Seeing Spots?
Understanding Eye Changes as We Age
Seeing spots or floaters in your eyes can be disconcerting, and even a little alarming.
How do you know whether to worry or not?
While most floaters are normal, some can be a sign of underlying problems that you should tell your optometrist about when you next see them.
Floaters can sometimes appear like "cobwebs" or "specks" that drift across your vision. They are more obvious if you are looking at something bright – like a blue sunny sky.
Floaters are often a natural part of the aging process, but they do deserve closer attention.
What Causes Floaters?
As we get older, the vitreous humour (the jelly-like substance inside the eye) begins to change consistency, it can liquefy or shrink, causing tiny fibres to clump together.
These clumps cast shadows on your retina, which you see as floaters.
When to Be Concerned
While most floaters are harmless, a sudden change can signal a retinal detachment – which is a medical emergency.
Because the risk of detachment increases as we age (or if you have recently had cataract surgery) it is vital to recognise these "Red Flags".
- A sudden "shower" of new floaters.
- Flashing lights that look like lightning or camera flashes.
- A dark "curtain" or "veil" over part of your vision.
Recognising the early symptoms of retinal detachment is essential to improving the prognosis of your sight.
What is retinal detachment?
Older people are at a higher risk of retinal detachment, and extremely near-sighted people, those who have undergone cataract surgery and anyone who has had a severe eye injury.
Retinal detachment is when the retinal tissue comes away from your eyeball – a bit like when wallpaper peels off a wall. When this happens the retina doesn’t receive crucial oxygen, nutrients and metabolic support and it also is unable to transmit signals that are how you see.
Retinal detachment is an emergency – the success of restoring your sight depends on how long the retina has been detached for.
So if you recognise retinal detachment symptoms it’s incredibly important that you seek urgent medical attention.
What to do if you think your retina is detaching
If you experience any of the symptoms above, it’s important to see your optometrist that day, or go to your hospital’s emergency department. If left untreated your vision will most likely worsen beyond the ability to repair it.
The success rate for surgery to reattach your retina is high – around 90% are able to be reattached.
