How long will floaters go on? I had cataract surgery 4 years ago. I’ve had floaters for the last three years. What is your experience?

There has been a gradually increasing number of patients in my practice that comment on or complain of vitreous "floaters" after cataract/IOL surgery. The surgery, of course, did not cause the floaters. The reason is that as intraocular lens surgery (whether for purely cataract or for refractive reasons) has become safer and better in terms of post-op visual results, an ever younger population of patients can see them better!

Many years ago, we hardly ever heard about floaters from our cataract patients. But that was when the surgery was only performed on older people, and ones with more severe cataract than nowadays. They were glad just to get a decent result and did not expect perfect vision.

_Written by J. Trevor Woodhams, M.D. - Chief of Surgery, Woodhams Eye Clinic