Dangerous Causes of Floaters in the Eyes Identified 0 6

Flying floaters and flashes of light in front of the eyes can appear not only for harmless reasons, warned ophthalmologist Alena Shkatova.

The doctor explained that floaters can occur with myopia, age-related changes, and problems with the cervical spine. Usually, they do not pose a serious danger; however, one should consult a specialist if certain symptoms arise: a sudden increase in the number of floaters, the appearance of flashes of light, lightning, darkening, distortion of object shapes, or a sharp deterioration in vision.

The ophthalmologist warned that they could indicate dangerous pathologies, such as vitreous detachment, retinal tear or detachment, as well as bleeding into the vitreous body.

At the same time, the doctor added that, as a rule, floating translucent dots or threads that can only be seen against a bright uniform background are a safe distortion of vision. Such floaters appear when the vitreous body moves slightly during eye movement. At that moment, light rays cast a shadow on the retina, and a person perceives it as floating dots or threads. "These opacities are especially noticeable when looking at light surfaces, where our pupil constricts, increasing the sharpness of the image," explained the ophthalmologist.