Floaters & Flashes

Floaters and flashes usually do not lead to serious complications. Only a small proportion of patients develop retinal tears or retinal detachment. Nevertheless, new floaters and flashes, especially if accompanied by some and visual field loss (a dark shadow blocking part of your vision), should be evaluated promptly by an ophthalmologist to exclude serious conditions such as retinal tears and retinal detachments, as these can lead to permanent vision loss. In such cases, timely treatment with a laser, or surgery in severe cases, can help to prevent blindness.

The most common cause of floaters and flashes due to vitreous gel degeneration and PVD does not require specific treatment. Although laser and vitrectomy surgery are technically possible, these procedures do not always remove all floaters, and have potential risks, and so are rarely performed.  The effect of floaters can be minimised by wearing dark glasses when you are out in the bright sunlight or when you are looking at a brightly lit surface. Flashes usually      diminish and stop over weeks to months.