What is retinal detachment?
The retina is the light-sensitive tissue that lines the back of your eye and sends visual information to your brain through the optic nerve. Retinal detachment happens when this tissue moves from its normal position. Without proper treatment, retinal detachment can lead to permanent vision loss.
What causes retinal detachment?
The most common cause of retinal detachment is a hole or tear in the retina. The tear or hole allows fluid from the inside of your eye to pass through and collect beneath the retina, causing it to detach from the back of your eye.
Retinal tears can occur when the gel-like material that fills the inside of your eye (vitreous) pulls away from the retina. This may happen due to age-related changes or hereditary thinning in the peripheral retina (lattice degeneration).
What are signs and symptoms of retinal detachment?
The primary symptom of retinal detachment is a sudden or gradual increase in floaters, which are tiny specks, cobwebs, or dark spots that float through your field of vision. Common signs and symptoms of a detached retina include:
- The sudden appearance of floaters
- Flashes of light in one or both eyes
- A curtain-like veil over the visual field
- Blurred vision
Retinal detachment is painless, but it’s considered a medical emergency. Without prompt treatment, you may permanently lose your vision.
Fortunately, Dr. Cohen and the team at Retinal Ambulatory Surgery Center of New York offer fast, convenient, and high-quality treatment for retinal detachment.
How is retinal detachment treated?
Dr. Cohen and the surgeons at Retinal Ambulatory Surgery Center of New York perform the most advanced procedures to treat retinal detachment, including:
Pneumatic retinopexy
This procedure involves injecting a gas bubble into your eye, which inflates and pushes the detached retina back into place. Though pneumatic retinopexy is nonsurgical, it requires laser surgery thereafter to ensure your retina remains attached.
Scleral buckle
During this procedure, your surgeon stitches a piece of silicone onto the white of your eye (sclera). This indents, or buckles, the sclera, which relieves some of the pressure from the vitreous pulling on it.
Scleral buckles typically remain in place and aren’t visible on the outside of your eye. Your surgeon may also perform a laser procedure to ensure that the retina remains in place.
Vitrectomy
The team at Retinal Ambulatory Surgery Center of New York performs vitrectomy for many retinal disorders, including detachments. This procedure involves removing the vitreous gel and treating the cause of detachment, like a tear, internally and directly.
For fast and accommodating treatment of retinal detachment, call Retinal Ambulatory Surgery Center of New York today at 212-772-6830.
