Hundreds of Floaters

Dear Doctors,

Is it possible that a particular doctor’s technique could cause floaters?

Several days after my cataract surgery, I started seeing hundreds, maybe thousands, of tiny bubbles (circles, not dots or squiggles) in my field of vision—like looking through a glass of 7-Up.  I was told they are floaters.  

They look like air bubbles and I wonder if they were caused by the suction of the tool used to take out the old lens?  I’ve only had one or two of the squiggle-type floaters in my whole life before.

I wonder if I went to a different doctor to have the other eye done, if  I would have a better chance of not getting these “floaters” afterward?

[Sandra M Brown, MD]

These don't sound like real floaters, which are typically black and more speck-like or string-like, and each floater does not look the same.

What you are probably seeing is the shadows of the red blood cells moving through the arteries and veins in your retinal blood vessels.  Some people notice this "once" and then can always see it if they look for it.  Often the bubbles are more obvious when looking at a white wall or blue sky.

This was not caused by the doctor's surgical technique.