Atropine eye drops for eye floaters is a newer trend that is being used and investigated by some eye doctors as a way to diminish eye floater symptoms.
Although atropine may not be a true way to cure eye floaters, it still may prove to be an option for those who are very symptomatic. Learn more below about how they are used, the side effects and potential complications, and how to go about trying these drops.
Eye floaters commonly develop as we age and can be very bothersome for a lot of people. Thankfully, eye floaters often improve on their own. If they don’t improve, and if surgery is not an option, then some doctors are turning to small dose atropine for help.
How They Work
Atropine eye drops are typically used as a diagnostic and potentially a therapeutic medication for eye exams and a few eye diseases. Traditionally, it has not been used for treating eye floaters but some doctors are prescribing a low dose 0.01% atropine to help improve floater symptoms.
By using a low dose of atropine, it allows the eye to dilate just a bit, enough that it allows more light into your eyes and dispersing the shadows that the eye floaters are creating.
In one study, about 70% of the people using the .01% dose of atropine noticed improvement of their eye floater symptoms.
Side Effects
With the higher dose of atropine, there are side effects we need to watch for. Those include tachycardia, urinary problems, constipation issues, flushing of the skin, and altered mental status.
The .01% dose is proving to have fewer reported side effects, but could include an allergic reaction on the surface of the eye. It is also possible that it could reduce your accommodative ability. This would cause someone to have more difficulty focusing on things close up.
How to Get the Drops
If you think this is something that might work for you, of course, it’s important to talk with your doctor. And when you do, keep in mind:
-This is an option not widely studied, published, or discussed. Here’s one short paper presented at a 2017 convention in Europe: https://www.escrs.org/Lisbon2017/prog…
-This is a newer trend and not fully widespread. Many doctors may have not heard of using 0.01% atropine for floaters. And because of the reasons above, this may not be an option that your doctor feels comfortable trying out.
-.01% atropine (a highly diluted form) is actually very difficult. That’s because it needs to be acquired though what’s called a compounding pharmacy. Typically, you can find low doses of atropine at clinics where they use atropine for myopia control in children. These clinics typically have access to compounding pharmacies.
Important: New onset of floaters can carry a 5% risk of retinal holes, retinal tears or retinal detachment. Always seek immediate care with your local eye doctor when experiencing sudden changes to your vision or eyesight. More info on retinal detachments https://youtu.be/UcF66rOo-Go
If you’d like to support research into better floaters treatments, check out https://www.vdmresearch.org/
Disclaimer: This information is not meant for medical diagnosis or treatment. You should follow up with your local healthcare provider regarding all matters related to your health.