What are the symptoms of a retinal detachment?

Retinal detachment occurs when the thin lining at the back of your eye called the retina begins to pull away from the blood vessels that supply it with oxygen and nutrients.

Retinal detachment is a serious eye condition that can cause blindness if it is not treated promptly.

It is, therefore, important to recognise the early signs of retinal detachment before there are any irreversible retinal changes. These include:

Flashes of light

Flashes of light that appear suddenly in the vision often to the side lasting no more than a second.

Floaters

Symptoms also include the sudden appearance or gradual increase of many black spots known as floaters that drift across your vision.

Vision loss

A gradual reduction of your side vision.

Blurred vision

Persistent painless blurred vision.

No symptoms

Some long-standing slow retinal detachments have no symptoms until very late.

Curtain-like shadow

Another symptom is the appearance of a curtain-like shadow over your top, side or bottom vision. The curtain can even encroach into the middle of your vision.

A retinal detachment is a medical emergency. It is important to see an eye specialist as soon as you experience symptoms of a retinal detachment.