The
macula
is the center of the
retina, and is the location where light rays focus when entering the eye. With macular degeneration, this area starts to deteriorate, causing difficulty with central vision, such as reading fine print or seeing details on a person’s face. Your eye doctor can detect macular degeneration during your dilated eye examination.
There are two forms of macular degeneration: dry and wet. Dry macular degeneration causes thinning of the macula, which eventually gets too thin to function properly. This makes fine detail difficult at the beginning and even impossible to see later on. The dry form generally causes a slow, painless loss of vision. Neovascularization, or new blood vessels, forming near the macula indicate wet macular degeneration. This bleeding can cause scarring and swelling. The wet form often causes a rapid loss of vision, and early diagnosis and treatment is key to helping preserve vision.