Comments on: what can one do to help clear floaters without laser eye surgery?

By: jane

jane — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 16:40:36 +0000

Laser surgery might help to some degree. The best approach is a floater only vitrectomy which most doctors don’t want to do. There seems to be a conspiracy of silence where floaters are concerned. These things drive people up the wall but their effect is denigrated by physicians. They might spout the “you are being obsessive … take this pill” routine. I wonder if anyone has committed suicide because of these things? jane

By: Jamie

Jamie — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 11:23:54 +0000

if you have floaters you may have to flush twice Jamie

By: Dr. Bill

Dr. Bill — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 19:29:02 +0000

Most floaters are cellular debris floating in the vitreous gel and casting a shadow against the retina which we perceive enlarged out in space. There is no practical way of removing them without creating more damage than doing nothing. Normally floaters do no harm, and In time some of the floaters will simply move out of view. Dr. Bill

By: Dr Frank

Dr Frank — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 09:23:48 +0000

None of your 3 suggestions have any effect at all on floaters which are impurities within the vitreous humour of the eye globe. Normally, there is no treatment indicated and not ALL types of floaters are susceptible to laser treatment. Dr Frank

By: David E

David E — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 03:42:05 +0000

Lasers don’t really fix floaters. In fact at present there are no real cures for floaters. There is an injection into the eye on the horizon called Vitreosolve that is supposed to treat floaters. David E

By: Daniel

Daniel — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 15:05:12 +0000

Wow, this is a great question. I have some really big ones that often get directly in my line of sight blurring my vision so this could really help me. I’ve heard that if you rotate your eyeballs in wide circles repeatedly (for eye exercise) floaters can be minimized. Also if you rub your palms together and build up some heat from the friction, holding them on your closed eyelids can be helpful (supposedly). Daniel

By: Han

Han — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:44:02 +0000

Unfortunately there isn’t anything that can be done for floaters apart from laser surgery - and even then it’s not guaranteed to work, as if they’re big floaters the laser blasts can just turn them into more numerous smaller ones… Han

By: The Guy

The Guy — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:22:09 +0000

Nothing - once you have them you’re stuck with them. But if they increase dramatically, go to your optometrist urgently or you could suffer from Retinal Detachment and go blind…not cool! The Guy