PVD and Long Air Travel

  I'm highly myopic  (-15 ) amd have  lived my life worried about Retinal Detachment,. Recently , I had a major PVD first in one eye and now in both. The ever moving  strings / floaters don't really bother me. However, I travel frequently  (long hauls to Asia 16-30 hours of flight time. Last month 3X to Asia). I was scheduled to leave  for Asia that week . After the PVD  and discussing it with my retinal doctor, I opted not to go. Most places I travel have excellent medical care (Seoul. HK, Shanghai, etc ). HOWEVER, I'm terrified of retinal detachment in flight. Does anyone else in this forum have any experience or guidance? I'm afraid ( and worried) that  now I might need to give up my job which I absolutely love.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

Live you life. Air travel is not a problem (unless a person has had intraocular surgery and gasses were put in the eye). Also turbulent air is not a likely cause of an RD. See the world.

JCH MD