The Leading Provider of Retina Care in the Seattle Metropolitan Areaįor over two decades, Pacific Northwest Retina has served as the largest retina-exclusive ophthalmology practice in the Seattle area and Pacific Northwest. Afterward, the eye is filled with a gaseous bubble to help the macular hole close and heal. Vitrectomy surgery involves removing the vitreous humor from the eye and relieving any traction on the macular hole edges. This gives the patients the best chance of improving their vision. Macular holes are often repaired by performing corrective vitrectomy surgery. However, even though your central vision is impaired because of macular damage, your peripheral vision will remain unaffected. This can affect both your ability to see things that are far away as well as things that are within close proximity. If a macular hole goes untreated and continues to spread, it can eventually result in a blind spot appearing in your central field of vision. Like most other macular conditions, the primary symptoms of a macular hole include blurred vision and visual distortions (e.g. While this is the most common cause of macular holes, they can also be caused by traumatic injury and severe cases of macular edema (i.e. As it pulls at the retina, it can strain the macular tissue and eventually cause a tear or hole to form.
Because it is so adherent to the retina, the vitreous is unable to make a clean break as it shrinks away. However, in some cases, your vitreous may be unusually sticky and become adhered to the macula. This can occur without noticeable changes to your vision. swelling of the macula).Īs we age, it’s natural for the vitreous humor to diminish, lose its viscosity, and shrink away from the retina. They are most commonly caused by tractional pulling from the vitreous humor, but can also be caused by traumatic injury and macular edema (i.e.
Macular holes are small breaks in the macula that impair our central vision. When the macula experiences some kind of strain, the tissue can weaken and begin to tear, leading to a macular hole. Any time you read, drive, or look at an object’s fine details, you’re engaging the macula. The center of the retina, known as the macula, has the highest concentration of cones, making it the seat of our eye’s central vision capabilities. Rods primarily handle our eye’s ability to see in low-lighting conditions, while cones are responsible for our visual acuity and color vision. The brain interprets the neural impulses and organizes them into cohesive images, thus creating our sense of sight.Įach of the different types of photoreceptors has specific functions. When light enters the eye, it activates the rods and cones and translates the luminescent signals into neural impulses, sending them along the optic nerve to the visual cortex of the brain. The retina contains two types of photoreceptor cells: rods and cones. The retina contains photoreceptor cells, which are highly specialized neurons that are sensitive to light. Rarely, if the floaters are extremely debilitating to the patient, then vitrectomy surgery can be undertaken to remove the floaters.Our sense of sight is made possible by a thin, multi-layered tissue that lines the back of the eye known as the retina.
The floaters usually become less noticeable with time and the patient often will adjust and “tune out” the floaters.The floaters cannot be removed with laser, eye drops or oral medication, but occasionally will sink to the bottom part of the eye in time causing a decrease in the perception of floaters. Such a development may require immediate treatment to help prevent blindness.įortunately, most posterior vitreous detachments do not leak to the development of retinal holes, tears or retinal detachments. The tugging on the retina from the vitreous contracting causes flashing lights and can cause a retinal hole, tear or retinal detachment.Īn increase or change in the size of floaters, the development or persistence of flashing lights or a veil-like blockage of a portion of the vision, require a prompt retinal exam to detect a retinal hole, tear or detachment. These clumps and strands may cast a shadow on the retina causing floaters.Īfter the age of 50, or sometimes earlier in nearsighted people or patients that have had eye surgery or eye injuries, the vitreous becomes more watery and can pull away (posterior vitreous detachment) from the retina causing an increase in floaters, bigger floaters and/or flashing lights. When young, this material is thick and gelatinous, but with age, the vitreous becomes thinner and clumps and strands of protein can begin to float around in the eye. Most flashes and floaters are caused by age related changes in the material that fills the eye (vitreous humor).
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