How do I get rid of eye floaters?

Question

I have several floaters in my eyes, but I don't notice them most of the time. However, one floater in my left eye is very prominent now and I see it the majority of the time. It moves all over the place in my sight and drives me crazy. I don't like to drive anymore or do anything where I have to use my eyes a lot. It's hard to focus on things because the floater gets in the way. Does anyone know of any way to get rid of them or how to learn to ignore them? I've heard people can ignore them, that the brain learns not to notice it, but how do you do that when it is directly in your vision and moving all over the place? I'm worried the others floaters are also going to become more noticeable all the time as well. I really want to get rid of them before that happens.

Answer 1

you can't really get rid of them, they stay in your vitrious fluid forever. All you can do from this point on is take care of your vision and your retina.

Answer 2

First, I hope that if you had a sudden increase in the number or size of your floaters that you have been examined by an eye doctor.  There are a few serious things that can cause the floaters, but most of the time the cause is not sight threatening.

As you age the jello-like substance called the vitreous that fills the largest part of the eye will lose water, shrink and start to flop around.  If you are fortunate the vitreous may settle to the bottom of the eyeball and the floaters will move away from your line of sight.  But most people must just deal with their floaters.

As far as getting rid of them, there is a way but it is rarely considered or performed because of the risks and the consequences.  Removing the vitreous will remove the floaters, but this is major eye surgery and has the risks associated with any surgery inside of the eye.   There is also a consequence to removing the vitreous.  You will develop a cataract sooner in the operated eye, which will require a second surgery to treat.

Have your eye doctor examine you.

Answer 3

There is no specific treatment for floaters - eye drops and other medication do not make floaters go away. The brain learns to ignore most floaters and after a while you may not notice them. If a floater appears directly in your line of vision, try moving your eye up and down. This causes the vitreous humour to swirls about and helps to shift the floater elsewhere.

If floaters don't improve over time or significantly affect your vision, an operation to replace the vitreous humour with saline (salt) solution may be considered. This procedure is called vitrectomy.

A vitrectomy removes the vitreous humour, along with its floating debris, from the eye. This is carried out after your eye has been numbed with a local anaesthetic. The vitreous is replaced with a salt solution - as the vitreous humour is mostly water anyway, you won't notice any difference.

Vitrectomy is only carried out in rare cases, because there are risks associated with eye surgery, and floaters generally become less of a problem over time. Possible complications of this type of surgery include retinal detachment, retinal tears, and cataracts. Most eye surgeons only recommend it if floaters seriously interfere with vision.

But be sure to tell your optometrist about this, in any case as which it could worsen.