Eye floaters

What are eye floaters?

Eye floaters are spots or squiggly lines floating across your field of vision. Floaters can take several different shapes, such as small black dots or squiggly lines in your vision, or rings, threads, spiders’ legs, or cobwebs.¹,²,³

You’ve probably noticed them before. They move as your eyes move, so they’re difficult to look at directly. They’re often squiggly lines in your peripheral vision (at the edges of your vision). Floaters carry on drifting around when you’re not moving your eyes.²

Causes of eye floaters

Eye floaters can be caused by changes in the vitreous fluid inside your eye. Over time, as you age, this can change from a jelly-like substance to a watery liquid, and pieces of it can become more mobile and visible.

It’s normal to have some eye floaters, especially as you get older. However, a sudden increase or change in floaters can be a symptom of a serious problem. It could mean you have a tear in your retina, or retinal detachment (when your retina comes loose from the back of your eye). Retinal tears and retinal detachment can cause vision loss if they’re not treated quickly.

Flashing lights

Like floaters, flashing lights in your vision can happen because of changes in the shape of the vitreous gel inside your eyeball. The flashes are usually white and vertical. You’ll usually see them at the edges of your vision. They last just a short time. They may be brighter or more noticeable in dim light and can be worse when you move your eyes or your head.³

Eye floaters and flashes often aren’t anything to worry about by themselves. However, if you’ve only recently started noticing flashing lights, if they’re suddenly happening more often than usual or after a recent eye injury or eye surgery, this could mean you have a retinal tear. If this is the case, you should seek treatment urgently.

Fixed black spots

Although eye floaters can take the form of black spots, it’s possible to have black spots in your vision that are not floaters. Fixed black spots don’t move around. They can be caused by macular holes. These are holes in the central part of your retina, the part of the eye which gives you detailed vision.⁵

If you have a fixed black spot in your central vision (rather than your peripheral vision) it may well be a macular hole. If this is the case, you should talk to your doctor or optometrist, even if you don’t have any other symptoms.⁵

When should you be concerned about eye floaters?

Eye floaters can be annoying, but they are normal, especially as you get older. However, they can sometimes be a symptom of a serious problem that needs urgent treatment. You should talk to an optometrist or a doctor as soon as possible if:

You’re seeing floaters for the first time
You suddenly have more floaters in your vision than usual
You see peripheral flashes of light
You also have blurred vision
You also have pain in your eyes
You’re also seeing a dark “curtain” or shadow across your field of vision
You’re seeing floaters when you’ve recently had an eye injury or eye surgery.

This is because a sudden increase in floaters, or floaters accompanied by any of the other symptoms above, can be an indication of a retinal tear or a detached retina. If your floaters are caused by a retinal tear or a detached retina, you will need surgery right away to prevent vision loss.¹

In this scenario, your optometrist or doctor will probably give you a dilated eye exam. This means they’ll give you eye drops to dilate your pupils, so they can see more of the inside of your eye and your retina.⁴ After the exam you may have blurred vision and be more sensitive to light for a few hours, because your pupils will still be dilated. You shouldn’t drive yourself home from the appointment, and it’s also a good idea to bring sunglasses.⁴

Based on this eye exam, your optometrist or doctor will be able to tell whether your floaters are caused by something serious. If so they can arrange for you to have urgent treatment.

Eye floaters treatment

Eye floaters often do not need treatment. Usually, they’re harmless and are caused by changes in the shape of the vitreous fluid inside your eyeball. This is more common as you get older. Threads of the fluid can sometimes clump together and cast shadows onto your retina (the layer of cells at the back of your eyeball that detects the light coming into your eye). You may see dots, threads or squiggly lines floating across your field of vision and will improve with time in most cases.¹,²,³

However, sometimes eye floaters can be a symptom of a more serious problem, such as a retinal tear or retinal detachment. This is where the retina is torn or comes loose from the back of your eye. If this happens, it needs urgent treatment to prevent vision loss.¹,²,³

If your floaters have appeared suddenly or there’s been a sudden increase in the number of them, this might indicate that you have a retinal tear or retinal detachment. Other symptoms of retinal tears or retinal detachment include flashes of light, blurry vision, or a dark “curtain” or shadow moving across your field of vision. If you have these symptoms or a sudden increase in floaters, you should see an optometrist or a doctor as soon as possible. It could mean you need emergency treatment.¹,²,³

The same is true of flashing lights in your field of vision. Eye flashes often don’t need treatment, because they’re usually caused by changes in the shape of your vitreous fluid. However, if they come on suddenly or after an eye injury or eye surgery, or if they’re accompanied by blurry vision or a dark shadow across your field of vision, then they might be a symptom of a retinal tear or retinal detachment, and you might need emergency treatment.³

If your optometrist or doctor suspects that you might have a retinal tear or retinal detachment, they’ll give you a dilated eye exam. This involves giving you eye drops to dilate your pupils, so they can get a better view of the back of your eye. They’ll have a look for any tears or signs of detachment. The eye drops are not a treatment for floaters themselves; they just dilate your eyes to make it easier for your optometrist or doctor to look at them and diagnose you. The drops will leave your pupils dilated for several hours after the eye exam. This can give you blurred vision or make you more sensitive to light for a few hours.⁴

If your eye floaters turn out to be caused by a retinal tear or retinal detachment, you’ll need surgery as soon as possible to prevent vision loss. This surgery can be done under local anaesthetic.

For a retinal tear, your doctor can use laser therapy or cryotherapy (freezing treatment) to seal the tear.³,⁶

For a retinal detachment, your doctor will probably remove the vitreous jelly from inside your eyeball (vitrectomy) and replace it with a bubble of gas or silicone oil. This holds your retina in place and helps it to heal. If the detachment is small and uncomplicated, your doctor may be able to just inject the gas without removing any vitreous jelly. Eventually the gas will disappear by itself by being absorbed into the blood and is breathed out through the lungs. However, silicone oil will need to be removed.³

These surgeries have a high success rate³ and will very likely prevent vision loss from a retinal tear or retinal detachment. They can also cure your eye floaters.

However, you will probably need around 2 to 6 weeks to recover from the surgery and return to normal vision. During this recovery time, your vision may be blurry, and your eye may be sore and red. You can take over-the-counter painkillers to help with the soreness. While you have a bubble of gas in your eye, you may need to avoid flying.⁶

Many people experience long-term, harmless eye floaters, which don’t indicate a serious problem like retinal detachment. However, these floaters can still be irritating and affect your vision. If you have eye floaters that are interfering with your everyday life, your optometrist or doctor may suggest options for eye floater removal.

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Eye floaters

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