One of the most common signs of retinal damage is flashing lights, or the illusion of strands or sparks of light flickering across your visual field. Sometimes flashing lights are harmless.
When cells in the retina get damaged, they never heal or grow back. It's a devastating fact for the millions who have lost sight due to traumatic injuries or diseases like macular degeneration, retinitis or diabetic retinopathy.
Aging is the most common cause of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment. As you get older, the vitreous in your eye may change in texture and may shrink. Sometimes, as it shrinks, the vitreous can pull on your retina and tear it.
Signs and Symptoms of Retinal Tears
Black spots in field of vision. Flashes of light. Blurry vision. Darker/dimmer vision.
People can lose their sight within several hours of the detachment or within a few days. It is best that people who are experiencing symptoms seek treatment right away to reduce the chances of losing sight permanently.
A retinal tear and detachment are not painful, but almost always have warning signs that you should be aware of, including: Sudden onset of floaters (small dots or cobwebs) Flashes of light in your vision. Blurred vision.
Retinal detachment is one of the better known ophthalmic problems. It is a reasonably common, and treatable, cause of visual loss. The diagnosis must be considered by GPs when patients present with the sudden onset of flashes, floaters and visual loss.
The doctor may use an instrument with a bright light and special lenses to examine the back of your eye, including the retina. This type of device provides a highly detailed view of your whole eye, allowing the doctor to see any retinal holes, tears or detachments.
A retinal detachment may cause permanent blindness over a matter of days and should be considered an eye emergency until evaluated by a retina specialist. Most retinal detachments occur suddenly and can threaten the central vision within hours or days.
Your vision can then become distorted and blurred or you may develop a black shadow in your vision. This may start at the side and spread across your vision. Retinal detachment usually just affects one eye, but it can affect both. Most retinal detachments happen in people aged around 60.
A retinal tear may be accompanied by the sensation of flashing lights in the affected eye or showers of dark floaters and blurred vision. As the retina detaches it often causes a dark shadow, like a curtain or veil, in the peripheral vision, which usually progresses to complete vision loss.
A retinal tear will often go undetected without eye checkups and exams because its symptoms are painless. Such symptoms include the appearance of, or an increase in, floaters or flashes.
Yes, your optometrist should be able to diagnose your retinal detachment with a dilated eye exam. Your eye doctor will look through your widened pupil to see if there is excess fluid in the retinal space and whether your retina has detached.
Retinal detachment is more common in people age 50 and over. The average age of retinal detachment diagnosis in the United States is 57 for males and 62 for females, according to the American Optometric Association.
Retinal detachment diagnosis
If you're experiencing symptoms, an optician should be able to confirm whether you have a retinal tear or detachment. They can make an urgent referral to a hospital ophthalmologist for specialist assessment and treatment.
The initial symptoms of a retinal detachment are the same as a retinal tear or a posterior vitreous detachment, i.e. flashes and floaters; however, as the detachment progresses, a dark, opaque moon-shaped shadow or curtain will appear from one side of your vision.
While potentially dangerous on their own, retinal tears also often precede retinal detachment — an eye emergency that can lead to blindness. However, getting prompt treatment can keep a retinal tear from evolving into a detachment.
Answer: Assuming the decreased vision is the result of retinal damage, it is unlikely that a change in glasses or contacts will improve the vision. However, the only way to be certain is have a refraction (a test to measure the prescription for glasses).
Citrus fruits and other fruits rich in vitamin C like cantaloupe, strawberries, kiwi, mango, papaya may be helpful for maintaining connective retinal tissues that diabetic eye disease damages.
Vitamin A — In order to see the full spectrum of light, your eye needs to produce certain pigments for the photoreceptor cells in your retina to work properly. If you are deficient in vitamin A, the production of these pigments stops.