Comments on: The Facts on Flashes and Floaters

By: Julie Breen

Julie Breen — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 18:38:57 +0000

What time ranges are we talking about? Weeks, months, years? What is the average life span of a floater onset episode?

By: RAD

RAD — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 02:17:32 +0000

I agree floaters are bothersome and most of us, including myself, have some. Having them in your central vision is especially troublesome. I stand by the comment I made on 04/26/2010 though, and would not rush to surgery. I would hang in there, give it some time and then revisit the options. You will probably find, that with time, gravity will pull that floater down. While your "spider" may continue to remain in view for some time it will not be directly in the center of your vision where it is currently causing you such problems.

By: Lynn

Lynn — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 04:05:57 +0000

I beg to disagree with the last comment, as I myself have a huge black spider floater and it is very difficult to read or get used to looking at such a creepy thing as it is ” always there”. So if this thing does not “settle down”, I think the only sane thing to do is to have laser surgery as the prospect of looking at a spider is not very appealing to someone who might live another 30 years.

By: Doc, What Do Floaters Look Like | The Eye Doc Blog

Doc, What Do Floaters Look Like | The Eye Doc Blog — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 22:09:30 +0000

[...] do they start and what causes them. Not long ago I published in The Eye Doc blog an article about floaters but sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words. While researching for a future article I came [...]

By: RAD

RAD — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 00:18:44 +0000

While I'm not a big fan of vitrectomy for the treatment of a self limiting condition that will usually improve with time, such as floaters, I would also not rush to have floaters treated via laser. Very rarely would the severity of a patients floaters rise to the level that I would recommend traditional surgery or laser surgery for the possible removal. I have yet in 25 years of practice seen floaters for which I would recommend surgery. Surgical treatment still remains a controversial options for vitreous floaters. Thanks for bringing these other options to light.

By: Glenn

Glenn — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 10:08:45 +0000

Eye floaters also known as vitreous floaters which fill up the back 3/4ths of a person’s eye and hence one can observe small shadows on the retina. To individuals eye floaters appear alike tiny flecks, cobweb or cloud-like formation. There are two ways for removal of eye floaters known as vitrectomy and laser Treatment. Laser treatment is more accurate than vitrectomy.

By: Ryan Nelson

Ryan Nelson — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:02:35 +0000

The onset of a new large visual shadow/floater is sometimes difficult for patients, expecially when they hear that there is no way to get rid of it quickly. Additionally, many of these patients have no previous eye disease and are generally healthy people. We live in a “right now” culture and unfortunately a vitreous detachment is one of those things that that can’t be fixed “right now”. In this case, reassurance and education are the best medicine.

Dr. Ryan Nelson, Optometrist
Iowa EyeCare, Cedar Rapids, Iowa