The most common cause of retinal detachment is when tiny holes develop inside the retina.
The holes then allow the fluid that is normally only found in between the retina and the lens of the eye to leak through underneath the retina.
If too much fluid builds up underneath the retina it can cause the retina to start pulling away from the blood vessels that supply the retina with blood. Without a constant blood supply, the nerve cells inside the retina will begin to die.
It is thought that the main reason these holes develop in the retina is that it becomes narrower and weakened with age.
People who are very short-sighted have the greatest risk of developing age-related retinal detachment (though in relative terms the risk is still very small) because they are often born with a retina that is thinner than normal in the first place.
Previous eye surgery, such as a cataract removal, may also make the retina more vulnerable to damage.
In some cases, holes can develop if the eye experiences a sudden injury such as a punch to the face or a person being accidentally hit in the eye with a flying object.
Less common causes
Described below are less common causes of retinal detachment.
- The fluid in front of the eye becomes unusually thick and it begins to pull the retina away from the blood vessels. This can sometimes occur as a complication of poorly controlled diabetes (both type 1 and type 2), the inherited blood disorder sickle cell anaemia and in babies who are born prematurely.
- The retina remains unbroken but fluid from other sources gathers behind the retina. This can sometimes occur in conditions that cause inflammation and swelling inside the eye such as uveitis (which is where the middle layer of the eye becomes inflamed) and some rare types of cancer that develop inside the eye.
