Retinal detachment means your retina has separated from its underlying layers. Usually detached retinas are caused by the development of a retinal tear. And bleeding from retinal blood vessels can cause vision impairment.
Your retina is a light sensitive, transparent membrane in the back of your eye. It helps you see images by changing light into electrical signals that are sent to your brain via the optic nerve.
A detached retina can occur without an underlying cause. However, retinal detachment may be caused by:
- eye trauma
- profound myopia
- previous eye surgery
- uncontrolled diabetes
- inflammatory disorder
It’s most often caused by posterior vitreous detachment, a related condition. And a family history of detached retinas put you at a higher risk.
Typical symptoms warning that your retina is detaching are:
- shadowing
- blurred vision
- increased floaters
- reduction in vision
- bright light flashes
- blindness in part of vision
- grey curtain moving over field of vision
These detached retinas symptoms may come on suddenly or gradually. And you’ll need to contact your eye health care provider ASAP because success of treatment largely depends on the severity of detachment.
Most detached retinas will need surgery to seal the retina back into its proper position. There are several ways to fix a retinal detachment and which one is used depends on the nature of your particular detachment.
After retinal detachment surgery it may take months for your sight to improve and full sight recovery may not occur. Sometimes, the retina detaches to such an extent that vision is lost altogether. This is why it’s crucial to have your eyes checked at the first sign of symptoms.
