Floaters and Flashes

By John Choi, MD

What Are Floaters?

Floaters are dark spots, circles, hairs or cobwebs that move around in your vision. You see them best when looking at something plain like a white wall or blue sky.

What Are Flashes?

Flashes look like camera flashes or lightning streaks in your vision. Sometimes they look like the “stars” after hitting your head.

What Causes Floaters and Flashes?

Your eye is hollow and filled with a gel called vitreous like a balloon is filled with water. When you're young the gel is solid like Jell-O, and as your life progresses it turns into liquid. You can get floaters and flashes during this “melting” process. This is normal.

When your vitreous is liquid enough, it will peel away from the inner lining of the eye, which is called the retina. The retina is important because it's the film layer of the eye, like the film in a camera it's necessary for you to see. This peeling is called a posterior vitreous detachment and is a normal event. When the peeling starts you may have a sudden increase of floaters and/or flashes, enough to startle you. If this happens, you should see an eye doctor to have it evaluated.

Are Floaters and Flashes a Problem?

When floaters and flashes are due to the normal aging changes of the vitreous liquefying, they can be bothersome but do not harm your eye or vision.

The floaters and flashes from a posterior vitreous detachment can be extremely bothersome but again are harmless and tend to fade away with time. However, this can take weeks to months, and it's common to have some floaters and/or flashes permanently.

Sometimes a sudden increase in floaters and flashes means the retina has a tear, which can lead to the retina separating from the rest of the eye like wallpaper peeling off a wall this is a retinal detachment and can lead to vision loss. You may also have a shadow in your side vision or a dark curtain moving across your vision. So again, be sure to have any sudden dramatic increase in floaters and/or flashes checked by an eye doctor. If you do have a retinal tear or detachment, your eye doctor will refer you to a specialist who will treat it.

Can I Get Rid Of My Floaters and Flashes?

The only proven method is a surgery in which the surgeon removes the vitreous. It's recommended only for cases in which the floaters and flashes are severe enough to interfere with daily activities such as reading and driving.