What is a macular hole?
A macular hole describes a small gap which develops in the macula at the centre of your retina.
A macular hole affects your central vision. It can make it distorted and blurred so that it’s more difficult for you to do things like read and watch television. You may also have a blank patch in the centre of your vision. However, a macular hole doesn’t cause any pain and it doesn’t affect your peripheral (side) vision. This means it won’t cause a complete loss of vision in your eye.
Often there is no real reason why someone develops a macular hole. They are more common between the ages of 60 and 80, but it is possible for a macular hole to develop at a much earlier age than this. Women tend tend to experience them more often than men. Macular hole has also been linked to being slightly long-sighted (slight hyperopia), being very short-sighted (high myopia), having a severe eye injury, having had a retinal detachment, having long lasting macular swelling (cystoid macular oedema) and your vitreous gel pulling on the macula (vitreomacular traction).
Further information about macular holes and the vitrectomy procedure can be found on the Macular Society's macular hole webpage.
A macular hole is very different to Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) for more information about AMD see What is age related macular degeneration (AMD)?
