Laser Treatment for Vitreous Floaters

Yearly trips to the eye doctor are commonplace for most Americans. People know that seeing an eye doctor regularly is the best way to get an early diagnosis for any problems you may have, before they can begin to affect your everyday life. In some cases, however, a person may have a problem and not even know it until it's too late. Such can be the case with vitreous floaters.

Prevention/Solution

• While there's no fail-proof way to avoid getting vitreous floaters, ophthalmologists suggest taking vitamins that serve as anti-oxidants, eating healthy meals and following a healthy lifestyle. There is however, no guarantee that doing all these things will keep you from developing vitreous floaters. If you do develop them, know that there is a way to treat them.

Identification

• Vitreous floaters can affect people in a couple of different ways. Sometimes, the sufferer's vision will be completely obstructed. This is especially true in severe cases. However, in other cases, the sufferer may see "floaters" in their vision. Either way, it's important to be checked by a doctor to make sure that you're not suffering from a more serious condition.

Treatment

• Laser therapy is a common way to treat the floaters. Floaters can develop in one eye or both eyes. It's not a fail-safe way to eradicate the problem, but if you are deemed a good candidate for the surgery, then it will most likely be more beneficial to you than traditional eye surgery would. Laser treatment is much less invasive than a vitrectomy (surgery performed to remove floaters).

First Steps

• The doctor performing the laser treatment will begin by dilating the patient's eyes. Once the pupils have reached the correct percentage of dilation, the doctor typically will use a machine containing a Q switch YAG laser. The machine will be aligned properly so the illumination and aiming beams cross each other at an angle, which measures 150 degrees.

Process

• The doctor will focus the aiming beam on the retina and then move it backwards, slowly, in order to focus on the opacity. For patients who only need one treatment, the doctor uses one pulse per burst. Each session takes about 20 minutes, but can take a shorter amount of time, depending on the doctor's experience in doing the treatment.