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If you witness some colored spots inside your eyeball then it will be eye floaters. These eye floaters can be formed due to various reasons which we have discussed in this post.
The eye floaters are common in older people as compared to younger ones as it grows naturally with increasing age. Also, the color, number, and appearance of eye floaters vary from person depending on their age, health status, and other environmental factors.
Since the eye floaters are present inside the eye, rubbing your eyelids won’t help you to get rid of them.
Generally, eye floaters are innocuous and do not require expensive treatment. Many people have this condition and are living with it with no vision problem.
Still, some people don’t like its appearance and try to remove them from their eyes, and fortunately, its treatment is also possible but it has a condition that the eye floaters are caused by a certain medical problem.
The eye floaters can vary in number which can be a symptom of other medical conditions.
Eye Floaters
Eye floaters refer to web-shaped lines, curved lines, dark spots, or threads that move or float inside your eyeballs. The shape and appearance of these floaters may vary with multiple factors.
The eye floaters are of dark colors like grey or black. On trying to focus on them, the eye floaters drift from their positions. The eye floaters can be seen moving across everything in your vision. This visible floating substance is actually a shadow of clumps that are present at the retina.
The clusters of proteins or cells which are present in the vitreous, a jelly-like fluid behind your eyeball, are called eye floaters. They are formed by aging as vitreous gets shrink.
Causes of Eye Floaters
Getting eye floaters is very natural. About a quarter of the 60+ years old adult population has it while those who are over 80 years have more chances to experience shrinking of vitreous.
Although eye floaters are safe they can cause impact the person’s ability to see things or to read the text which can make anyone feel uncomfortable with eye floaters. Plus, these eye floaters can become a huge problem for those people who drives a car or a bike as the constant movement of eye floaters can easily distract a driver.
Major Causes
The major cause of eye floaters is having nearsightedness, undergone cataract surgery, or being a patient of diabetes. Anyone, with these conditions, is at higher risk of developing eye floaters in their eyeballs.
Minor Causes
The minor causes of eye floaters are as follow:
- Eye injury
- Eye infections
- Eye inflammation
- Separation of vitreous from retina
- Tearing a hole in retina during a vitreous detachment process
Diabetic retinopathy, a kind of bleeding inside an eye caused by leakage of blood from retina into a vitreous
- Separation of retina from other tissues during vitreous detachment process
- Extreme stress
How to Get Rid of Eye Floaters
To get rid of eye floaters you must know what is its cause. Usually, the causes of the eye floaters do not affect health but in some cases, the vision can be badly affected.
If you ever realize that your eyesight is getting weak or your vision is getting blurry, must visit an ophthalmologist. With suitable treatment, you can make these eye floaters less visible or completely removed.
The three main methods to get rid of eye floaters are as follow:
Ignore Eye Floaters
The best way to remove eye floaters is to ignore them. By practicing this, you will get habitual to these floaters and won’t notice them in vision. It happens because our brain learns to focus on things that are more important to us. Therefore, it begins to ignore eye floaters.
Adapting with eye floaters is the least option that you can opt for in order to protect your eyesight. If the eye floaters are more in number and distract you a lot then must visit your eye doctor for consultancy.
Laser Surgery
It is a treatment for reducing the appearance of eye floaters. This procedure involves proper laser therapy.
During the therapy, a doctor carefully sets the intensity of the laser beam and aims at each eye floater to destroy them. It helps to reduce their visibility and patient won’t notice them much. But it is a very sensitive procedure.
A slight mistake can impair your vision. For instance, if a surgeon aimed the laser incorrectly then your retina can be damaged.
It is not a well-recommended treatment for eye floaters as it is an experimental method. After having laser therapy there are some chances of complete removal of eye floaters or there will be a little improvement in clear vision.
There are also cases where people don’t notice any improvement at all or the procedure can increase the count of eye floaters and making the condition even worse. That’s why carefully discuss your case with your doctor before going for this option.
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Vitrectomy
A vitrectomy is a surgery of the vitreous in which it is replaced with a solution. This surgery is done in order to completely remove the eye floaters from the back of the eyeball.
For this purpose, the vitreous is removed by an incision. The vitreous plays a role in maintaining the shape of an eye and keeps it round.
In this surgery, the doctor replaces the vitreous with a solution that temporarily serves the function of vitreous until a body develops enough new vitreous to eliminate the solution.
This surgery is effective but the chances of developing new floaters are always there especially in case if there is any kind of trauma or bleeding during the removal of the vitreous. It is usually recommended for severe cases of eye floaters.
Some Important Ways to Reduce the Eye Floaters
Stop Alcohol Consumption and Smoking
Smoking is injurious to health as it contains toxic substances and chemicals which does not only harm the lungs or mouth but also affect eyesight. The chemicals present in cigarettes can cause eye floaters and those people who already have this condition must stop smoking as it could make your condition worse.
Just like smoking, drinking alcohol can leads to premature aging of different organs including the eyes. Alcohol can shrink the vitreous humor which causes eye floaters. That’s why you must alter your lifestyle and avoid excessive consumption of alcohol.
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Let Your Eyes Rest
As you take care of other organs of your body, they remain healthy. Similarly, the eyes are a very sensitive organ that needs proper care and rest. If you use them too much for working on laptops or playing games on screens, your eyes will get exhausted and the vitreous will get shortened and you could start swing eye floaters at a very early age. So, make sure that your eyes won’t get too much tired and takes proper rest. Sleeping for 7 hours is ideal for giving ample time to the eyes for healing. Also, you must message your eyes gently or place a cold or hot piece of cloth on them.
Stay Hydrated
Drinking little or no water in a day is another big reason for developing eye floaters. You know the vitreous is composed of 98% water and by staying dehydrated. The water gets dried up and the dissolved proteins get solidified on shrinking of vitreous which results in the formation of eye floaters. So, make sure to drinking at least 8 glasses of water a day to prevent any sort of problem inside a body as the water cleanse our bodies from inside.
Stay Stress-free
By taking excessive stress our brain can’t function well and our eyes get badly affected and develop eyes floaters. That’s why you must stray stress-free and practice some healthy activities like exercising, yoga, meditating, etc.
Take Healthy Diet
Eating healthy food especially vegetable helps to maintain a good vision but if you consume junk food and other fried food then the chances grow twice for the creating of eye floaters. This type of diet leads to inflammation of the eyes and makes their condition worse. So, if you want to protect your eyes then consume green leafy vegetables, fish, and fruits. Such a natural diet can improve your eye health and prevent the creation of eye floaters.
Conclusion
The eye floaters can be temporary or permanent eye condition which can be a nuisance or annoyance for many people. They are caused for many reasons which ultimately shrinks the vitreous but you can prevent the formation of eye floaters by taking above mentioned measures.
It is recommended to visit your doctor as soon as you witness it to get rid of them. They are caused by the process of aging and get cleared up automatically after some time but still, you must check your health status.
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