What are floaters?
Floaters are dark specks in the form of dots, circles, lines or cobwebs that seem to move across your field of vision.
They are most noticeable when you are looking at a light-coloured background, such as a clear sky or a white wall.
Floaters come in many sizes and numbers, and they seem to move when you look in different directions.

What causes floaters?
Floaters are small clumps of visible material within the vitreous. (Gel-like substance that gives the eye it's shape.)
Although floaters seem to be in front of you, they are actually floating within the vitreous and the retina sees them as shadows. Sometimes floaters occur because your eye is irritated, or because there are crystal-like deposits in the vitreous.
As we get older, the vitreous shrinks and separates from the retina. As this separation occurs, floaters may appear.
In about half of all people, the vitreous has separated from the retina by age 50, although many people are not aware that this process has occurred in their eye(s). At first, floaters can be annoying, but your brain slowly learns to ignore them. After several months you may hardly notice them. Most of the time, the vitreous separates from the retina without any problem. However, in some people, the vitreous remains attached to parts of the retina, causing the retina to tear as the vitreous separates from it. There may be some bleeding into the vitreous associated with a retinal tear, which results in a new "shower" of floaters. Tears in the retina should be repaired right away. A retinal tear can develop into a retinal detachment, which is a serious threat to vision. Retinal tears can usually be repaired without a hospital stay, but it may take a major operation to fix a retinal detachment.
Certain people, such as those who are nearsighted and those who ave had a cataract operation or an eye injury, have a higher risk of retinal tears and retinal detachment.

How do I know if the floaters are signs of a problem?
In order for the doctor to tell whether there is a more serious problem, you must have dilating drops put in your eye so that the pupils dilate and the doctor can examine the back of the eye. He will then look at the retina and see if the floaters are due to a retinal tear that needs to be repaired. If you notice the appearance of new floaters, you should see you ophthalmologist.

What can I do about floaters?
Floaters may sometimes interfere with your vision, especially when you are reading. If a floater appears right in your line of vision, move your eye around. This makes the vitreous swirl around and moves the floater out of the way.
Looking up and down rather than from side to side causes different currents inside the eye and may help to get the floater out of the way. Surgery is almost never needed for floaters.