Your eyesight means everything. You can still live a full satisfying life without it, but wouldn’t you work to save it if you could? That’s why you should seek immediate treatment when you notice certain irregularities or symptoms in your eyesight. Some of them could be caused by aging or being tired, but some of them could be symptoms of retinal inflammation disease.
What is Retinal Inflammatory Disease?
The retina is the thin layer of tissue that lines the back of your eye. It is responsible for gathering the sensory data and transmitting it to your brain via your optic nerve, which then allows you to see. If that tissue swells or becomes inflamed, the retina can be damaged and not able to send the visual data. Slight vision changes or catastrophic loss can be the end result of retinal inflammation.
What Causes Retinal Inflammatory Disease?
In some cases, the cause of such a disorder can’t be identified. In others, there are certain factors that can lead to the start and the progression of the disease, including:
- Contamination by a Toxin
- Cancerous or Benign Growths
- Eye Infections
- Autoimmune Conditions
- Trauma Caused by an Accident or Assault
What Are the Four Symptoms?
No one should ever ignore a change in eyesight, but these symptoms should prompt immediate action:
- You are seeing strange bits that seem to float throughout your eye or other visual disturbances such as cobwebs or netting
- Everything you look at appears to be blurry or out of proportion
- Your eyes hurt from more than just strain. It’s a deep pain that starts behind your eyes or inside your head.
- Your eyes are suddenly aggravated by light
Whether they are occurring in one or both eyes, these are all signs that your retinal tissue is in distress and in need of immediate treatment.
What Kinds of Damage Can Be Done to the Retina?
There are a variety of things, including symptoms of retinal inflammation disease and disorders, that can damage the retina.
- Trauma or Physical Damage to the Eye – Physical damage requires immediate treatment and care in case the retina has been torn.
- Detachment of the Retina – Fluid that passes through any tears in the retina can cause it to be displaced.
- Scar Tissue – Referred to as epiretinal membranes, it can pull the retinal tissue up and cause what you’re looking at to be out of focus and distorted.
- Deterioration of the Retina – Commonly called Macular Degeneration, it is a disease that causes the retina to degenerate and stop working from the center of the tissue. The result can be a blind spot about the size of a dime in the center of the field of vision for each eye that is affected. Optical professionals have more treatment methods for wet Macular Degeneration, which occurs when the blood vessels below the retinal tissue leak. When a patient has dry Macular Degeneration, the blood vessels do not leak. There is no treatment for dry Macular Degeneration but dry can become wet Macular Degeneration if the leaking begins.
- Degenerative Eye Disease – A common cause of impaired side and night vision is retinitis pigmentosa. It causes the retinal tissue to break down slowly and impairs vision gradually.
- Other diseases – Retinopathy can be caused by other conditions such as diabetes. Vision is impaired because the capillaries in the back of the eye can swell and leak fluids that engulf the retinal tissue.
Your optical care provider will have to make the determination about what is causing retinal damage and decide on a treatment.
How is Retinal Inflammation Diagnosed?
Your eye doctor or optical care specialist will first take your medical history to determine any potential causes or risk factors. A physical examination of your eyes is also conducted for symptoms of retinal inflammation disease which can include the following:
- Acuity Screening is done to find vision weaknesses
- Ophthalmoscopy is used to examine the structures inside the eye and is a procedure that is used regularly during eye exams
- Testing using a high-intensity light source that shines a sliver of light into the eye. This device is called a slit lamp and can measure ocular pressure and inspect damaged tissues inside the eye
The testing procedures may also involve image scanning using MRI or CT equipment and blood tests.
How is Retinal Inflammation Treated?
Optical professionals are guided in their treatment of this condition by its causes, both underlying and obvious, and the severity of the symptoms. For most patients, there are some common treatments that have been used successfully:
- Medications – Inflammation and pain can be lessened or treated through the use of corticosteroid drugs. In addition to reducing swelling, these drugs also help to control immune system activity to prevent allergic reactions. For these reasons, they are used to help treat other diseases such as arthritis, autoimmune conditions, and asthma.
- Implanted Medical-Dispensing Devices – If oral medications, eye drops, or injections aren’t effective, it is sometimes necessary to surgically implant an electronic device that will release the medication directly into the eye.
- Immunosuppressive Medications – When the condition is caused by an autoimmune disease, immunosuppressive drugs help by controlling and minimizing the inflammation caused by the responses of the immune system.
Risk Factors
The reason your eye doctor will check your medical background and family history is so that he or she can identify risk factors that may cause some patients to be more vulnerable to developing symptoms of retinal inflammation disease. Things to watch for include:
- Other family members who have or have had a retinal disorder
- The history of diabetes in the family
- Previous damage caused to the eye or the area around the eye
- Being overweight, including other close family members who are or were obese. Obesity can lead to diabetes which can also cause retinal tissue damage.
- Tobacco use, which can impair cardiovascular performance and circulation
- Getting older – Unfortunately, some of our body’s issues and impairments are caused by nothing more than aging.
Having regular eye exams can also help your eye care professional track changes in your vision over the years.
If you experience any of these symptoms or suspect you may be at risk for symptoms of retinal inflammation disease, see your eye doctor right away. Your vision is worth it!
