You may sometimes see small dots or specks moving in your field of vision. These are called floaters. You can often see them when looking at a plain background, like a whits wall or the blue sky. Floaters are actually age related changes that occur as the vitreous, (the clear gel-like fluid that fills the inside of your eye) begins to liquify and contract.

​While floaters look like they are in front of your eye, they are actually floating inside it. What you seeing are the shadows they cast on the retina, the layer of cells lining the back of the eye that senses light and allows you to see. Floaters can appear as different shapes, such as little dots, circles, lines, clouds or cobwebs. As we grow older, it is more common to experience floaters and flashes as the vitreous gel changes with age, gradually pulling away from the inside surface of the eye. This is known as a posterior vitreous detachment, and other than aging, it can occur with trauma or after certain eye surgeries. 

When the vitreous gel pulls on the retina, you may see what look like flashing lights or lightning streaks. The flashes of light can appear off and on for several weeks or months.  Flashes can be a sign of a tear in the retina. A retinal tear frequently needs to be treated with a laser. Left untreated, a retinal tear allows fluid to track behind the retina, separating it from the wall of the eye called a retinal detachment, which is a vision-threatening condition. So, new flashes and floaters require an urgent call to your eye doctor for a thorough retinal examination.