What are the signs and symptoms of floaters in the eye? I want to check if I’m suffering or have a high risk of contracting floaters in the eye.

Daria,

San Diego, CA

It is best to have your eyes checked regularly by your ophthalmologist. The most likely questions your eye doctor will ask you is if you are seeing “floating objects” in your line of vision when you look at clear or bright objects. Unsure whether those are floaters in the eye you are seeing? Here are some signs and symptoms of floaters in the eye:

1. You keep seeing small, floating objects in your line of sight when you look at bright objects
2. These small floating objects keeps on disappearing and re-appearing
3. You keep seeing these floating objects which is accompanied by a painful migraine
4. You seeing these floating objects which is accompanied by “flashes of light”

If you see flashes of light, it is not always the case that this is a sure sign of floaters in the eye because these flashes of light often go together with a splitting headache. The reason behind these migraines and flashes of light are the spasms of blood vessels in the brain. There are some cases where people with floaters in the eye also experience seeing jagged lines which are often referred to as heat waves which may be or may be not accompanied by headaches.

The good thing about floaters in the eye is they are not dangerous and they are perfectly normal for older people. But be sure to have your eyes checked because floaters in the eye are usually causes of a more serious and complicated sickness. If your floaters in the eye are also a cause of a past eye injury, always have your eyes checked. Furthermore, remember to eat foods which are high in Vitamin C and Zinc content because they are said to prevent the formation of floaters in the eye. Hope all of these helped.

Vision floaters with a diet rich in raw fruits and vegetables will keep these guys to a minimum.

I was 45 when I started seeing these floaters in my left eye. What’s the deal with these things? My ophthalmologist told me that there’s nothing she can do. I’m getting desperate and I want them removed because they just seem to get worse! Can I have them removed through laser surgery?

Harvey
Miami, FL

I feel for you Harvey. According to statistics, eye floaters are a major nuisance to the general population. Especially common to older people who suffer from connective tissue disorders, eye floaters in general are not harmful for your health. It’s just pretty annoying to have them in the eyes because it is something we are not used to.

Eye floaters start at the back of the eyes upon the rupturing of blood vessels. As the blood clots, it goes straight to the vitreous humor of the eyes and just stays there. They get smaller as time goes by and before you know it, you will only see little specks of black, somewhat translucent or transparent marks in your field of vision. Now, I am not sure how you incurred eye floaters because their main causes vary but you could have prevented them by having the right knowledge and know how before they even occurred.

I know it could be irritating, even despairing for people to have eye floaters. But sadly, there are no known cures for eye floaters. Having a laser eye surgery can further damage the blood vessels in the eyes and can even cause the build-up of more eye floaters. I believe even your doctors will advise you the same thing. There are certain products which is said to help reduce the effects of having eye floaters but there is no conventional cure for it. As for those people who have a really severe case of eye floaters, vitrectomy is often suggested by doctors but it is quite pricey. Hope I helped you in any way.