What are the Symptoms of a Damaged Retina?
The retina is a layer of tissue in the back of your eye that senses light and sends images to your brain, thereby enabling you to see.
Retinal damage is one of the most common ailments of the eyes. The most common causes of retina damage are those related to old age, light damage or trauma.
Retinal disorders can damage this vital tissue. They can affect your vision, and some can be serious enough to cause blindness. Examples include:
- Macular Degeneration – A disease that destroys your sharp, central vision
- Diabetic Eye Disease – Damage to the blood vessels and tissue of the retina due to diabetes.
- Retinal Detachment – A medical emergency, when the retina is pulled away from the back of the eye
- Retinoblastoma – Cancer of the retina. It is most common in young children.
- Macular Pucker – Scar tissue on the macula
- Macular Hole – A small break in the macula that usually occurs in people over 60.
- Floaters – Specks in your field of vision.
The early effects of retinal damage may or may not display noticeable changes in vision. If the damage is near the macula, one could notice various visual effects such as general poor vision, distortion of images such as straight lines appearing wavy, blurry spots in one’s central vision, and/or vision with images appearing and disappearing. Typical symptoms of a damaged retina include:
- Dim central vision
- Distorted central vision
- Straight lines that appear wavy
- Spots in the central vision that may appear blurry or dark
- Images that appear then disappear
- Double Vision
- Floaters
- Flashing Lights
- Halos Appear Around Light Sources
- Grey “Curtain” Blocking Your Vision
- Peripheral Shadows
- Blind Spot
- Overall Decrease in Quality of Vision
Besides aging, physical injury and diseases which cause retinal damage, there are a few other things which can cause the condition:
- Chronic stress
- Steroidal medication
- Drug misuse
- Heart disease
- Other circulatory issues
If retinal damage is not treated properly and in a timely manner, permanent vision loss may occur. If you experience any symptoms of a damaged retina, contact Associated Retina Consultants at 602-242-4928 or associatedretinaconsultants.com right away.