At Home with Dr Christian Jessen - 136

PROMOTION

EXPERT
EYECARE
GUIDE

CLEAR AWAY
THE COBWEBS

They may be painless, but ﬂoaters can be annoying
when they're constantly in your line of vision.
You don't need to put up with them, though...

F

loaters are small grey or semitransparent shapes that tend to
appear in your vision as part of
the natural ageing process in the
eye. You may notice them drifting across
your vision when your eyes are still or
when you look in different directions.

They are most noticeable when looking at a
light-coloured background such as a white wall

MEET THE
EXPERT

Mr Nicholas Glover
MB BS BSc FRCOphth
is a consultant
vitreoretinal and
cataract surgeon
Based at Optegra Birmingham eye
hospital, Mr Glover undertook his
ophthalmic surgical training in London
and Oxford. He completed fellowships
in both vitreoretinal eye surgery and
medical retina, and has performed
over 10,000 procedures and taken
referrals for elective and complex
cataracts and vitreoretinal diseases.

or clear sky. They are also more symptomatic
when using a computer screen for long periods
of time. They may appear as dots, splodges,
circles, lines, cobwebs or any other shape.
You may have many small ﬂoaters or just
a couple of larger ones, it can vary.

THE SCIENCE

Floaters are small pieces of debris that are
suspended in the vitreous humour (the clear
gel that ﬁlls the space between the lens and
the retina of the eyeball) within the eye.
The ﬂoaters cast a shadow onto the retina
at the back of the eye, and it is these shadows
that you can see when the light is bright. For
most people, ﬂoaters are harmless and do not
signiﬁcantly interfere with vision. However, if
you have large or multiple ﬂoaters they can be
distracting and may make activities requiring
a high level of concentration - such as reading
or driving - difﬁcult. Plus, they are annoying.

HOW TO TREAT FLOATERS

Eye drops or other medications will not make
ﬂoaters disappear. Over time, many people will
get used to their ﬂoaters and learn to ignore
them completely or look beyond them.
If they do not improve over time or they
signiﬁcantly impair your vision, then the most

effective solution is to get them removed
by undergoing a vitrectomy procedure.

VITRECTOMY

This is a routine microsurgical procedure, and
will be performed by a senior ophthalmic
surgeon with special training. Vitrectomy removes
the vitreous gel, and all of the ﬂoaters, and
replaces it with a saline solution. (The vitreous is
not required by the eye to function normally.)
A vitrectomy for ﬂoaters can be performed as
a day case procedure using a local anaesthetic
and usually takes about 20 minutes to perform.
This will permanently remove the ﬂoaters from
your sight. Following the surgery, you are
usually able to return to normal activities,
including driving, within a week.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Visit www.optegra.com
Call 08081 637298
Optegra Birmingham Eye Hospital
Colehill Street, Birmingham B4 7ET
http://www.optegra.com
At Home with Dr Christian Jessen

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