What Is Retinal Detachment? Causes, Symptoms and Treatments

Retinal detachment is a serious eye condition that can lead to permanent vision loss if not treated quickly. But it often starts with subtle warning signs that you might be tempted to ignore. This medical emergency happens when your retina pulls away from its normal position in your eye. Recognizing the early symptoms can be critical in saving your vision.¹

Understanding Retinal Detachment

The retina consists of a thin layer of light-sensing (photoreceptor) cells lining the eye’s back wall. It takes energy (color and light) sent through the cornea and turns it into electrical signals that are sent to the brain through the optic nerve. The brain then translates these signals into images.²

What is retinal detachment?

Retinal detachment occurs when your retina separates from your eye’s back wall.³ Upon detachment, the cells may not work properly because they’re separated from their blood supply.³ This can lead to vision loss and other disturbing symptoms like seeing flashing lights or extreme floaters.¹

Retinal detachment is a medical emergency. Call your doctor immediately if you experience any sudden changes in vision.¹

Retinal detachment vs. posterior vitreous detachment

The vitreous is a thick, clear substance with a gel-like consistency that fills the space in the middle of your eye.⁴ It’s attached to your retina’s surface and helps give your eye its shape.⁵

Posterior vitreous detachment (PVD) refers to a condition where the vitreous separates from the retina. Most of the time, this is a harmless condition that happens slowly as a natural part of aging that starts in your 40s or 50s.⁶

With PVD, the vitreous shrinks and becomes more liquid-like, separating gently from the retina without tearing it.⁵ Some thicker strands of the fluid may separate and cause mild floaters or mild flashes of light, but normally, that’s all that happens.⁶ Many people won’t notice any major symptoms.⁷

For a small number of people, the vitreous may pull too hard on the retina and cause a tear, which in turn can lead to retinal detachment.⁷ And if PVD happens for a rarer anomalous reason that’s not related to aging — like injury, surgery or disease — it can lead to retinal detachment as well.⁶

The Most Common Cause of Retinal Detachment

The most common cause of retinal detachment is called rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD).⁵

This happens during an anomalous case of PVD, when instead of the vitreous simply liquefying and gently separating from the retina’s surface, it peels away from the retina, causing a rip or tear in the retina. A tear alone may not cause detachment, but if it’s bad enough, then vitreous fluid will pass through and collect under the retina. This causes the retina to detach.⁵

If the vitreous gel in your eye separates from the retina because of trauma, abnormal thinning (lattice degeneration) or aging, this may cause tears that can lead to RRD.³

Other Causes of Retinal Detachment

There are two other causes that are less common than rhegmatogenous retinal detachment:

• Exudative retinal detachment. Exudative retinal detachment happens when fluid collects under the retina without a tear or rip. This condition is typically caused by certain eye cancers or inflammatory diseases like lupus or sarcoidosis.⁵
• Tractional retinal detachment. This is caused by scar tissue on the retina drawing the retina away from the back wall. Diabetes or other conditions that can lead to retinal scarring can cause this.³

Potential Contributing Factors to Retinal Detachment

A wide variety of factors, ranging from age to family history, can increase the chance of retinal detachment:

• A prior retinal tear or detachment³
• Aging³
• Diabetic retinopathy, which can affect your eye’s blood vessels⁸
• Extreme myopia (nearsightedness), especially if it’s a degenerative form⁸
• Genetics can play a role. For example, Stickler syndrome and Marfan syndrome may be associated with retinal detachment.⁹
• Lattice degeneration (retinal thinning)³
• Other diseases, like eye cancers, lupus or sarcoidosis.⁵ Coats disease, for example, is an illness that can lead to retinal detachment.¹⁰
• Premature babies may develop retinopathy of prematurity, which can lead to retinal detachment.¹¹
• Prior eye surgery, like for cataracts or glaucoma¹
• Retinoschisis (retinal dividing)⁸
• Taking glaucoma medicine that makes your pupil smaller¹
• Trauma or injury to the eye³

Warning Signs and Symptoms

If only a small part of your retina has detached, you may not have symptoms.⁸ However, a more severe detachment could affect your vision.⁸ Don’t ignore any sudden vision changes, since delaying treatment could lead to permanent vision loss.¹

Warning signs include:¹

• A sudden increase in the number and size of floaters — dark specks, wavy lines or cobwebs floating through your vision (Remember, seeing a few floaters in your vision is normal.⁸)
• Dark shadows or gray curtains over part of your visual field
• Flashes of light in your vision

What to do if you notice symptoms

A retinal detachment is a medical emergency. If you are experiencing symptoms, contact your eye doctor right away. The tests your doctor may perform to check your retina are usually painless. Your doctor may:⁸

• Do an ultrasound to get a better look at your retina
• Perform an eye exam by placing special eye drops in your eyes to dilate (enlarge) your pupil and survey the retina
• Scan your eye with optical coherence tomography (OCT) to get a more detailed look

Treatment Options for Retinal Detachment

Treatment varies based on the type and severity of the detachment. Some common treatment options may include:¹

• Freeze treatment (cryopexy). If the tear or hole is small, then a freezing probe or medical laser may be used to seal it; this can be done in your doctor’s office.⁸
• Laser surgery. If the detachment is small, it can be walled off with a laser to prevent the tear from getting worse.³
• Pneumatic retinopexy. A gas bubble is injected within your eye to help hold the retina in place while it heals. You’ll have to hold your head in a specific position for a few days to keep the bubble in place.
• Scleral buckle. A soft plastic or rubber band is sewn outside your eyeball to gently press it inward and support retinal healing.
• Vitrectomy. The vitreous pulling on the retina is removed and substituted with a gas, air or oil bubble to help the retina stay in place as it heals.

Treatment for retinal detachment is successful in about 90% of cases, especially if the detachment is caught early.⁸ If the center of your retina didn’t detach, you’re more likely to experience full vision recovery after treatment.³

Tips to Reduce the Risk of Retinal Detachment

There's often no way to prevent a retinal detachment. And certain types that are caused by aging may not be preventable. However, there are things you can do to keep your eyes as healthy as possible:⁸

• Control medical conditions such as diabetes to help keep the retinal blood vessels healthy.¹²
• Monitor and see your doctor immediately if you notice any sudden visual changes.
• Schedule routine vision exams with comprehensive, painless eye dilation to help your eye doctor find retinal detachment or tears early.
• Wear protective eye gear to reduce potential eye injuries caused by sports or certain work activities.

The Bottom Line on Retinal Detachment

Retinal detachment is a medical emergency that can develop quickly and without warning. If you notice sudden vision changes, like flashes of light or a surge of floaters, call your eye doctor immediately or head to the emergency room. Acting fast can be the difference between full recovery and permanent vision loss.

CareCredit Credit Card Financing for Retinal Detachment

Whether you’re paying for eye surgery or getting an eye exam, the CareCredit credit card can help you pay for care where your insurance leaves off.* Use our Acceptance Locator to find a vision specialist near you that accepts CareCredit. Continue your wellness journey by downloading the CareCredit Mobile App to manage your account, find a provider on the go and easily access the Well U blog for more great articles, podcasts and videos.

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Author Bio

Stephanie Dwilson specializes in science journalism, breaking news and animal health and is a business owner, non-practicing attorney and writer.