Permanent or Temporary?
Floaters often stabilize and disappear after a few weeks to a month. Some remain and we get used to them, noticing them less. Flashes disappear as soon as the piece of vitreous humor completely separates from the retina. I’ve known cases where flashes are resolved in a few weeks and others where they have remained for a year or longer.

A Remedy to Consider
Our eyes shrink as we age from a loss of HA — a nutrient that keeps water in the vitreous humor. Optometrists and ophthalmologists say there’s no treatment for floaters and flashes and suggest we just live with them. They may be right. But I know of some people who have found that taking 150-300 mg of oral hyaluronic acid and drinking plenty of water reduced or eliminated their floaters. I’m not one of them. My floater and flashes continue after taking HA for five months.

Still, taking HA makes sense for your eyes and a number of other conditions such as arthritis. You can buy HA from Purity Products, Inc (800-769-7873). The supplement, Ultimate H.A. Remedy, contains a month’s supply of hyaloronic acid (at 150 mg a day) for $39.95. How long should you take it? No one really knows, but I like to give any supplement a three-month trial. If, after this time, there’s no change in your floaters, you’ve at least given your body a few month’s worth of an important lubricant.

Along with the hyaloronic acid, get plenty of antioxidants like bilberry, quercetin, vitamin C, grape seed, and glutathione. Your eyes contain the B vitamin riboflavin that’s needed to help you see light. Along with making your eyes more sensitive to light, riboflavin produces free radicals. By taking good antioxidants, like the Sharper Vision formula (800-728-2288) I use, you can inactivate the negative effects of riboflavin while getting its benefits. There are some people who believe that high amounts of riboflavin without enough antioxidants could contribute to floaters, although I haven’t been able to locate any studies that indicate this is so. Still, I believe in erring on the side of caution — so always take extra antioxidants in your diet and supplementation program for healthy eyes.

Protecting Your Eyes
Drink plenty of water. Since floaters and flashes occur with changes in the vitreous, and vitreous is 99 percent water, drink plenty of water. Dehydration could be a factor in the vitreous separating from the retina. My own floater and flashes occurred after six weeks of persistent diarrhea from parasites. Although I was aware of needing plenty of fluids, it was difficult to be completely hydrated with daily watery stools, and I may well have been dehydrated. To prevent dehydration, drink half a glass of water an hour whenever possible.

Wear sunglasses. Protect your eyes when you’re outdoors, even when it isn’t a sunny day. Ultraviolet (UV) rays are present on overcast days, and UV helps help break down hyaluronic acid. Get in the habit of wearing lightly tinted sunglasses with UV protection when you’re outdoors.

I’ve gotten used to my floater, and the flashing lights no longer disturb or frighten me. I expect that some day they will disappear. But whether or not they do, they have been a reminder to me of the importance of taking especially good care of my eyes as the years progress.

Robert Abel, Jr, MD, The Eye Care Revolution, Kensington Books, 1999.

Bill Sardi, Knowledge of Health, Inc., personal communication