Retinal disorders are a range of different eye problems which could lead to blindness. At present, the top cause for eye problems in the United States are retinal disorders.
The retina is the part of your eyes that helps you see light, and with that sends images to your brain. Once a problem starts with your retina, it could disrupt the transmission of images to your brain, which would, of course, affect your sight.
At the center of the retina is the macula. This is the nerve tissue that controls the sharpness of the image you see. It allows you to read, drive, and decipher fine print. When you have a retinal disorder, it is the macula that is more affected. Some of the eye problems you can encounter when your macula is compromised is blurred vision, headaches, swelling, dry eyes, double vision, tearing, pain, sensitivity to light, and loss of vision, whether partially or completely.
If you are starting to have problems with your vision, don’t hesitate to schedule an eye exam with an ophthalmologist. An ophthalmologist is an eye doctor, and when you see him, be prepared to tell him about your family medical history. This is vital to determining the cause of your vision problems. For example, if diabetes or high blood pressure runs in your family, he will have to consider a retinal disorder.
Initially, an eye exam would mean the ophthalmologist will put a specific kind of eye drop to dilate your eyes. He does this so he can see the retina, and if necessary, photograph it. There is a relatively new laser test that can be done to capture images of your retina. It’s an optional eye test, but in some cases, your eye doctor might require it for a better diagnosis of your problem.
Treatment for retinal disorder will depend on your specific disorder. For instance, if the retina is falling away from the supporting tissue or diabetes is causing complications that affect your vision, laser eye surgery could help restore the retina. Traditional eye surgery will help if the problem is glaucoma, which is fluid pressure damaging the optic nerve in the eye.
Night blindness, on the other hand, can be treated with Vitamin A, if it is at the early stages. Color blindness, which is mainly hereditary, has no effective treatment. Thus, eye surgery will not be able to help because it is a genetic trait. The only solution would be to practice distinguishing color from the change in shade or brightness.
A retinal treatment disorder is a serious condition, and should be probed as soon as you notice a constant difference in your vision, however slight. It’s always better to be on the safe side, and have your eyes checked, rather than wait.
The retina is the part of your eye and considered part of the central nervous system that helps you see. It is a sensitive tissue that you can find in the inner surface of your eye. When you have a retinal disorder, the result will affect your vision. One of the retinal disorders you can get is known as Epiretinal membrane. This is also called macular pucker, cellophane maculopathy, or premacular fibrosis. Essentially, what happens is that a thin membrane covers your retina, and this interferes with your eyesight.
When this thin tissue covers your retina, the tendency is for your retina to wrinkle because of the contractions. Furthermore, another part of your eye known as the vitreous humor found in the back of your eye starts to shrink. This retinal disorder usually does suddenly pop up. It progresses slowly, and can be detected early. If left unattended, it will result in swelling of
This retinal condition can be further aggravated if you have other medical conditions like diabetes, retinal detachment, an eye injury, or inflammation.
Generally, people over 50 years old are the ones who get this condition, especially if you are over 75. Thus, it is a problem that comes with old age.
Epiretinal membrane results in blurred vision, and this causes headaches, migraine, dizziness, aside from vision problems. To find out if your vision is distorted because of this retinal condition, you will need to consult an ophthalmologist. An eye exam of the back of your eye will confirm the problem.
The usual treatment would be an eye surgery to remove the membrane. However, this eye surgery will depend on the condition of the patient. For instance, if you are over 75, and unable to handle the procedure, your ophthalmologist might want to defer the eye surgery for a later time. The procedure is not very complicated though, and is done with local anesthesia. You can even have this procedure done as an outpatient as it will only take half an hour to complete, barring any complications.
Incidentally, this kind of retinal disorder may not even need eye surgery if the vision problem is manageable. In other words, if you can go through your daily routine without having problems with your eyesight, or become handicapped because of this retinal disorder, then your ophthalmologist may not recommend eye surgery. This kind of treatment is usually given to patients whose vision has severally deteriorated.
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