Retinal Detachment
A retinal detachment is where the retina lifts off from the back of the eye. This commonly happens when the vitreous, the jelly part of your eye lifts off from the retina, and can sometimes cause the retina to follow with it.
The symptoms to look out for are floaters and flashing lights. Floaters can be seen like a “shadow” moving about in the corner of your eye or centrally, or like a “spiders web” appearance. The risk of a retinal detachment reduces significantly after 3 months of noticing these symptoms.
Flashing lights are seen like a flash in the corner of your eye, or like a lightning effect especially when turning lights off at night.
If it appears if a retinal detachment may be occurring, or may occur, we would refer you on a soon basis for further investigation and possible laser treatment to stop the retinal detachment from spreading or occurring in the first place.
At Murray Opticians, if you have these symptoms we will offer you a dilated retinal exam to investigate your symptoms and see if you are at risk of retinal detachment and refer to hospital if required.
