The eye is filled with a gel (vitreous). The retina is the light-sensitive tissue at the back of your eye. It records visual images and sends them to your brain so you can see. Behind the retina is a thin layer of blood vessels. They bring oxygen to the retina.
With age, the vitreous contracts, separating from the retina. When the vitreous separates, it causes “floaters” to appear. Your doctor may call this a posterior vitreous detachment. Floaters are small dots or strings that seem to be moving across your field of vision. Floaters are harmless. But they can be a sign that the retina has torn.
As the vitreous pulls away from the retina, it may cause a tear. If vitreous gel seeps through the tear and behind the retina, it can peel the retina away from the inner wall of the eye. Eyesight is limited wherever the retina is detached. Retinal detachment can result in permanent vision loss, even if it is eventually fixed.
If the retina has torn but has not yet detached from the wall of the eye, treatment can make an adhesive scar around the retinal tear. This is like stapling around a hole in the wallpaper to keep it from coming off the wall. This can be done with laser treatment, which uses heat to make the scar. It can also be done with cryotherapy. This makes a scar using cold temperatures. Eye surgery is needed to treat a retinal detachment. The type of surgery used depends on the type, size, and location of the retinal detachment. Timely treatment is successful in over 90% of cases.