Are Retinal Tears Common?

Retinal tears are relatively common eye problems. They usually occur when your vitreous changes texture with age and pulls on your retina, tearing a small piece of it away from the back of your eye. Your risk of a retinal tear or detachment increases with age.

How rare is retinal tear?

Retinal detachments are rare; only about one in 10,000 people have one each year. Retinal detachments are very rare in children and are most likely to occur in people between 40 to 70 years old. Natural ageing changes in the vitreous gel, known as PVD, can cause retinal tears and PVD is more common as you get older.

Do retinal tears heal on their own?

Can a detached retina heal on its own? Very rarely, retinal detachments are not noticed by the patient and can heal on their own. The vast majority of retinal detachments progress to irreversible vision loss if left untreated so it is important to monitor any changes noticed in your vision.