Floaters, Flashes, Retinal Tears & Nearsightedness

Floaters are an eye condition that can be an annoyance and may even be frightening. Floaters may appear as tiny specks or “cobwebs” or as small dark shadows, “thread-like” strands or even “squiggly” lines that actually float around in your field of vision. They tend to move as your eyes move, but not necessarily in the same direction, and often just drift away when your eyes stop moving. The “back of the eye” is filled with a gel-like substance called the vitreous gel which tends to shrink and become somewhat “stringy” as we age. These strands of vitreous cast shadows on the retina and create the appearance of floaters. The likelihood of experiencing floaters increases as we get older and is more common if you are very nearsighted. We know that as it becomes more liquid like, occasionally, a small section of the vitreous gel may pull away from the retina all at once instead of slowly and gradually and result in a noticeable and sudden increase in the number of floaters that you see and can be frightening. This is called a Posterior Vitreous Detachment (PVD) and is NOT sight threatening. However, we know from mutiple studies that PVD sometimes is accompanied by retinal tears. Further, if the floaters are accompanied by seeing flashes of light or a distortion or a decrease in your side vision accompanies it, it could be a retinal detachment, which is a sight threatening medical emergency.

If you experience any of these symptoms you should explain these symptoms to the receptionist and ask for an immediate appointment at Northwest Indiana Eye & Laser Center at 219-464-8223, or visit Northwest Indiana Eye & Laser Center, Google+ or facebook.com/nwindianaeyeandlaser. 

Northwest Indiana Eye & Laser Center offices are located at 502 Marquette Street, Valparaiso, Indiana 46383 and 1001 South Edgewood Drive, Knox, Indiana 46354.