Dear Dr. Garner,

Last week, I was doing my usual chores in the house when I noticed spots floating in front of my eyes. It almost looked like insects.

I became very scared and called my doctor who told me these are “floaters.” He asked me to come to the office to be checked out. He said that this is not a serious problem most of the time.

Could you tell me your opinion about these floaters?

Floating in Flushing

 

Dear Floating,

Floaters are actually quite common and well known to ophthalmologists. As your doctor told you, in the great majority of cases these are more annoying than serious. Certain exceptions occur which I will get into later.

Floaters are usually black or gray specks or string-shaped densities which drift into your line of vision when you move your eyes. The eye is made up of predominately fluid and proteins. As we get older, the fluid in the eye ages. It has a different consistency and clumping can occur, which creates the shadows known as eye floaters.

Settle and Drift

It is very easy to know if you have floaters, as you will see spots in your visual field. These spots move when you move your eyes and are most noticeable when you look directly at white light. The particles eventually settle down and drift out of the line of sight. These eye floaters are usually related to getting older and changes that occur in the jelly-like substance that fills up your eyeball.

These floaters can also be the result of inflammation or inflammatory disease in the back of the eye or infection. In addition, bleeding in the eye can cause this problem.

You are more prone to develop these floaters if you are over 50, nearsighted, if you have experienced eye trauma, are diabetic or have complications from cataract surgery. It is important to see the eye doctor if new floaters occur. It is particularly important to see the eye doctor when you see flashes of light or darkness on the outside of your visual field.

Treatment for the floaters is necessary if it interferes with your daily function. A laser can be used to dissolve floaters. However, this is not without risk and not recommended for average, run-of-the-mill cases. Another method is to remove all of the fluid in the eye and remove the clumps and then replace the fluid. This is not used on a routine basis as the risks can outweigh the benefits.

Over time, most eye floaters will decrease in size due to absorption of the floaters through natural processes. They may also shift in position, altering their shadow. Sometimes the brain can adapt to floaters and actually cause the body to ignore them. As time goes on, the floaters become less bothersome.

Coping Techniques

There is no safe method to cure the symptoms of eye floaters. Time is the best healer and sometimes patients report that the floaters are almost entirely gone after a year or two. Relaxation techniques may be helpful to cope with the annoying floaters. Certain herbs, vitamins and iodine-containing products have been touted as effective in decreasing eye floaters. There are a few, if any, significant clinical trials proving this. There are no eye drops available for reduction of floaters.

In summary, you have a problem that is very common and usually not medically serious. Floaters occur in the majority of people over the age of 60. The part of the eye known as the vitreous makes up the majority of the fluid in eye. Its function is to give the eye shape. It also serves as a shock-absorber. This space is filled with sticky gel that is made mostly of water as well as proteins and other material. It is the clumps of protein that are the source of most eye floaters.

I am sorry that you have this problem, however it should gradually improve with time.

Dr. Garner is a Fidelis Care provider who is affiliated with New York Methodist Hospital, Park Slope. He also hosts “Ask the Doctor” on NET TV, Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on Time Warner Channel 97, Cablevision Channel 30 and Verizon FiOS on Demand.