Exercising after vitrectomy with a scleral buckle

I am 4 weeks post surgery for detached retina in right eye.  Vitrectomy was done along with scleral buckle.  So far so good.  Presurgery I would work out 3-4x per week, weights and cardio-approx 1.5 hours-moderate to high intensity.  I am 58 years old.   My Dr. told me nothing but walking up until a couple of days ago where he said I could start riding a bike or using the elliptical.  No pushups, lifting of any weights except maybe very light (5 lbs) etc.  I wanted to know if it was ok at this point to do ab exercises (w/o weights)  E.G.  crunches, planks, leg lifts.  I also wanted to know what kinds of bodyweight or calisthenic type exercises I might be able to incorporate into a workout since I will not be lifitng weights for a while.

[Houman Vosoghi, MD]

Agree with Candace888.  Only your surgeon knows the extent of damage and fragility of your eye.  Call and ask specific questions for yes and no answers.

HV

[Candace888]

Hi,

I think your doctor would be the best one in a position to answer your question. I'm 45 years old,  I had a RD 14 months ago, silicone oil and scleral buckle.  I had a fully detachted retina and it was very fragile for a long time.  My doctor kept me on very strict restrictions for 6 months.  I was not allowed to ride my horse for 12 months. Of course, I had another vitrectomy to remove oil and cataract surgery during that time.   I think only your doctor can tell you how fragile you are and he will know how severe the detachment was.  I felt a lot of pressure from the buckle for a long time, it doesn't take much to put a lot of pressure on your eye, that's for sure.  I could not do crunches without feeling the pressure, I know that.  I just had surgery again two weeks ago to remove scar tissue on the retina, I developed a macular pucker from the detachment.  I'm on full restrictions again, I love to take Pilates classes and I won't be allowed to for at least 2 months and then only if my doctor says it's ok, he said I couldn't swim for a month either.  I know it's hard to have limitations but don't risk it.  I lost a lot of vision from the detachment and you don't want that to happen, better to be safe than sorry.  

Take care