What are floaters?
Floaters are a common eye condition, often described as cobwebs or small specks which float across the vision that are usually the result of small condensations of cells within the vitreous gel in the back of the eye. You won’t know you have them until they appear. They are often noticeable when one is looking at the sky or a light background such as a computer screen. An individual who has floaters, won’t see the tiny bits of debris floating loose within the eye. Instead, shadows from them are cast on the retina as light passes through the eye, and those shadows are what is seen. In order to have them disappear, one much try focusing on them.
Symptoms & Treatment
Benign floaters usually never require immediate medical treatment. However, they are very bothersome. A few exercises to do that will help include moving them away from your visual field include moving your eyes by looking up and down as opposed to moving your eyes side to side. However, you should see a doctor if the eye floaters seem to worsen over time and you experience flashes of light or any vision loss along with the eye floaters. A sudden increase in floaters or flashing lights in the vision may be a symptom of a more serious problem such as a retinal tear or detachment.
If you experience any of these symptoms call us immediately to schedule a dilated eye exam with Dr. Greenbaum.