“What are the treatment options for floaters?”
I'm 32 year old, male, and I have floaters. I would like to find ways to remove them, and I was wondering if there are any methods you know of?
5 Answers
Most treatments are for extreme cases because they can potentially (and permanently) reduce your vision: laser and vitrectomy. Non-surgical things you can do to make you less annoyed with your floaters: wear tinted glasses and reduce the screen brightness of your devices (when you reduce the amount of light entering your eyes, the floaters don’t cast as pronounced of a shadow on the retina). Also, using artificial tears frequently (4-6x/day) helps to make the eyes more comfortable and you pay less attention to them.
Floaters are usually left alone and by wearing dark glasses, you will be less disturbed. Laser treatment is possible as well as surgical removal, but are associated with risks.
Fatima Qureshi
Optometrist
Posterior vitreous detachment causes floaters! If your retina is intact, then you don’t need to do anything. Otherwise, you can get laser treatment done by a retina specialist.
Lawrence M. Jacobson
Ophthalmologist
The cure is worse than the floaters. You could laser them, which makes more smaller floaters. You could surgically remove them, but they often comeback and there is a significant risk of retinal detachment and blindness. Ignore them and they will likely fade away.
There are some laser surgery options but it comes with a risk and not all doctors will opt for them. Surgery may not remove all the floaters, and new floaters can develop after surgery. Risks include bleeding and retinal tears. The goal is to break them up and make them less noticeable. Usually they have to be pretty significant and impacting the quality of life. your brain still may learn to ignore them filter it out of the image your processing and/or gravity plays a role in keeping them down.
