How to Get Rid of Eye Floaters Affecting Your Vision
Eye floaters going in and out of your field of vision can be more than a minor annoyance. Some people experience large specks, strings, dots and cobwebs in their eyes that worsen until they impact their vision. At Intracoastal Eye, Dr. Gregory Johnson is one of the first in the state to provide laser floater removal to our patients using Ellex Reflex laser technology.
What are Eye Floaters?
The inside of your eye is filled with vitreous humor, a thick substance similar to jelly. Light shines through your eye to the light-sensitive tissue at the back called the retina, which sends messages to the brain through the optic nerve to translate light into images. Collagen fibers in the eye’s fluid can clump together when the consistency thins and becomes more watery with age. Those collagen clumps cast a shadow on the retina, creating a visible strand, dot or speck that drifts around the eye.
You can’t look directly at an eye floater because it is swimming in the vitreous humor. Older adults are more likely to experience eye floaters as the eye’s fluid becomes thinner. You are also more at risk if you have had cataract surgery, live with diabetes or are severely nearsighted.
While eye floaters are often harmless, they can grow and interfere with your quality of life. A sudden increase in the number of eye floaters or flashes of light accompanied by side vision loss could be a warning sign of retinal detachment, in which case you should visit your ophthalmologist promptly.
Laser Floater Removal with Ellex Laser Technology
The Ellex laser allows Dr. Johnson to view the entire vitreous humor from the front of your eye to the retina at the back through a microscope and focus on floaters in the middle and posterior portions of the eye. A contact lens is placed on the affected eye to focus the laser energy on the eye floaters. Then, a beam of low-level plasma energy is directed to the clumps to dissolve the collagen fibers and molecules of hyaluronic acid, transforming them into a gas absorbed by the eye. If the eye floater is not destroyed, the laser energy can be increased incrementally for the most effective results in a safe, controlled setting.
Eye floater removal treatments offer a minimally invasive way to decrease eye floaters or eliminate them. These laser sessions typically take less than 20 minutes and provide instant vision improvement with little to no discomfort.
Contact Intracoastal Eye to Learn More About Laser Floater Removal
If you struggle with symptomatic eye floaters, our eye surgeon can help. Contact Intracoastal Eye in Wilmington, North Carolina, today to schedule your eye exam.