What are floaters, and how do they affect vision?

What exactly are floaters, and what do they look like? Here to answer these questions and more in the below article is highly experienced consultant ophthalmologist, Mr Stephen Lash.

What are floaters?

Typically, floaters are clumps in the jelly of the eye that form as one ages. The jelly degenerates after birth and fluid pockets appear. As a result, the collagen clumps. Sometimes, they are caused by inflammation and blood.

What do floaters look like?

They vary from bits that float around, beads on a chain, fibres, and clouds that come and go interfering with the vision, causing it to become rather blurred intermittently. The variety of floaters that cause a cloud to come across the vision are the most visually disabling.

Floaters cause more disturbance to the patient that the doctor examining as the patient is looking at the world through the floaters, whereas the doctor is looking just at the light bouncing back off the floaters.

Are floaters normal?

Yes, they are. In fact, the majority of people will have them. In most cases, floaters will not bother patients at all. It's only when floaters interfere with the vision that you should consider having surgery.

Any sudden onset of floaters (especially if associated with flashing lights) should be seen by an eye expert within 48 hours. Any shadows that appear after such an event should be seen in an eye casualty within 24 hours, as this could indicate retinal detachment.

Can floaters be removed?

Yes. The operation I perform most often is removal of the jelly of the eye. Surgery carries a small risk of retinal detachment at around one per cent, and if you are over 50, there is a risk of cataracts forming after surgery. Floaters seem to bother people who have had previous cataract surgery, especially if a premium lens has been used (multifocal type lenses).

Surgery takes around 20 minutes and is painless. It is carried out under a local anaesthetic, so patients neither see nor feel anything. After surgery, a small air bubble is placed in the eye to help seal the breaks. If breaks occur during surgery, a gas bubble may be placed in the eye. This lasts for two weeks with the bubble getting smaller and rounder as time goes by.

Can floaters be prevented?

No. This is a normal and natural occurrence and simply part of the ageing process. 

If you wish to book an appointment with Mr Stephen Lash, don’t forget you can do just that via his Top Doctors profile today.