Eye Floaters

34 year old male presented to my office with complaints of seeing spots and transient blurry vision. He stated it began about a week ago after recovering from a cold. He describes the spots as bright "sperm-like" things. The blurry vision occurred when he was reading a book. He could not read the preceding word when focusing on a specific word but after a few minutes, the vision cleared. He also complained of a mild frontal headache. In the office, he continued to see the bright spots, but otherwise felt well. His blood pressure was excellent and his physical exam was unremarkable. He was sent to the eye doctor with the presumed diagnosis of visual floaters. The diagnosis was confirmed after the retinal examination.

Visual floaters (entopsias) are common, typically after the age of thirty five. They are from pieces of the vitreous gel in the eye that float and drift aimlessly in the eye ball. They can be described as spots, specks, cobwebs, light-flashes, strings, or clouds in the visual field. Floaters are more evident on a white or bright background. They may interfere with vision depending on the location but they are constantly moving and eventually settles to the floor of the eye.

Risk factors include older age, near-sightedness, Diabetes, sarcoidosis, syphilis, history of retinal disease, or previous cataract surgery.

Floaters are typically not a major problem. They tend to be an annoyance. An ophthalmologic examination is recommended to assess the retina. Medical concerns include retinal detachment (emergency), diabetic retinopathy, vitreous detachment (severe), bleeding in the eye, and infection.

If there is a sudden onset of floaters or if there are flashing lights with the floaters, contact the eye physician immediately. Also, if there seems to be a shade coming down the visual field, contact the eye specialist immediately. These are signs of a retinal detachment.

Floaters tend to dissipate with time. The brain also adapts to the presence of floaters and they become less annoying. There is no safe proven method to eliminate floaters. Surgical intervention may be utilized in very severe cases. Talk to you health care professional for more information.

Thank you.