Causes, Symptoms, and 8 Best Natural Remedies for Eye Floaters

Have you ever noticed squiggly lines or small spots that suddenly float or pop through your field of vision? These spots can be more prominent when you look at objects in bright light or naturally bright things like a blank wall, a white piece of paper, or even a clear blue sky.

These spots or floaters can be pretty annoying, but they are not always severe and hardly affect your vision. In addition, you can correct your eye floaters by making use of natural remedies for eye floaters.

What are Eye Floaters?

It is easy to believe that the small lines, dots, rings, circles, or cobwebs that appear in your vision are in front of your eye, but they are actually inside your eye and floating there. In some cases, they can appear in your view as grey or black flecks that look as if they drift as you move your eye, especially when you try to look at the flecks directly.

You are viewing eye floaters; they are a small clusters of gel or tiny cellular masses at the back of the eye or inside the vitreous. Floaters get their name by the way they move around or ‘float’ around your eye. Unfortunately, they often drift away when you try to focus on them.

Symptoms of Eye Floaters

Eye floaters appear differently to different people. However, the following are some common symptoms of eye floaters:

• Rings
• Black dots
• Web-like
• Uneven and squiggly lines
• Transparent, threadlike strands

Eye floaters don’t usually go away once you get them. However, they fade with time, and you begin to notice them less as time goes on.

Causes of Eye Floaters

As I have already mentioned above, eye floaters appear in the vitreous, which is a position at the back of the eye. A lot of eye floaters are tiny gel-like flecks of collagen. Collagen is a type of protein.

During our youth or at the time of our birth, the vitreous in the eye retains a gel-like position. Now, as we age, the vitreous might begin to shrink or thicken up and even start to become more liquid-like and dissolve. However, some of these protein fibers or gel particles may not dissolve and can otherwise float in the watery center of the vitreous.

These clumps, flecks, or strands that begin to form in that area cast shadows on the retina. The shadows are what you see as the eye floaters. Since the floaters move by the movement of the vitreous gel in the eye, you will discover that you won’t be able to focus on the floaters because of the constant movement of the vitreous. This is why it appears as if they are constantly moving or drifting.

Conditions that May Trigger Eye Floaters

 You might be prone to getting eye floaters if you:

• are between 50 and 70 years old
• have an eye tumor
• suffer from migraine
• have an eye injury
• have headache
• have diabetic retinopathy
• are nearsighted
• have a torn retina or retinal detachment
• have swelling or inflammation in the eye
• have had surgery for a cataract
• have bleeding in the vitreous of the eye

Even though eye floaters are common and pose no real threat to a person, they can indicate a more serious underlying condition. Therefore, when you start noticing eye floaters across your vision, you should visit your eye care professional so that they can eliminate any contributing factors.

However, if your eye doctor does not find any condition associated with it, keep reading further for treatment options and natural remedies for eye floaters that will help you deal with the situation.

Treatment Options for Eye Floaters

1. Ignore Them

Many doctors believe that the best form of treatment of eye floaters is by ignoring them instead of going for eye surgery. It is better to ignore them because, over time, the floaters may disappear or fade. And even if they do not disappear, your brain may get used to the condition and learn to ignore them naturally. So in time, they will not be as noticeable as they used to be before.

2. Vitrectomy Surgery

A vitrectomy is a surgical process that involves a tiny incision on the eye to remove the vitreous fluid and the eye floaters. After removal, the surgeon will replace the vitreous fluid with a clear sterile solution to ensure no altercation to your eye’s shape. In time, your body will secrete more vitreous fluid and ultimately replace the artificial solution applied at the time of surgery.

Because it is an invasive procedure, a vitrectomy should be the last resort because it can result in complications like trauma in the eye, bleeding, inflammation, detached or torn retina. There is also the possibility of the lens becoming clouded, resulting in the early onset of cataracts that may require another surgery.

3. Laser Treatment

A doctor can recommend laser treatment for those who have larger floaters blocking their field of vision.

Laser vitreolysis or YAG laser vitreolysis is a pain-free surgery process in the eye doctor’s office. In this procedure, a laser beam is targeted through the pupil toward the large floaters, in the process breaking them up into smaller bits or pieces and dissolving them altogether.

However, this kind of procedure is not available to everyone. There are various factors that your eye doctor will have to consider before recommending this kind of eye treatment; such factors include floater size, location of the floater, age of the patient, and the progression of the symptoms.

For instance, those who have their floaters too close to the retina may have to be exempted from this kind of treatment because there may be the risk of retinal damage if the laser is inaccurately aimed.

8 Natural Remedies for Eye Floaters

You have to consider some factors when dealing with floaters, including which treatment procedures to pursue. If you are not bothered by your floaters, it is best to let them be. But if you feel like the floaters are making you uncomfortable, then you can go for the natural remedies for eye floaters.

Below, I will cover some valuable tips to incorporate into your daily life to maintain your ocular health and protect your vision. Improving the health of your vision can help strengthen your eyes.

1. Get a Comprehensive Eye Exam

Even if you have some eye floaters that are not bothersome, it would still not hurt to get a comprehensive eye exam. Even if you have no eye condition whatsoever, it is crucial to get an eye exam when you reach 40. If you are 65 years old or even older, you should visit your eye doctor every year. This is important because eye floaters may accompany some underlying conditions like diabetic retinopathy or tumor in the eye.

2. Check Your Blood Count

A blood test will reveal all these conditions in the blood count if you have a sudden increase in white blood cells because of inflammation or infection. Such infections are capable of triggering floaters in the eye. Therefore, a dose of anti-inflammatory drugs or antibiotics may help to fight the floaters.

3. Stay Hydrated

Water is vital for every cell of the body; the same applies to all the parts of your eye. Water assists the body’s systems to function well. For example, eye floaters may result from the collagen part of the vitreous not getting enough oxygen or water, causing it to shrink.

Because of this, staying hydrated will help improve your eye hydration, moisture level, and overall health of the eye. Eye floaters can also result from toxin buildup in the body, and drinking enough water or healthy liquid is a sure way to flush out heavy metals and toxins from the body.

4. Detox From Heavy Molds and Metals

Research has shown that heavy metals accumulate in the human ocular tissue, such as the vitreous. If you have eye floaters, it is possible to result from the metals and mold in your body. Always keep a lookout for any mold in your workplace or home. Mold is a fungus that appears and develops in any humid, wet, or warm condition. You can find molds near your sinks, in your bathroom, in the AC vents, on and under the tiles, in the attic, the basement, the fireplace, and the window sills. Too much mold can cause serious health problems such as skin irritation or respiratory problems. Mold can also cause red eyes, blurred vision, and even eye floaters.

5. Maintain an Anti-inflammatory Diet

Generally, inflammation is the cause of many diseases. However, you can get rid of it by introducing supplements and anti-inflammation foods into your daily diet. Doing this will help your body fight inflammation and then prevent disease.

You should eat foods rich in nutrients; such foods should contain antioxidants (e.g. foods high in omega 3 and 6 fatty acids, leafy greens). Also, it would help if you replace unhealthy saturated fats with healthy ones; this will help you maintain a healthy body and improve your vision.

You should include the following anti-inflammatory foods in your diet to put eye floaters in check:

• whole grains and legumes
• organic berries like cherries, strawberries, and blueberries
• raw nuts (walnuts and almonds) and seeds (chia seeds, flax seeds, pumpkin seeds)
• dark green leafy vegetables
• coconut oil
• tuna, wild Alaskan salmon, or other fatty fish
• extra-virgin oil
• citrus fruits like grapefruit and oranges
• antibiotic-free eggs
• tomatoes

You should avoid eating these foods that can trigger inflammation:

• lard, shortening, hydrogenated vegetable oil, margarine
• sweetened beverages, store-bought fruit juices, soda
• alcohol
• refined carbohydrates (pastries, cakes, white bread)
• caffeine (soft drinks, coffee)
• smoked foods, barbecued foods, and fried foods
• processed meat (hot dogs, salami, sausages, cold cuts)
• red meat (burgers, steaks)

6. Use Eye Protection

Proper eye protection can protect against 90% of eye injuries; injury to the eye can trigger floaters. Therefore, you should always wear eye protection whenever you are doing anything that can result in potential accidents, such as doing woodwork, playing a sport, using harsh chemicals for cleaning, or gardening.

You don’t want something to suddenly hit your eye at high impact, flying debris getting lodged in your eye, or strong chemical fumes getting into your eye – all these can potentially damage your vision.

7. Wear UV Blocking Sunglasses

The ultraviolet light from the sun’s radiation can significantly damage your eyes, but many people are not aware of this because the symptoms are not often immediate. UV radiation can lead to eye problems like macular degeneration, cataract formation, and pterygium. All these problems can weaken the eye and cause eye floaters.

8. Do Eye Exercises

Eye exercise is an excellent way to strengthen your eye muscles and improve resistance, especially if you are constantly fatigued and get eye strain. Eye exercise is also one of the best natural remedies for eye floaters. If you do not work out your eye muscles, they will get weaker and allow eye floaters to gain access to your vision.

You can combat eye floaters by doing the following eye exercises:

Eye Rolling

Simply rolling your eyes clockwise and anti-clockwise for a few minutes every day will strengthen your eye muscles and get them working more effectively.

Palming

Palming is when you rub your hands together to create a slightly warm temperature and gently place those hands over your eyes. Stare into the blackness for about five minutes. The pressure and warmth from your palms will help relieve the ocular muscle tension and eye strain.

Focusing on an Object

Hold your index finger upward around 5 or 6 inches from your face. Then, slowly move the finger away while you are keeping your eyes focused on it. Once you have gone as far away from your eyes as you can go, pull the finger back until it is around 5 or 6 inches away. Do this two times daily to improve the muscles of your eyes.

Final Thoughts

Avoid engaging yourself in emotional turmoil or stressful situations that may affect your eye. Stop smoking if you are addicted to cigarettes, and avoid secondhand smoke if you are not a smoker. Follow the natural remedies for eye floaters I have mentioned above and watch what you eat.