Signs of Retinal Problems You Should Never Ignore
My grandfather started seeing things differently about a year before we took it seriously. Small changes that the whole family brushed off as "just getting old." By the time we actually got him checked at Shroff Eye Centre, the retinal damage had already progressed more than it needed to.
I'm writing this because as an optometry student I now know that every sign he showed was a textbook warning. We just didn't know what to look for. Most families don't.
Flashes of light
My grandfather mentioned seeing brief flashes of light in one eye, especially at night. Like a camera flash going off in the corner of his vision. He told my mother about it once and she said it's probably nothing. He didn't mention it again.
Flashes happen when the vitreous gel inside your eye pulls on the retina. It's the retina sending a distress signal. Not every flash means something terrible but persistent or sudden flashes especially in one eye need immediate evaluation. During my clinical postings at Shroff Eye Centre I've seen patients who came in because of flashes and were found to have early retinal tears that were treated with a simple laser procedure before they became full detachments. The ones who ignored flashes for months didn't always have that option.
Sudden increase in floaters
Floaters are those small dots or thread-like shapes that drift across your vision. Most people have a few and they're usually harmless. The warning sign is when you suddenly see many more than usual or they appear out of nowhere.
My grandfather said one morning he noticed what looked like a swarm of tiny dots in his right eye. He'd always had one or two floaters so he assumed it was the same thing, just more. It wasn't.
A sudden shower of floaters can mean the vitreous is pulling away from the retina. Sometimes this is harmless. Sometimes it causes a tear. The only way to know is getting a dilated retinal exam. Waiting to see if it goes away is exactly the wrong approach because if a tear is forming, every hour matters.
A shadow or curtain in your vision
This is the one that should send you to a doctor the same day. If you notice a dark shadow creeping in from any side of your vision — top, bottom, left, right — like a curtain slowly closing, that could be a retinal detachment already in progress.
My grandfather described something like this a few months after the floaters started. He said the left side of his vision in one eye seemed darker than before. We thought he was imagining it. He wasn't.
Retinal detachment is an emergency. The retina is peeling away from the tissue that supports it. Without treatment it leads to permanent vision loss in that area. During my time at Shroff I saw patients who came in with this symptom within hours and had good outcomes after emergency treatment. I also saw patients who waited days thinking it would improve on its own. By then the detachment had progressed and the outcome was limited.
Sudden blurry vision in one eye
Not the gradual blur you get from needing new glasses. A sudden noticeable drop in clarity in one eye specifically. This can indicate several retinal conditions - a macular problem, a vein occlusion, or fluid buildup under the retina.
The key word is sudden. If your vision was fine yesterday and today one eye is noticeably blurrier, that's not fatigue. That's your eye telling you something has changed and it needs to be checked.
Distorted or wavy vision
Straight lines appearing bent or wavy - door frames, tiles, text on a page. This is a classic sign of macular involvement. The macula is the central part of your retina responsible for your sharpest vision. When it's affected, the brain receives distorted signals and straight things stop looking straight.
I've started doing a simple test with my own family after learning about this. Hold a piece of graph paper at reading distance, cover one eye, and look at the grid lines. If any lines appear wavy, bent, or missing, get a retinal exam. It takes 10 seconds and can catch macular problems before they cause significant damage.
Why people ignore these signs
After watching my grandfather go through this and then seeing similar patterns during my clinical postings at Shroff Eye Centre, I've noticed a few reasons people ignore retinal warning signs.
They assume it's age related and normal. Flashes, floaters, slight blur — "I'm 65, what do you expect." Age makes these symptoms more likely but it doesn't make them less dangerous. A floater shower at 65 needs the same urgent attention as one at 45.
The symptoms are painless. Retinal problems don't hurt. There's no redness, no swelling, nothing visible from the outside. Because there's no pain, people don't treat it as urgent. They wait. With retinal conditions, waiting is exactly what causes permanent damage.
The symptoms come and go initially. My grandfather's flashes weren't constant. They happened for a few days, then stopped, then came back. The fact that they stopped made him think the problem had resolved. It hadn't. It was progressing silently.
What you should actually do
If you experience any of these symptoms — especially flashes with floaters, a shadow in your vision, or sudden blur in one eye — get a dilated retinal exam within 24-48 hours. Not a power check. Not a quick look. A proper retinal examination where the doctor dilates your pupils and looks at the back of your eye.
If you see a curtain or shadow spreading in your vision, don't wait 24 hours. Go the same day. This is the one retinal symptom that is a genuine emergency.
For everyone else even without symptoms — if you're over 40, diabetic, highly myopic, or have a family history of retinal problems, get a comprehensive eye exam including retinal evaluation at least once a year. The conditions I've described above are all treatable if caught early. Most of them are manageable with laser or injections if detected before significant damage occurs.
My grandfather is doing okay now after treatment at Shroff Eye Centre. His condition was caught and managed. But some of the damage from the months we spent ignoring his symptoms can't be reversed. That's the part I think about when I see patients in clinical postings showing the same early signs that we dismissed in our own family.
Don't make the same mistake we did. Your retina doesn't give you many warnings. When it does, listen.