Overview

Eye floaters Open pop-up dialog box Close Eye floaters Eye floaters As you age, the vitreous — a jelly-like material inside your eyes — becomes more liquid. When this happens, microscopic collagen fibers within the vitreous tend to clump together. These bits of debris cast tiny shadows onto your retina, and you perceive these shadows as eye floaters.

Eye floaters are spots in your vision. They may look to you like black or gray specks, strings, or cobwebs that drift about when you move your eyes and appear to dart away when you try to look at them directly.

Most eye floaters are caused by age-related changes that occur as the jelly-like substance (vitreous) inside your eyes becomes more liquid. Microscopic fibers within the vitreous tend to clump and can cast tiny shadows on your retina. The shadows you see are called floaters.

If you notice a sudden increase in eye floaters, contact an eye specialist immediately — especially if you also see light flashes or lose your peripheral vision. These can be symptoms of an emergency that requires prompt attention.

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Symptoms

Symptoms of eye floaters may include:

Small shapes in your vision that appear as dark specks or knobby, transparent strings of floating material

Spots that move when you move your eyes, so when you try to look at them, they move quickly out of your visual field

Spots that are most noticeable when you look at a plain bright background, such as a blue sky or a white wall

Small shapes or strings that eventually settle down and drift out of the line of vision

When to see a doctor

Contact an eye specialist immediately if you notice:

Many more eye floaters than usual

A sudden onset of new floaters

Flashes of light in the same eye as the floaters

Darkness on any side or sides of your vision (peripheral vision loss)

These painless symptoms could be caused by a retinal tear, with or without a retinal detachment — a sight-threatening condition that requires immediate attention.

Mayo Clinic Minute: What are eye floaters? Show transcript for video Mayo Clinic Minute: What are eye floaters? Having vision problems? Do you see black or gray specks, strings or cobwebs that drift about when you move your eyes? It could be eye floaters. "In the back of our eyes, we have a substance called 'the vitreous.' When we're young, it's a firm clump of jelly. As we age, this firm clump of jelly can liquefy and break up into smaller pieces. Those smaller pieces are what you may notice as floaters," says Dr. Khan. Eye floaters are more common as you get older and if you're nearsighted. The biggest concern – they can cause retinal tears. "If a tear develops in the retina, fluid can get in underneath that tear and just lift the retina off like wallpaper off a wall," says Dr. Khan. "And that's a retinal detachment." And that can cause blindness, which is why it's especially important to have a dilated eye exam within days of noticing new floaters or changes in vision. Most eye floaters don't require treatment, but your eye doctor likely will recommend regular eye exams to ensure the condition doesn't worsen.

Causes

Retinal detachment Open pop-up dialog box Close Retinal detachment Retinal detachment Retinal detachment describes an emergency situation in which a thin layer of tissue (the retina) at the back of the eye pulls away from the layer of blood vessels that provides it with oxygen and nutrients. Retinal detachment is often accompanied by flashes and floaters in your vision.

Eye floaters may be caused by the normal aging process or as a result from other diseases or conditions:

Age-related eye changes. As you age, the vitreous, or jelly-like substance filling your eyeballs and helping them to maintain their round shape, changes. Over time, the vitreous partially liquefies — a process that causes it to pull away from the eyeball's interior surface. As the vitreous shrinks and sags, it clumps and gets stringy. This debris blocks some of the light passing through the eye, casting tiny shadows on your retina that are seen as floaters.

As you age, the vitreous, or jelly-like substance filling your eyeballs and helping them to maintain their round shape, changes. Over time, the vitreous partially liquefies — a process that causes it to pull away from the eyeball's interior surface. As the vitreous shrinks and sags, it clumps and gets stringy. This debris blocks some of the light passing through the eye, casting tiny shadows on your retina that are seen as floaters. Inflammation in the back of the eye. Posterior uveitis is inflammation in the layers of the uvea in the back of the eye. This condition can cause the release of inflammatory debris into the vitreous that are seen as floaters. Posterior uveitis may be caused by infection, inflammatory diseases or other causes.

Posterior uveitis is inflammation in the layers of the uvea in the back of the eye. This condition can cause the release of inflammatory debris into the vitreous that are seen as floaters. Posterior uveitis may be caused by infection, inflammatory diseases or other causes. Bleeding in the eye. Bleeding into the vitreous can have many causes, including diabetes, hypertension, blocked blood vessels and injury. Blood cells are seen as floaters.

Bleeding into the vitreous can have many causes, including diabetes, hypertension, blocked blood vessels and injury. Blood cells are seen as floaters. Torn retina. Retinal tears can occur when a sagging vitreous tugs on the retina with enough force to tear it. Without treatment, a retinal tear may lead to retinal detachment — an accumulation of fluid behind the retina that causes it to separate from the back of your eye. Untreated retinal detachment can cause permanent vision loss.

Retinal tears can occur when a sagging vitreous tugs on the retina with enough force to tear it. Without treatment, a retinal tear may lead to retinal detachment — an accumulation of fluid behind the retina that causes it to separate from the back of your eye. Untreated retinal detachment can cause permanent vision loss. Eye surgeries and eye medications. Certain medications that are injected into the vitreous can cause air bubbles to form. These bubbles are seen as shadows until your eye absorbs them. Certain vitreoretinal surgeries add silicone oil bubbles into the vitreous that can also be seen as floaters.

Risk factors

Factors that can increase your risk of floaters include: