/or had cataract surgery and/or older than 50 years old, the vitreous body’s fibers shrink then clump. Their shadow falls on the retina and causes the floater effect. But if you see a flash, then immediate medical attention is mandatory.

Rarely, they appear due to:

• Retinal detachment.
• Injured retina.
• Bleeding inside the eye.
• Inflamed vitreous body.
• Eye tumors.

When to seek medical attention?

If few floaters that don’t increase over time, or affect your vision then don’t mind it. But if any of the following happens, then seeing your ophthalmologist is a must:

• Sudden increase in floaters’ number.
• Flash of light.
• Loss of peripheral vision.
• Floaters after eye surgery or trauma.

Otherwise, you may lose your vision.

Eye Floaters Treatment

Early floaters doesn’t require medical treatment. If they affect your field of vision, block your vision then your doctor may advise a surgery called: vitrectomy. Vitrectomy, is a simple procedure where the vitreous body is removed and replaced by saline.

It may have rare complications such as

• Retinal detachment.
• Retinal tears.