Retinal detachment

Retinal detachment is the condition of eyes where the light sensitizing layer is separated from the eye wall. Retina is the part of the eye, which is a set of nerve tissues on the inner wall of the eye, at the back. The light coming into the eye is allowed to enter and form an image on the back portion. Due to retinal detachment, there would be hampering in the vision of the patient. The statistics suggest that there could be 10,000 or more people suffering from this condition of detachment in the retina. Also it has been driven through the data that it’s mostly the people in their mid age and those who already have short sightedness are the targets of this condition.

Symptoms

Normally symptoms in this condition would surface up on observation. There would be no pain associated with this condition, so one won’t know instantly, but with a little observation, they may see some shadow or back dropping in the normal vision. At times these shadows may change to bright lighting in the vision which would be quite distracting. One may not take it so seriously but if those symptoms continue, then it’s recommended to see a doctor. Also in most of the cases, it may not only be the detachment which would have happened since there are lots of reasons for this condition, which is why the diagnosis would be important. It has been observed that the earlier you report the problem, more the chance of it being fixed. Also most of the times, only one of the eyes would be affected by this condition and there are very few chances that both the eyes get hampered by this condition.

Causes

The causes are any physical damage to the internal portions of the eye which could be a hole or tear in the retina which aggravates to this condition. Any previous health condition or a surgery in the past related to cataract, diabetes condition, or any case where the eye got hurt can bring about this condition. A misconception is that it could have happened due to strain on the eye or any heavy lifting which is simply a myth and there is no truth to it.

Diagnosis

In case of a diagnosis, the doctor needs to be consulted first. If they also have a suspicion, then they may recommend you to take up a proper full eye test to find out the actual cause of the condition. There could be indirect ophthalmoscope which would be used to see the back area of the eye. Also they may want to check both the eye for seeing if it’s affecting only one of them or a rare happening of both eyes. The proper diagnosis would actually reduce the chance of any aggravation and result in better treatment also.

Treatment

There are umpteen numbers of treatments available for this condition. There is cryotherapy which should be able to treat the retinal holes in the eye. Also vitrectomy, which can help in filling the hole in the retina with gas or silicon oil to close on the tear in the eye. There is also a scleral buckling which would put thrust on the detachment and end up stitching the open areas together to close the gaps in the retina.