Retinal Disorder-Epiretinal Membrane
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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