Q. Is there anything that I can do about floaters? I’ve always had them without much problem, but I recently have had more develop almost immediately in my left eye about 2 months ago, along with a decrease in vision in that eye. It’s very irritating and I don’t want any further loss of vision. Should I get it checked?

A. First of all, have your floaters checked by an eye care professional. Usually they're no cause for alarm, but you should rule out any serious eye conditions that might be causing the floaters - detached retina or vitreous detachment, for example. A thorough eye examination is most necessary in situations where the floaters or new spots in the eye come on suddenly, increase rapidly, or are accompanied by flashes of light or decreased vision.

Floaters are caused when the cells of the proteins in the aqueous humor (the fluid in the back of the eye behind the lens) group together. Also, as a person ages, the eye is more susceptible to Posterior Vitreous Detachment, where the gel of the eye changes its viscosity (how liquid it is).

Once you've eliminated the possibility of any serious threat to your vision, my experience is that floaters can be a sign of nutritional deficiency or imbalance and that they can be significantly reduced, if not completely eliminated.

Dr. Marc Grossman, an eye doctor who is also an acupuncturist, says “floaters are related to an imbalance in the liver meridian. One herbal nutrient that would help is milk thistle.”

Dr. Grossman also adds, “Hyaluronic acid can help to decrease floaters. And it's important to build up the integrity of the retina, so certain anti-inflammatories, such as MSM, are necessary.”

Those with yeast allergies, candida or regular allergies, tend to be more prone to floaters.

In my experience with alternative approaches, the presence or absence of floaters seems to relate to the health and purity of the lymphatic system. For example, lymphatic massage that helps to move the lymph through the body tends to help clear out floaters over time.

Nutritional supplementation is also important. I got a call recently from somebody on the EYEMAX-plus Vision formula. He had only been using EYEMAX-plus for about three months and his floaters were diminishing quite significantly.

Another person using EYEMAX-plus told me that his floaters have gone away. It took about 6 months and there are lots of other benefits he's experiencing as well.

All eye symptoms, whether it's floaters or other things, are symptoms that are not just confined to the eye. The eye is an expression of the balance, and the imbalance, in the rest of the body.