Increasing numbers of eye floaters

Hi Sir/Madam Doctor,

I've had a floater in my right eye from earliest childhood (it sort of resembles a mosquito and I can remember it from a young age).  Now in the past 3-4 years, all of the sudden I've been getting more (I've got four diff ones now), and also now 2 are in my left eye.  I'll be 41 in two days.
I'm near sighted and wear glasses.  My prescription hasn't changed dramatically in recent years.

The new loaters ones are smaller, but darker spots.  I'm wondering if there's some connection to sunlight and getting them?  I've lived in bright, sunny places for most of my life--Thailand, southern Africa, and now Florida.

I'm really bothered by these new floaters.  They do distract me at times, often when I'm reading white page/copy or the computer screen. I'm afraid they'll get worse over time or increase in number.
Any advice would be most appreciated!

Thank you.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

Floaters are more related to birthdays than sunlight. The older you get the more people have floaters. Sunlight on the other hand can cause cataracts, macular degeneration, eyelid skin cancers and discolor the white part of the eye.

You will have to live with your floaters as there is not treatment or procedure that treats the common floater. You can spend a lot of money for various nostrums and snake oil that claim to disolve floaters.

Now that you're middle age have your eyes checked yearly by an Eye MD ophthalmologist-physician.

JCH III MD