Seeing Floaters?
HERE'S WHAT YOU
NEED TO KNOW.
Do you have eye floaters? You know—those little “cobwebs” or specks that float
around like ghosts in your field of vision? You’re not alone. In fact, most people
have floaters and learn to ignore them.
WHAT ARE FLOATERS?
Floaters can look like spots, squiggly
lines or thread-like strands that seem
to dart away as your eyes try to look
directly at them and drift when your
eyes start moving. Until they become
more prominent or numerous, they’re
usually not noticeable.
“In most cases, floaters are part of the
natural aging process and simply an
annoyance,” explains D.M. Deupree,
MD, FACS, a vitreo-retina surgeon and
physician in Clearwater. “They can
be distracting at first, but eventually
tend to settle at the bottom of the eye
becoming less bothersome.”
More likely to develop as we age, eye
floaters are more common in people
who are very nearsighted, have diabetes
or have had a cataract operation
or other form of surgery. The stringy,
floating strands develop when the
vitreous—a gel-like substance that
comprises nearly 80 percent of the
inside of the eyeball—slowly shrinks,
casting tiny shadows on the retina.
TREATMENT FOR FLOATERS
If the floaters are small and only
intermittently annoying, treatment
is not usually recommended. Sometimes,
a section of the vitreous pulls
all the fine fibers away from the retina
at once rather than gradually, causing
many new floating spots to suddenly
appear. This is known as a posterior
vitreous detachment (PVD), which
doesn’t typically require treatment
since it’s not sight-threatening in most
cases.
However, you’ll want to see a retina
specialist right away if the sudden
increase in floaters is accompanied by
MICHAEL TOLENTINO, MD
28 COMMUNITY HEALTHCARE DIGEST • APR–JUN 2019 | WWW.CHDIGEST.COM
/WWW.CHDIGEST.COM