HAVE you ever noticed spots or hanging hairs or cobweb-like strings in your field of vision that isn’t physically there? And, no matter how hard you try to brush them away from your face they can’t seem to disappear.

These little debris are known as floaters and according to Dr Albert Lue, head of Ophthalmology at Kingston Public Hospital, if you experience a sudden appearance of floaters, you should visit an eye doctor.

He told the Jamaica Observer in a recent interview that if these floaters are accompanied by flashing lights, then you must see an eye doctor because both are symptoms of retinal detachment.

Retinal detachment, according to Mayo Clinic, describes an emergency situation in which the retina pulls away from the layer of blood vessels that provides it with oxygen and nourishment.

Dr Lue told Your Health Your Wealth that retinal detachment can lead to blindness.

But is it a major problem affecting Jamaicans?

“It is prevalent enough that it should be taken seriously,” insisted Dr Lue, adding that surgery would be necessary to remedy retinal detachment.

The consultant ophthalmologist explained that the appearance of floaters signal changes at the back of the eye, and though the average age at which this occurs is 59, he said he has seen it in patients in their 30s and their 20s.

He explained that if a patient complains about floaters, a doctor will probably dilate the pupils to take a look at the back of the eye.

According to Mayo Clinic, retinal detachment can occur as a result of: shrinkage or contraction of the vitreous — the gel-like material that fills the inside of your eye, which can create tugging on the retina and a retinal tear, leading to a retinal detachment; injury; advanced diabetes; and an inflammatory eye disorder

Dr Lue stressed that early detection is key and that it is possible to spot the condition before it gets to the stage where surgery is needed.

“If a tear in the retina is detected, it can be treated to prevent a detachment,” Dr Lue said. “The retina in the eye is like the film in a camera. It takes the pictures. So normally, the retina in the eye is smooth and flat at the back of the eye. If the retina should become detached, meaning it becomes crumpled and is floating around the eye, in a way it could be similar to a football that you let the air out of the tube.”

He continued: “The tube will just crumple, yet the leather of the football would still be round. You can’t look at the football and know whether it has air or not, because the leather is still keeping the shape, but the tube is all wrinkled and collapsed.”

Dr Lue said that if it is not fixed, or placed in its original position – flat against the back of the eye – then the result would be loss of vision.

“Usually surgery is needed to fix a detachment, however, if you can detect a tear in the retina, that tear can be treated with the laser beam or with a special machine called a cryotherapy machine,” Dr Lue said.

Stressing that there is a big difference between detecting a tear in the retina and having a detachment surgery done, which would require hospitalisation and hefty costs, Dr Lue reiterated the importance of paying attention to the signs and early detection.

But what can people do to prevent retina detachment from ever occuring?

Dr Lue told Your Health Your Wealth that a person’s best bet to avoiding loss of vision due to retinal detachment is early detection.