Are You Seeing Spots?
What causes eye floaters, what can fix them, and when they're an emergency
Floaters, which are small dark spots or squiggly lines that move across your line of sight, become increasingly common with age. They may be especially noticeable when you look at a high-contrast area, like a white wall or clear blue sky. The cause is usually benign, but they’re certainly annoying and visually distracting—and startling when they first appear. For some, however, floaters can signal a potentially serious problem that may cause permanent vision changes or loss.
Why Eye Floaters Appear
Floaters can appear when your eye tissue sheds cells (like skin flaking off).
Another common cause is posterior vitreous detachment (PVD), a condition that usually occurs after age 50. The vitreous humor, the cavity behind your eye, contains a gel-like substance called vitreous. With age, it starts to liquefy, shrink, and move away from the retina, the area of the eye that converts light into signals that help you see. “That process can bring out proteins that cast shadows on the retina and present as floaters,” says Daniel Balikov, MD, PhD, a surgical retina specialist with Northwestern Medicine and clinical assistant professor at the Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.
Do Floaters Go Away?
Floaters caused by the shedding of eye tissue cells typically come and go, and, over time, “the brain usually learns to ignore them,” Balikov says.
When to See a Doctor
Anytime new floaters suddenly appear and linger, schedule an appointment with an optometrist or ophthalmologist to rule out potential complications.
Most cases of PVD don’t cause any serious problems. But in a small percentage of people, the condition can lead to a more significant issue, says Purnima Patel, MD, an ophthalmologist at Ora Vision in Peachtree Corners, Ga., and a spokesperson for the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
As your vitreous separates from the retina with age, if a part of this “gel” sticks to the retina—or the force of the separation is too strong—it can cause a tear in the retina or detach from it. This could potentially lead to vision changes or vision loss in the eye.
How to spot the warning signs? If your PVD has progressed, you may develop lightninglike flashes in your vision, which is a signal that the retina is irritated and that you should seek help from your eye doctor, Patel says.
You should get medical care right away if you experience hundreds of new floaters appearing at once, sudden blurry vision in an eye, or the sensation of a curtain or veil covering part of your vision. All of these can signal retina problems that need emergency treatment. If you call your eye doctor and you can’t be seen quickly, you might be advised to go to an emergency department.
A doctor will examine you for PVD and associated complications during an exam in which your eyes are dilated. If they don’t spot a retinal tear or detachment, they will probably suggest a follow-up visit in four to six weeks to make sure one hasn’t occurred in the interim.
Ophthalmologists can treat tears and smaller retinal detachments with an in-office laser. This creates a scarlike barrier to prevent more vitreous gel from entering and detaching the retina, Patel says.
In the case of a bigger detachment, an ophthalmologist may inject air bubbles into the eye to push the retina back into place. Detachment treatment can also be done in an eye clinic. But some larger or more serious cases may require surgery in a hospital.
Editor’s Note: A version of this article also appeared in the February 2026 issue of Consumer Reports on Health.
