The retina is a light-sensitive layer of tissue that lines the back of the eye on the inside. The purpose of the retina is to absorb light that the lens has focused on, convert the light into a neural signal, and send these signals to the brain for visual recognition. The retina works very much like the film which captures images in a camera.

The retina contains millions of photoreceptors called rods and cones which are responsible for your sense of light. The rods are a type of photoreceptor cell in the retina which are sensitive to light and are important for night vision and seeing movement. The cones are a type of photoreceptor cell found mainly in the central part of the retina (around a region called the macula), and they are responsible mainly for color vision and see fine detail.

The condition of retinal detachment takes place because of a hole or tears in the retina. Due to the occurrence of a hole or tear in the retina, the aqueous humor, which is the fluid within the eyeball, can pass through this tear, and underneath the retinal layer. Due to this fluid, the retina gets detached from the underlying wall of the eye. The detachment causes severely affected Vision in the detached part of the retina.

Retinal detachment may consider as a medical emergency, and in case if you experience any of the following symptoms, you should immediately consult an eye care professional in order to avoid further damage:

• Sudden appearance of dot or lines appear in the vision

• Flashes of light in your vision

• Sudden decrease in vision

• A "veil" or "dark curtain" that obscures part or all of your vision

• Slight feeling of heaviness or pressure in the eye

• Aging- Aging is the most common reason for retinal detachment and is more common in people over age 50

• If previous retinal detachment in one eye.

• If any member in your family previously suffer from retinal detachment

• Extreme nearsightedness

• Previous eye surgery, such as cataract removal is a slightly frequent cause of retinal detachment

• Previous severe eye injury

• Having proliferative diabetic retinopathy or proliferative retinopathy of sickle cell disease.

Your eye doctor/ophthalmologist will make the diagnosis of retinal detachment based on your symptoms and physical examination. Some of the following tests are done as part of the eye examination:

• Visual acuity

• Visual field testing

• Examination of the retina to look for tears in the retina, or detached areas. This is done using a magnifying instrument with a powerful light source.

A retinal detachment is considered an emergency condition and surgery is the only way to reattach the retina. This kind of retinal emergency should be dealt with by the best retina specialist in Chicago immediately to repair it, or stop it from getting worse.

In scleral buckling surgery, a band of plastic that is also known as a scleral buckle is placed around the eyeball to indent it. This scleral buckle relieves traction on the retina, thus preventing retinal tears from getting worse. This is often collective with pneumatic retinopexy and in this, a gas bubble is injected into the eye, to help press gently against the retinal tear, and help keep the formerly detached retina in place. A laser is used by the ophthalmologist in order to seal off the tear in the retina.

In this procedure, the vitreous gel can be removed using the inserting of tiny instruments into the vitreous cavity (back part of the eye) thus it repositions the detached retina from the inside of the eyeball. The Vitrectomy procedure is used by ophthalmologists to get better access to the retina to repair large tears, and it is often also combined with laser treatments and gas injections to help repair the damaged retina.