Sometimes, in our line of sight, we can experience small dots or clouds. They are called eye floaters. They can often be seen over a completely normal background, such as an empty wall or the blue sky. The floaters are small cells or materials inside the vitreous body – a gel-like substance which fills the inside of the eye. The thing we actually see is the shadows they throw onto the retina. The floaters can show up in different shapes, such as small dots, circles, lines, clouds or cobwebs.
With aging, floaters become more common.
This condition is more common for:
- People who are near-sighted
- Have gone through cataract surgery
- Have gone through laser surgery of the eye
- Have had inflammation (swelling) inside the eye
- Have had eye trauma
The symptom of floaters in the vitreous body includes small dots or clouds floating through the vision field or dots, circles, lines or “cobwebs”. Symptoms include flashes of light or seeing “stars”.
Most floaters are harmless and go away with time and they do not require treatment. A surgery for removal of floaters is almost never necessary.