Treatment Overview

Retinal detachment requires care right away. Without treatment, vision loss can progress from minor to severe or even to blindness within a few hours or days.

Only surgery can repair retinal detachment. It is usually successful and, in many cases, restores good vision.

For more information, see Surgery.

Prevention

You cannot prevent most cases of retinal detachment.

Some eye injuries can damage the retina and cause detachment. You can reduce your risk of these types of injuries if you:

• Wear safety glasses when you use a hammer or saw, work with power tools or yard tools such as weed eaters and lawn mowers, or do any activity that might result in small objects flying into your eye.
• Wear special sports glasses or goggles during boxing, racquetball, soccer, squash, and other sports in which you might receive a blow to the eye.
• Use appropriate safety measures when you use fireworks or firearms.

Diabetes puts you at greater risk for developing diabetic retinopathy, an eye disease that can lead to tractional retinal detachment. If you have diabetes, you can help control and prevent eye problems by having regular eye exams and by keeping your blood sugar levels within a target range.

Treating a retinal tear can often prevent retinal detachment, but not all tears need treatment. The decision to treat a tear depends on whether the tear is likely to progress to a detachment.