Eye floaters are extremely common and almost everyone has them. However, there are cases when floaters become too numerous and can have a negative impact on one's quality of life. They can also interfere with activities such as driving, reading and using the computer.
Under normal circumstances, eye floaters are absolutely nothing to worry about. Almost everyone experiences them and they cause no ill effects.
Specks in front of the eyes are normally clearly visible when looking into a light background. However, if they start becoming visible in every background, suddenly increase in number and are accompanied by any loss of vision, it is vital that immediate medical advice is sought. This could be an early sign of retinal detachment.
If the retina has become detached or has a hole in it, you will begin to experience flashing lights before your eyes and you will also be aware of numerous floaters. These two symptoms will be accompanied by a loss of vision, so urgent medical advice is necessary. Surgery is required to seal any holes in the retina, or to re-attach the retina to the back of the eyeball.
Info From Wikipedia,
Floaters are deposits of various size, shape, consistency, refractive index, and motility within the eye's vitreous humour, which is normally transparent. At a young age the vitreous is perfectly transparent but, during life, imperfections gradually develop. The common type of floater, which is present in most people's eyes, is due to degenerative changes of the vitreous humour. The perception of floaters is known as myodesopsia,or less commonly as myiodeopsia, myiodesopsia, or myodeopsia. They are also called Muscae volitantes (from the Latin, meaning "flying flies"), or mouches volantes (from the French). Floaters are visible because of the shadows they cast on the retina or their refraction of the light that passes through them, and can appear alone or together with several others in one's field of vision. They may appear as spots, threads, or fragments of cobwebs, which float slowly before the observer's eyes. Since these objects exist within the eye itself, they are not optical illusions but are entoptic phenomena.
Treatment
Vitrectomy may be successful in treating more severe cases The technique usually involves making three openings through the part of the sclera known as the pars plana. Of these small gauge instruments, one is an infusion port to resupply a saline solution and maintain the pressure of the eye, the second is a fiber optic light source, and the third is a vitrector. The vitrector has a reciprocating cutting tip attached to a suction device. This design reduces traction on the retina via the vitreous material. A variant sutureless, self-sealing technique is sometimes used.
For most cases, vitrectomies for floaters are successful but complications do occur. Complications include cataracts, retinal detachment, macular edema, hypotony, residual floaters, anterior vitreous detachment and optic nerve damage.
Laser vitreolysis In this procedure an ophthalmic laser (usually an Yttrium aluminium garnet "YAG" laser) is focused onto the floater and in a series of brief bursts, the laser vaporizes and lyses (cuts) the collagen strands of the floater.It is an outpatient process, which is much less invasive to the eye than a vitrectomy, with potentially fewer side effects. As of July 2010, laser treatment is not widely practiced and is performed by very few specialists. One of them, John Karickhoff, has performed the procedure more than 1,400 times and claims a 90 percent success rate. The MedicineNet web site states that "there is no evidence that this [laser treatment] is effective. The use of a laser also poses significant risks to the vision in what is otherwise a healthy eye."
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