If you see small dark spots or lines across your vision, you may haveeye floaters.

Eye floaters are harmless substances that form naturally during the aging process, and generally don’t require treatment.

What Are Eye Floaters?

The description of what they look like may differ from person to person.

They form as the vitreous shrinks in the process of aging.

Those who havediabetes, arenearsighted, or recently hadcataractsurgery are at higher risk of getting eye floaters.

People with elevated psychological distress have been shown to have persistent eye floaters, and vice versa.

This allows them to see if you have any floaters passing through the center of your eye.

Your healthcare provider will ask you for more specific details about the floaters in your eye.

Optometrist or Ophthalmologist?

Eye floaters sparked by a medical condition will be referred to an ophthalmologist for further evaluation and surgical treatment.

Although rare, floaters in the eye can occasionally be brought on by a serious condition called retinal detachment.

Floaters in the eye resulting from aging are permanent, but they become less noticeable over time.

The most common and safest way to get rid of eye floaters is to do nothing.

How long it takes an eye floater to go away depends on the cause and severity of the floaters.

They may go away in a matter of days or weeks.

Moving your eyes up and down or right to left may get them to vanish temporarily.

Surgical Intervention

A surgery called a vitrectomy can be performed to remove floaters in the eye.

The procedure could potentially cause retinal detachment, retinal tears, cataracts, or damage to your eyesight.

There is also a possibility that some floaters may remain in the eye.

This procedure uses laser pulses to breakdown or “vaporize” floaters.

Research suggests this may be an effective treatment for select patients with troublesome floaters.

However, the potential risks include cataracts, retinal injury, and elevated IOP.

Given time, you will most likely stop noticing these floating objects in your eye.

Harvard Health Publishing.What you could do about floaters and flashes in the eye.

NIH National Eye Institute.At a glance: Floaters.

2017;2017:1-9. https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/3191576

American Academy of Ophthalmology.Detached retina.

American Academy of Ophthalmology.Laser vitreolysis.