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Have you noticed these strange little cobwebs or squiggly lines in your vision?
Maybe they are transparent?
Or maybe you see these black dots instead?
Photo: A blue sky with black dot "floaters". (Flickr: Mistasista/ABC News)
They are called eye floaters and are quite common for most people due to changes in the vitreous — the gel-like substance that helps make up most of the shape of your eye.
As you get older, the vitreous gel becomes more liquid and tiny fibres within it shrink and break down, forming clumps or strings that can cast shadows on the back of the eye.
And it's those weird strings that you see in your vision — à la floaters.
When do you notice them?
President of the Australian College of Optometry Konrad Pesudovs said most of the time you don't really notice floaters.But you can normally spot them if you look at a bright, white wall or if you're looking at a clear blue sky.
"With lots of light and a clear blue background people can usually pick them up," Mr Pesudovs said.As you get older, you may also notice a large ring floater in your eye as well.
"It's known as a posterior vitreous detachment, which sounds serious but is fairly benign, and it happens when the bag containing the gel breaks away from the retina behind it," he said.
"When that happens, particularly from the optic disc, it can leave quite a large ring floater — it's called a weiss ring and it's a common thing when people suddenly get this new big floater that is typically ring shaped.
"It typically happens after 50, for everyone, but most people don't notice it."
What if you've had them since you were young?
Dr Pesudovs said that's normal and optometrists are used to seeing people who have got floaters "all the time"."I can remember seeing them from when I was 20, so absolutely everyone has them but the second step [posterior vitreous detachment] is typically a process that occurs after 50 … when you get this new ring-shaped floater at the back of the eye," he said.
"It's just something that happens and people get worried about it."
Should you be worried about them?
Not really. Dr Pesudovs said seeing dots or clumps in the back of your eye from time to time is quite common."It happens to everyone — floaters and posterior vitreous detachment over time — but for some people, it can lead to a serious problem of retinal detachment or retinal tear," he said.
Dr Pesudovs said that can happen when there is an "excessively strong adherence between the vitreous and the retina", so when the bag comes off it tears a small hole in the retina.
"It doesn't happen very often but it is serious when it does occur, and there are additional symptoms with that like sparks of light and similar things," he said.
Dr Pesudovs said if you notice any new or sudden onset of floaters or if you begin experiencing flashes of light they can be triggers to go and get your eyes examined.
"Everyone gets small floaters but generally what optometrists and ophthalmologists are interested in is the sudden onset of new floaters," he said."[Flashes of light are] more serious, although often that's just a tug on the retina and it doesn't lead to a detachment but it's definitely a trigger to get the eyes examined.
"There are some other infrequent causes of floaters, like inflammation in the eye or a haemorrhage into the eye so when new, different things suddenly happen it's worth getting your eyes checked."
People who are concerned are advised to make an appointment with an optometrist or see a GP, who can then provide a referral to an ophthalmologist.
But otherwise, floaters or flashes of light are just something to mention at a routine eye examination.
So can they be worse for some more than others?
Dr Pesudovs said some people do notice them more than others."It's a really interesting thing, I've met three people over the course of my career who have been so upset by floaters, they've been suicidal," he said.
"There are some people who just get really concerned about their floaters, obviously that's an extreme thing but I suppose it's like anything that you can become fixated on and bothered by."
Although he said he's examined other patients who have had lots of floaters, but who say they have never noticed them.
"It's absolutely amazing how people vary in the extent in which they a) notice and b) are bothered by it," he said.
Can they be treated?
Yes. Laser treatment is available for people who are really bothered by floaters."Big floaters can be destroyed with laser treatment … and ophthalmologists can actually use this laser to treat really problem floaters," Dr Pesudovs said.
But he says to be wary of scammers.
"Interestingly, I've seen spam about floaters so it must be a sufficiently common thing in the general population that even people that generate spam think it's worth phishing on the issue," he said.
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