Retinal Detachment

Retinal detachment is a sight impairment condition in which the retina gets ripped off the choroid, which is the retina underlying layer of support tissue. At first the detachment may be localized, but without treatment the entire retina may detach. Retinal detachment results in vision loss and blindness. Thus, it should be treated as a medical emergency.

Injury or trauma to the eye may cause a small tear in the retina. This tear allows vitreous fluid to seep through it under the retina, peeling it away like a bubble in wallpaper. Because the retina is a thin inner layer of light-sensitive tissue connected to the optic nerve that sends image-related nervous impulses to the center of the vision in the brain, damage to the retina such as retinal detachment from the choroid that supports and nourishes it can cause total blindness.