What Are Eye Floaters And Flashes? Causes, Symptoms & Treatment

  • Floaters – Circles, little lines, spider webs or jagged float in the field of vision.
  • Flashes – Line of vision will experience flickering, flashing and brilliant streaks of light.

The appearance of small particles in our eyes happens as we age. This is because of the changes that naturally happen in the vitreous area of the eye. As time flies, the vitreous slowly liquefies and reaches a point when it has to soften. When this happens, small dots or specks form around the field of vision.

Eye floaters are often accompanied by flashes that appear as lightning streak in our eye vision.

People with eye floaters and flashes oftentimes experience this when staring against a bright or dark background. Over time, these floaters and flashes will just fade away and the brain learns to ignore these images.

Here are some treatment and tips, if you are seeing bright spots in eyes.

Symptoms Of Eye Floaters And Flashes

In eye floaters circles, little lines, spider webs or jagged will be seen floating in the field of vision. In eye flashes you will experience flickering, flashing and brilliant streaks of light the line of vision.

The main symptom or indication of eye floaters and flashes is the appearance of small dots and white lightning streaks in the field of vision.

Floaters and flashes in the eye can be a harmless condition since they can fade away over time. However, if there is an abrupt or increase in the occurrence of these floaters in the eye, a further examination to see if there is retinal tear, is important since it can permanently interfere with your vision if left untreated.

What Causes Eye Floaters And Flashes

  • Floaters – Glancing up or down suddenly and tilting head causes the cellular debris to cross the center of the retina.
  • Flashes – It is directly linked to the aging process, the gel inside the eye starts to liquefy and peel-off from the retina. Mechanical stimulation of the retina helps you notice the streaks of lights after getting hit in the eye.

Treatment For Eye Floaters And Flashes

  • Look up and down several times for the eye floaters to disappear.
  • Eye Flashes are tougher to cure as they are a result of the aging.

Since eye floaters and flashes happen under normal conditions, there is no need to be alarmed for this condition. Oftentimes, these floaters will eventually die away to leave you a smooth vision just like before. But on some rare situations, floaters increase in number and can become a great annoyance.

In this case, examination is needed such as vitrectomy, which is a surgery process to remove the floaters from the eye. Under this procedure, the vitreous is replaced with a solution of salt. However, this surgery is commonly avoided by surgeons because of the many risks that come with it such as retinal tears and cataract that can greatly impair the vision.