You’re seeing specks, spots, threads, or cobweb-like objects in your field of vision, but when you try to focus on them, they never stay still long enough to be visible. What’s going on? You’re experiencing eye floaters, and although these phantom forms can be a bit unnerving at times, you likely have nothing to worry about.
Eye floaters generally occur as you age, and are caused by the natural degeneration of your eye’s vitreous, the gel-like substance that helps maintain the round shape of your eyeball. Over time, the vitreous can dissolve, shrink, and liquefy, causing the vitreous to have a stretched or string-like consistency. When this happens, the usually transparent vitreous casts shadows on your retina, ultimately appearing in your vision as an eye floater.
Most often, eye floaters affect older individuals, those with diabetes, or people who have undergone cataract surgery. The occasional floater is nothing to worry about, but in some situations, eye floaters could mean something more serious.
If you are experiencing any of the following signs or symptoms, it’s time to call our office:
- You suddenly begin seeing floaters on a regular basis
- They interfere with your regular vision.
- Your eye floaters are accompanied by flashes of light, vision loss, or pain.
- Eye floaters follow an eye surgery or trauma.
Keep an eye on floaters (figuratively speaking!) and immediately call us if you suspect that you’re experiencing abnormal eye floater behavior.
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