An Overview of Retinal Disorders

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.