What Eye Floaters in Your Vision Mean

December 04, 2025

A woman with light eyes staring at the camera

If you’ve ever noticed tiny, faint shapes drifting across your line of vision while reading a book or looking at the sky, those are eye floaters. They may move or disappear if you try to look right at them, but they reappear moments later.

“You may notice floaters in one or both eyes, and it’s possible to have more floaters in one eye than the other,” says Linda Ohsie-Bajor, MD, an ophthalmologist and the Director of Comprehensive Ophthalmology Service at University Hospitals Eye Institute.

What Are Eye Floaters?

Also known as myodesopsias, eye floaters occur when the vitreous – a gel-like substance inside the eye behind the iris – liquefies and shrinks. “The floaters are the small parts of the vitreous that move around.”

Eye floaters can look different to different people. “They can appear as spots, squiggly lines, cobwebs or veils,” says Dr. Ohsie-Bajor. “They may be more noticeable in certain lighting, such as on a bright, sunny day when you’re looking at a clear sky, or if you’re looking at a white wall indoors.” The intensity of symptoms can vary too.

It’s normal for eye floaters to increase or become more apparent with age. There’s nothing you can do to prevent them and they never go away on their own, but most people’s symptoms will stabilize over time. Additionally, symptoms tend to become less noticeable when the floaters settle outside of the central visual field, says Dr. Ohsie-Bajor. “The brain also learns to filter out and ignore floaters over time.”

Managing Eye Floaters

“The majority of people tend to live with their floaters,” says Dr. Ohsie-Bajor. If floaters are bothering you, there are steps you can take to minimize the distraction.

Dr. Ohsie-Bajor suggests:

Wearing sunglasses when outdoors and lowering screen brightness on digital devices to reduce glare and help make floaters less noticeable.
Maintaining good control of conditions like diabetes or hypertension, since it can help reduce your risk of floaters related to vitreous hemorrhages.
In general, she says, maintaining a healthy diet with foods rich in antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids, staying hydrated and avoiding tobacco use supports eye health.

Dr. Ohsie-Bajor adds that in rare cases some people elect to have treatment, such as if eye floaters significantly affect vision, or if they are symptoms of a more serious condition. Treatment options may include laser therapy to disrupt the floaters or a surgery to remove the vitreous.

Vitreolysis. For this procedure, an ophthalmologist uses a YAG laser to target and break up floaters. “Vitreoloysis typically takes less than 15 minutes, and is performed under topical anesthesia,” explains Dr. Ohsie-Bajor. “It can reduce the size and number of symptomatic floaters, but will not completely eliminate them.” It comes with several risks, including cataract formation, retinal injury (including retinal tear or detachment) and glaucoma.
Vitrectomy. Another option is vitrectomy, a surgical procedure that removes the vitreous gel. It’s typically performed with sedation in an operating room. “This procedure is highly effective at removing floaters, but carries a risk of infection, cataract formation, glaucoma, bleeding and retinal detachment,” says Dr. Ohsie-Bajor. “Not every patient is a good candidate.” It’s important to talk to your ophthalmologist to determine if vitreolysis is appropriate and safe for you.

“With any surgical procedure, the risks and benefits should be carefully considered before proceeding,” she says.

When to Talk to Your Doctor About Eye Floaters

It’s common for most people (especially in middle age and beyond) to sometimes see eye floaters, and it’s usually nothing to worry about. But a sudden increase in floaters is cause for concern.

“A sudden increase in floaters, especially if accompanied by flashes of light, a shade or dark curtain in your vision or a change in vision, requires an urgent eye exam,” says Dr. Ohsie-Bajor. “Eventually, the vitreous can pull away from the retina. When this happens, it’s called a posterior vitreous detachment. A small percentage of these detachments are associated with retinal tears or hemorrhages,” she says.

If you have a history of diabetes or hypertension and you’re seeing many new floaters, it could be a sign of vitreous hemorrhage, which also warrants an urgent eye exam, says Dr. Ohsie-Bajor. And though it’s less common, new floaters can occur because of inflammation in the eye (uveitis) or malignancies, such as eye tumors, leukemia or lymphoma. If your healthcare provider suspects any of these conditions, they may recommend further testing, which could include blood tests, X-rays or other body imaging.

If new floaters appear, a complete and thorough dilated eye exam should be performed, says Dr. Ohsie-Bajor. “Your eye doctor may also perform a scleral depression, which is when gentle pressure is applied to the eyelid to get a better view of the peripheral retina, where tears typically occur,” she says. “Other testing may include photographs, ocular ultrasounds or other non-invasive imaging techniques, such as optical coherence tomography (OCT).”

Most of the time eye floaters are harmless, but they’re a good reminder to keep up with routine eye exams and practice healthy habits that support eye health.