Chronic floaters can be safely observed as they are not harmful to the eye, however, laser or surgical removal is available to individuals whose floaters significantly interfere with their daily activities.
If there is a single, discrete floater (sometimes referred to as a Weiss Ring), it can often be vaporized into smaller, non-visually significant pieces with an in-office laser procedure. For diffuse, cloudy floaters, surgical removal with a procedure known as a vitrectomy is often recommended. Vitrectomy is a common procedure performed in an outpatient setting and is used to treat many other eye conditions such as retinal detachment, macular hole, and epiretinal membrane.