About
If you think of your eye as a camera, the retina is like the photographic film. It is a very thin layer of tissue, which is sensitive to the image focused on it, sending the information to the brain.
At the very centre of the retina is the macula. This is a very special area of the retina, which we use for reading and recognising complex shapes. Sometimes, a hole forms in the macula, which prevents it from working normally. This affects your vision, particularly for reading and other visually demanding tasks, but it does not cause total blindness.
Causes
- Vitreous shrinkage and/or separation
- Diabetic eye disease
- High amounts of nearsightedness (myopia)
- Macular pucker
- A detached retina
- Eye injury
Symptoms
Macular Holes usually start progressively. In the beginning stage of a macular hole, individuals may see a slight distortion or fogginess in their central vision. Straight lines or objects can start to look bowed or wavy. Reading and performing other routine tasks with the problematic eye becomes difficult to do.
Treatment
The only way to treat a macular hole is by having an operation. Eye drops or glasses are ineffective.
The surgeon will repair the macular hole by removing any pulling forces around it and place a gas bubble in the eye at the end of the surgery. You may need to be asked to position your head in a certain way for several days after the surgery.
The surgery is usually very successful in repairing and closing the hole. Visual recovery usually also happens and depends of how long the hole has been there. Macular hole repair should be done as soon as it is diagnosed after discussing it with your surgeon.
