Floaters - Treating floaters

In most cases, floaters don't cause significant problems and don't require treatment.

Eye drops or similar types of medication aren't effective and won't make floaters disappear.

After a while, your brain may learn to ignore floaters and you may not notice them.

Monitoring your condition

If you have floaters, your optician may ask you to return for a follow-up appointment two to six months after your symptoms begin to check that your retina is stable. The retina is the light-sensitive layer of cells that line the inside of the back of your eye.

If your vision is unaffected and your floaters aren't getting any worse, you may be advised to have an eye appointment every one to two years. However, if your symptoms worsen at any time, you should seek immediate advice from either your GP or optician.

Vitrectomy

A vitrectomy is a surgical procedure to remove the vitreous humour in your eye along with any floating debris, and replace it with a saline (salty) solution.

A vitrectomy may be recommended as a possible treatment option if you have floaters that don't improve over time, or if they significantly affect your vision. However, vitrectomies are rarely carried out due to risks associated with eye surgery, and the procedure may not be available on the NHS.

Before having a vitrectomy your eye will be numbed with a local anaesthetic. During the procedure, the vitreous humour will be removed from the vitreous body of your eye and replaced with saline solution.

As the vitreous humour is mostly made up of water, you won't notice any difference to your vision after having a vitrectomy. However, possible complications may include:

• retinal tears 
• retinal detachment 
• cataracts (cloudy patches in the lens of the eye)