Seeking treatment

There is currently no safe, reliable treatment for Degenerative Vitreous Syndrome, nor any current research into finding a cure.  The options that are available carry significant risks and have variable results.

It is usually advisable to wait at least a year to determine whether the floaters may become less prominent naturally. If they do not, then one may consider laser vitreolysis or surgical vitrectomy. However, we must caution that surgical or laser treatment of floaters is not considered a standard management strategy for reducing floaters and is only recommended by a handful of physicians, even then, under exceptional circumstances. For more conservative advice on learning to live with floaters please do read our open article entitled living with DVS.

When seeing a physician, it is important to maintain an objective viewpoint and realistic expectations.  We live in an age that is accustomed to highly successful medical treatments for all forms of ailments and suffering.  Consequently, it can be upsetting to hear your physician diagnose floaters and state, "you'll get used to it", "your brain will adapt", or "they'll sink out of view in 10-15 years".  Do not confuse these statements with insensitivity; they are simply a reflection of the current state of medicine regarding vitreous floaters and degenerative vitreous syndrome, i.e., vitreous floaters do not threaten the health of the eye and there are few treatment options.  In addition, the common experience of floaters as a rarely noticed speck or squiggle is often considered typical of all floater experiences.  Collectively, these realities may elicit statements that, although seem less than empathetic, are simply  meant to acknowledge the limitations of medical science and put a patient at ease.