Wavy Vision

Approximatey 4 weeks ago I had retinal eye surgery with laser and a gas bubble.  As my vision improves, it is distorted with straight line objects. They are wavy.  Will this eventually go away?  My doctor checked my macula and it seems to be okay so far. Will this develop into macular degeneration?  I am 60 years old.

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

What was your retina surgery for? Retinal detachment? Macular membrane peeling? Macular hole closure?

JCH III MD

[Antone100]

My retinal surgery was retinal detachment.

[Winterpeg]

I had a Vitrectomy for a macular tear(gas bubble) and immediately developed a "cataract"! I assume that you maybe experiencing the same issue. Wavy/cloudy, Yes, that is what I see and I expect to have a lens replacement for the catarct within the next 6 months.
Hope this helps;

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

Your final vision (often not know for 6-12 months) will depend on whether the macula was pulled off or not, whether the surgery to reattach the retina was successful and other things that cannot be determined immediately (swelling of the macula, damage to the retinal circulation).

Vitrectomies are almost always followed by cataracts, gas injections and scleral buckles are not nearly as likely to cause catarcts.

Retinal detachment does not cause age related macular degeneration but the macula can be damaged by a detached retina.

Unfortunately its one of those "time will tell" things.

JCH III MD