What Is the Most Common Cause of Retinal Detachment?

The retina consists of a layer of light-sensing (photoreceptor) cells lining the eye's back wall. Those cells detect color and light, which get converted into image signals to be interpreted by the brain.¹

Retinal detachment is a medical emergency that occurs when your retina separates from the eye's back wall. Upon detachment, the cells may not work properly, causing partial or total vision loss. The retinal cells can also become critically deprived of oxygen. Retinal detachment is a medical emergency. Call your doctor immediately if you experience any sudden changes in vision.²

Types and Causes of Retinal Detachment

Rhegmatogenous retinal detachment 

This is the most common type.³ As you age, the jelly-like material or vitreous that fills the middle of the eye begins to shrink and narrow. The vitreous naturally moves around on the retina as your eyes move, and it may attach to the retina, pulling enough to cause a rip. When that occurs, fluid can go through the tear and detach the retina.

Tractional retinal detachment

This is caused by scar tissue that draws the retina from the back wall. This arises from diseases such as diabetes or other conditions that cause damage to the blood vessels of the retina.³

Exudative retinal detachment

This is less common. When fluid leaks from the blood vessels, it can collect beneath the retina, causing detachment. This stems from atypical inflammation or increased leakage from abnormal blood vessels within the eyes.³

Retinal Detachment Risk Factors:

• Family history³
• Previous serious eye injury⁴
• Prior cataract or glaucoma surgery⁵
• A prior retinal tear or detachment⁴
• Diabetic retinopathy, a disorder that affects the blood vessels of the retina in people with diabetes⁴
• Degenerative myopia, a severe form of nearsightedness⁵
• Other eye conditions, such as lattice degeneration (retinal thinning), retinoschisis (retinal dividing), posterior vitreous detachment (vitreous detachment)⁴

Retinal Detachment Symptoms

If only a small part of your retina has detached, you may not have symptoms. However, a more severe detachment could affect your vision. Warning signs include:⁵

• Abrupt vision changes
• A sudden increase in the number and size of floaters—dark specks or wavy lines floating through your vision
• Flashes of light occurring in one eye or both eyes
• Dark shadows in your peripheral (side) vision
• A gray curtain across the center of your vision

Retinal Detachment Diagnosis

If you experience any symptoms of retinal detachment, your eye doctor can perform a dilated eye exam by placing special eye drops in your eyes to dilate (enlarge) your pupil and survey the retina.⁶ Additionally, your eye doctor might apply pressure to your eyelids to test for tears.⁷

Your doctor may also scan your eye with ultrasound or an optical coherence tomography (OCT), a painless test, to get a better look at your retina.

Retinal Detachment Treatment

Treatment for retinal detachment varies based on the type and severity of the detachment.⁵ Your doctor may advise surgery and/or freezing treatment to give you the best outcome.

Freeze treatment (cryopexy)

If you have a small hole or tear in your retina, your doctor can utilize a freezing probe to close any tears or rips in your retina. This procedure is usually an in-office procedure.²

Laser surgery (photocoagulation)

The doctor focuses a laser beam through the pupil to reach the retina to burn around the tear in the retina. The burn produces a scar that seals the retina to the eyewall.²

Other corrective surgery

A significant detachment may require a more invasive surgery, which is usually performed in the hospital.⁵

• Pneumatic Retinopexy. A gas bubble is placed within your eye and moves the retina into place for proper healing.
• Vitrectomy. The vitreous pulling on the retina is removed and substituted with an air, gas or oil bubble. The bubble presses the retina into place to heal.
• Scleral buckle. A rubber or soft plastic band is sewn outside your eyeball to support retinal healing alongside the eyewall.

Treatment for retinal detachment is most successful when the detachment is discovered early in about 90% of cases.⁸ Though, if your retina detaches again, you may require additional treatment.

Common Questions About Retinal Detachment

How common is retinal detachment?

Retinal detachment affects roughly 1 in 300 patients over a lifetime.⁹

Can stress cause retinal detachment?

There is no link between stress and retinal detachment. However, chronic stress can pose an unintended risk to the retina in the form of other retinal conditions.

How long before retinal detachment causes blindness?

Retinal detachment is a medical emergency. If you experience any retinal detachment symptoms, call your doctor. Early treatment can prevent lasting vision loss or blindness.

Retinal Detachment Prevention Tips

There is no evidence to indicate who might develop a retinal detachment or when it may happen. However, here are a few ways to help prevent a detached retina.⁸

• Schedule routine vision exams with comprehensive eye dilation to help your eye doctor find a retinal detachment or tears early—before it affects your vision.
• Visit your eye doctor more frequently if you have a medical condition that makes retinal detachment more likely.
• Keep medical conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure under control to help keep the retinal blood vessels healthy.
• Wear protective eye gear to reduce your risk of retinal detachment from eye injuries caused by performing certain activities, such as participating in sports or working with certain machines or tools.

Retinal detachment is a medical emergency. The symptoms of retinal detachment can occur rapidly. If you experience any retinal detachment symptoms, call your eye doctor immediately or go to the emergency room. Early treatment can prevent lasting vision loss or blindness.

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