Retinal Detachment

Retinal detachment is more common in people who are in their 60s and 70s, with rates of about 20 in every 100,000 people, as reported by the journal Ophthalmology. To protect your vision, it’s essential to be fully familiar with the warning symptoms of retinal detachment. These signs are a powerful heads-up that you need to contact our Marion, Cedar Bluff & Bristol optometrist for an emergency eye exam appointment at Envision Eye Care.

Don’t delay – the longer you wait to treat retinal detachment, the greater your risk of losing vision permanently in that eye!

This emergency eye condition can be frightening, and many of our elderly Marion, Virginia , eye care patients worry about whether it will happen to them. Who is at an increased risk?

• Dry Eye Senior Woman 640×350People over age 60
• People at a higher risk for a retinal tear or hole
• People with high myopia (nearsightedness)
• Anyone who suffered a previous eye injury
• Post-cataract surgery patients
• People with a weak spot in the retina or a history of retinal tears
• Family history of retinal tears or detachments

• New floaters
• Intermittent flashing lights
• Seeing “cobwebs” or a shower of black dots
• A shadow or gray curtain that slides across your field of vision
• Gradually reduced side vision

• Vitrectomy – this is the most common surgical repair for retinal detachment and must be done in an operating room. The eye surgeon removes the vitreous gel and the fluid under the retina, so the retina can lie flat against the eye wall. Laser is then used to seal the retinal tear, and a gas bubble is injected to fill the eye. You must keep your head in a particular position for a few days afterward so the gas bubble is positioned correctly.
• Pneumatic retinopexy – a two-step operation performed in your optometrist’s office; first, a gas bubble is injected into the eye to push the detached retina back against its original position by the eyewall. Then, laser or freezing treatment is used to seal the retinal tear and prevent detachment from recurring. Once the gas is injected into the eye, you must hold your head in a specific position for a few days.
• Scleral buckle – this surgery must be done in an operating room; a small silicone band is placed around the eye to support the detached retina externally. Then, a freezing treatment seals the retinal tears. Often, the fluid under the detached retina is drained so the retina can return to its proper position. In most patients, the scleral buckle is permanent, but cannot be seen because it is fixed in place deep behind the eyelids.

Nowadays, after surgery for retinal detachment, the future looks good! More than 98% of retinal detachments can be fixed. Depending on the degree of detachment, some people need additional surgery, and vision can take months or years to improve. The exact amount of vision improvement following surgery is impossible to know in advance, but the sooner you get treatment – the better your prognosis!

At Envision Eye Care, we have specialized training and technologies to provide effective treatment for many types of eye emergencies, including digital retinal scanning for rapid diagnosis. If you have any new and worrisome visual symptoms, reach out to us immediately for assistance! Our Marion, Cedar Bluff & Bristol eye doctor welcomes new and returning patients, and we always aim to provide fast, comprehensive, and progressive eye care.