Those squiggly transparent lines that drift across your eyesight, appearing like amoebas under a microscope, look harmless enough. They even seem like they might have cute soft voices if they were to speak as they wander around your eyesight like a bouncing DVD screensaver logo that almost but never quite nestles itself into a corner. Unfortunately, some new scientific research is here to tell you that if you see eye floaters, you might be in imminent danger, time to panic.

Maybe not that dramatic, but still, they might hint at a deeper problem that might be cause for concern.

According to a new study published in the Annals of Family Medicine, researchers at Radboud University Medical Center analyzed nearly a decade of primary care data and found that floaters can be an early warning sign of Retinal Detachment, a condition that could potentially leave you blind if not treated immediately. So no, floaters are not always dangerous and not always a sign that your retina is about to detach, but under certain conditions, they can be a weird but ominous sign of a serious problem with your eyes.

Lots of Eye Floaters Plus Flashes Equals Danger

The study reviewed over 1100 patients who all had complaints of floaters, flashes of light, or both. Traditionally, those flashes have been treated as the bigger red flag. This new data adds another thing to be worried about. About 1.6 percent of patients who reported seeing only floaters were diagnosed with a retinal tear or detachment. That’s slightly higher than those who only reported seeing flashes.

Of course, as logic dictates, those who reported seeing both of them together had a higher risk.

Again, most floaters are harmless. The majority of the floater cases in the study were caused by normal aging processes, where the gel inside the eye shrinks and shifts over time. If you have floaters, don’t immediately assume your retina is detaching. Pay attention to how many are floating into your vision. If you notice a sudden, dramatic uptick, go get your eyes checked out, as there appears to be quite the difference between a harmless little glitch of the eye and a massive flood of glitches that hint at a much more serious issue.