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Causes
By Mayo Clinic staff
Eye floaters most commonly occur as a result of age-related changes in the vitreous, the jelly-like substance that fills your eyeballs and helps them maintain their round shape. Millions of fine fibers are intertwined within the vitreous. These fibers are attached to the retina, the light-sensitive tissue that lines the back of your eyes.
Over time, the vitreous changes in consistency and partially liquefies — a process that causes it to shrink and pull away from the interior surface of the eyeball. Most people over the age of 40 experience this phenomenon to some extent. As the vitreous shrinks and sags, it clumps up and gets stringy. Bits of this debris block some of the light passing through the eye, casting tiny shadows on your retina.
Usually, these changes in the vitreous occur gradually. But in some cases, a section of the vitreous will pull away from the retina suddenly — causing many new floaters to appear all at once. You might also see flashes of light when the fine fibers in the vitreous tug on your retina.
Sometimes, these fine fibers pull so hard that they cause your retina to tear and pull away from the back of your eye. While a vitreous detachment by itself doesn't threaten your sight, it can cause a retinal tear or a retinal detachment — a medical emergency that requires urgent treatment. A retinal detachment can lead to permanent vision loss.
