Floaters in Front of the Eyes

Symptoms, Causes, and Treatments

When working or going about daily life, you may suddenly notice symptoms such as black dots appearing in front of your eyes, which can be uncomfortable.

When you feel as if insects are floating in front of your eyes, you might simply think it is due to fatigue, but the symptoms may actually be caused by something else.

If you experience a hazy, shimmering sensation in front of your eyes, it may be floaters. Today, let’s look at the causes and symptoms of floaters, as well as how the condition is treated.

Most of our eyeball is filled with a colorless, transparent gel-like tissue called the vitreous, which plays a role in firmly supporting the lens and retina.

Because of this, the eyeball can maintain its shape, and optically it allows light to pass through so that images of objects can form on the retina.

In other words, the vitreous must remain clear in order to see sharply, but if the inside of the vitreous becomes cloudy for various reasons, it may feel as if a hazy shimmer is floating in front of the eyes.

This sensation of feeling as though something is floating in front of your eyes is called floaters. It is also sometimes called fly floaters because it looks like tiny flies are flying around.

One cause of floaters is eye aging. Our eyes gradually age starting in our 40s, and the vitreous slowly changes into a liquid state.

As a result of this change, the transparency of the vitreous decreases, and tiny cloudy substances form, which may appear like small flies.

Problems in the retina can also cause symptoms of a hazy shimmer in front of the eyes, and you may experience these symptoms due to a retinal tear or retinal detachment.

If a hole forms near the retina or the retina detaches, surrounding cells may drift inside the eye and appear like tiny flies or dust.

In addition, if bleeding occurs or debris such as exudate forms inside the eye, it may be perceived as floaters, and when blood vessel problems occur due to diabetes, floaters may also appear.

The symptom of floaters is the appearance of floating substances inside the eye. Small insect-shaped, hazy, or dot-like objects may appear in the field of vision, and they can still be seen even when the eyes are closed.

They may also appear more clearly against a white wall or white paper, and symptoms such as moving along with the eyes may occur.

Over time, floaters tend to improve, but if they are highly bothersome or interfere with daily life, other treatments may be considered.

If floaters become severe, a vitrectomy to remove cloudy substances from the vitreous inside the eye may be considered, and it is best to decide on surgery after thorough consultation.

If you have floaters and the number of floating specks suddenly increases or sudden vision loss occurs, it is important to get examined.

Today, we looked at the causes, symptoms, and treatment methods for floaters, which can cause a hazy shimmer in front of the eyes. Please refer to the information above.