Retina Diseases
Your retina is located at the back of your eye. Although it is a thin, light-sensitive tissue, it packs a punch: it is responsible for controlling how you see images. In an ideal eye, images focus on the retina and those images are converted into electrical impulses that are transmitted through the optic nerve to the brain. It makes sense, then, that any damage to the retina will result in vision problems ranging from blurriness to spots to decreased central vision and even blindness.
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Types of Retinal Diseases
- Macular degeneration: This type of retinal disease involves the deterioration of the center of your retina and causes symptoms like blurred central vision or a blind spot in the center of the visual field. There are two types of Macular degeneration—wet and dry macular degeneration. Many people will first face the dry form, leading to the wet form.
- Retinal detachment: Retinal detachment is defined as the fluid present under the retina. It generally occurs when fluid passes through a retinal tear, causing the retina to lift away from the underlying tissue layers.
- Retinal tears: This condition happens when the gel-like substance, vitreous, in the center of your eye shrinks and tugs on the thin layer of tissue lining the retina with enough traction to cause a break in the tissue accompanied by the sudden onset of symptoms.
- Diabetic retinopathy: Individuals who have diabetes could face deterioration of capillaries (the tiny blood vessels) in the back of their eye and leak fluid under the retina, causing swelling and distorting the vision. New and abnormal capillaries can also develop, which can break and bleed, worsening the vision.
- Macular hole: It is a minor defect in the center of the retina at the back of the eye (macula). The hole may develop from abnormal traction between the retina and vitreous, or it may follow an injury to the eye.
Many retinal diseases share some common symptoms, including seeing floating specks or cobwebs, blurred or distorted vision, side vision defects, and loss of sight.
At Phoenix Eye Specialists, we offer treatment for retinal diseases, depending on which part of the retina is affected, how severe the problem is, and what is causing the problem.
A comprehensive dilated eye exam will help your doctor diagnose the issue and recommend treatment options. Contact us today to schedule an eye exam.
