If you’ve ever experienced a shadow floating across your vision, you’ve had an eye floater. Floaters are clusters of collagen fibers that occur in the clear jelly-like vitreous gel inside your eye. Appearing as clumps, dots or strands, they cast a shadow on the retina (the back of the eye) and interfere with vision.

Types of Eye Floaters

• Fibrous Strand “Cobweb” Floater: Thin, yet dense, strands of clumped collagen fibers that look like cobwebs or dots.
• Diffuse “Cloud” Floater: Typically associated with the aging process, these cast a cloud in the vision field.
• Weiss Ring Floater: Large, ring-shaped floater.

Treatment for Eye Floaters

If floaters begin to interfere with your daily activities, you may qualify for treatment. At MedEye Associates, we perform vitreolysis floater laser treatment right in our office to remove or reduce the size of floaters so they no longer impede vision. This is a non-invasive procedure that is pain-free for most patients. The process involves the application of quick pulses of laser light to:

• Evaporate vitreous opacities
• Sever vitreous strands

The Vitreolysis Process

This is a 20 to 60 minute procedure that is typically administered in two or three treatment sessions for the best results. Here is how the process will go:

1. Anesthetic eye drops are administered
2. A contact lens is placed on your eye
3. Laser light is precisely delivered to evaporate the floaters into small gas bubbles
4. The gas bubbles quickly dissolve and are reabsorbed into the vitreous
5. The contact lens is removed
6. Anti-inflammatory eye drops are administered

What to Expect After Vitreolysis

Immediately after treatment, you may experience small, dark specks in your lower field of vision. These will be the small gas bubbles described above that will quickly dissolve. You may also experience other temporary side effects from vitreolysis:

• Redness
• Mild discomfort
• Blurred vision
• Spike in intraocular pressure (rare)
• Spike in cataracts (rare)

Posterior Vitreous Detachment (PVD)

If you have a sudden increase in the number of floaters you are experiencing, you may have Posterior Vitreous Detachment (PVD). This occurs when the vitreous humor separates from the back of the eye entirely (often due to aging). PVD can often be corrected with vitreolysis.

Good Candidates for Vitreolysis

If your floaters are located close to your retina, you may not be a good candidate for vitreolysis. However, if your floater symptoms appeared quickly and if they are large with a soft border, eye floater treatment in South Florida may be very effective. The only way to know for sure if you are a good candidate for vitreolysis is by scheduling a comprehensive eye exam at MedEye Associates. Contact us today.

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