Can floaters cause blindness? Is it a cataract?

Whether floaters can cause blindness needs to be analyzed in combination with specific conditions. Floaters generally do not belong to cataracts.

Floaters refer to small black shadows floating in front of the eyes, or dots, flakes, and string-like floaters. According to different causes, they can be divided into physiological floaters and pathological floaters. Physiological floaters are mostly caused by age-related changes in the vitreous body. The symptoms are relatively stable and generally do not affect vision or cause blindness. Pathological floaters suggest the possibility of some eye diseases that damage vision, such as uveitis, vitreous hemorrhage, retinal detachment, etc. If not treated in time, it may lead to blindness.

Floaters are physiological eye diseases caused by vitreous degeneration, while cataracts are visual disorders caused by lens opacity. They do not belong to the same disease, so floaters usually do not belong to cataracts.