What Are the Causes of Floaters After Laser Eye Treatment?

According to a report by MedicineNet, eye floaters aren't dangerous, and they are usually mild and fleeting, but they can be annoying and, at most, debilitating to one's vision. While laser treatment is used to treat them, floaters can actually be a side effect of laser eye surgery for vision correction.

Identification

• Eye floaters are tiny "fuzzballs" that float in one's vision, and they can appear in one or both eyes. These speckles in the vision are dislodged deposits in the eye's vitreous humor (the jelly substance between the eye lens and the retina), which usually go away on their own without treatment.

The Corneal Flap

• In laser vision correction, such as LASIK surgery, the surgeon creates a flap in the cornea (the clear window of the eye), which is flipped upward to work with the tissue beneath, and closed at the conclusion of surgery. Sometimes, this flap has wrinkles or doesn't adhere to the eye properly, which can cause floaters and blind spots in one's vision.

Fluctuating Vision

• Fluctuating vision is a typical side effect of laser eye surgery, according to AllAboutVision.com, which states that this should subside within three months of surgery. Fluctuating vision includes not only shifts in visual acuity, blind spots, light sensitivity and glare, but also the occurrence of floaters.

The Healing Process

• Floaters may occur after laser eye surgery as part of the natural healing process. Laser surgery adjusts and removes eye tissues, "rattling" the normal functions of the eye. Although lasers use extreme precision, the eye is extremely sensitive to change, and adjustments to specific parts may easily trigger reactions in other parts of the eye, with floaters being a mild side effect.

Eye Infection

• Although uncommon, according to AllAboutVision.com, eye infection is a possibility following laser eye surgery. If inflammation occurs with an eye infection, the vitreous jelly may begin to liquefy, causing inconsistencies in the weight of the jelly, thereby causing "weightier" pieces to fall; hence, floaters.

Treatment

• The eye floaters report available on MedicineNet.com says that most floaters will decrease and disappear over time without treatment, and that treatment options are very limited (there are no eye drops or medications to treat floaters). YAG laser surgery is an option, though this should only be sought when floaters are excessive and damaging to the quality of daily life, without showing signs of reduction.