eye never be the same again after RD?

[corks100]

just wanted to know from patients and docs on this website...will the eye really never be the same again, your vision, your eye in general after a retinal detachment surgery?

a young resident, one retinal specialist told me your eye will never be the same again after a retinal detachment surgery.  what does this mean?  will one always have problems after an RD surgery or your vision will always just be mediocre?

i was hoping to have at least 90-95% after a year or two...does this mean the eye will always just be 60% or so?

for some of you who are 1-2 years post RD surgery....is this really true?  how is your eye/vision now?

please share....thank you in advance sincerely.

[samson1234]

M just 25 years n Nw where is my future if it doesn't help..... Help me anyone......

[samson1234]

Now m going treatment from Aiims and I did my RD surgery in the month of Jan 2014 and Nw I be a distorted vision and diagnosed as metaphorpsia and my previous vision before RD surgery was 6/24 and now I be 6/60... I was advised to go for RD surgery again and m tensed. Is it my vision will get cured or m I at risk to do so? I am dumb n deft now. Now my blur vision change completely to distorted vision. And the question is... Will my vision get worst or will improve after RD surgery? I am from a poor family and I doubt whether to do rd surgery or leave as it is? M really tensed and mad wat to do now.... M crying...

[jan96406]

Thank you for your information. I had retinal surgery about three or four weeks ago, and I am also suffering from metamorphopsia. I just found out the correct term for my problem today by looking at articles on the internet. I'm glad you learned to adjust. Right now I'm having problems in that regard. It makes my eye very sore and gives me headaches.

[corks100]

Thank you JodieJ.  Appreciate your input.  I have an appt with my optalmologist this wednesday.  hope all is well.

i know what you mean about what docs say.  i dont know why they are given licenses when they cant even do anything and diagnose properly.

ill see where i am at.  i hope the light gray area in my vision goes away.  it has gotten smaller from how it was before also esp since i had a vitreous hemorhage due to a small retinal tear ( the light gray are is really close to where the tear was) and i am thinking that this is why i have a light gray area.  the tear was lasered already and almost all the blood has gone away.  but from the OCT and Flourescine Angiogram that the 2nd retinal specialist did, she said that my retinal looked good and looked really close to what my normal eye looked like.  she also said that my FA was ok so i dont know.  i am setting another appt with another retinal specialist from another surgeon from Midatlantic Retina.  All the docs there went to Wills Eye in PAand i was told they are very good.  Few more questions pls:
1) did you have a light gray area too where you had your ERM?
2) did your ERM block your vision as well before?
3) you went to Chicago then to have your ERM removed right?
4) was this Doc in Chicago really good andreally took out your ERM?
5) how long from the time you had your RD to when you had your ERM remove did you wait?
6) did you only have 1 ERM or did you have a few?

Thanks again JodieJ and hope to hear from you soon,.

[JodieJ]

In many cases, vision after a retinal detachment-macula off can be made more comfortable and functional.  Treatment of an RD-macula-off patient (patient #2) is discussed in the paper "Retinally-Induced Aniseikonia," which can be downloaded free at:

http://www.opticaldiagnostics.com/products/ai/ri_aniseikonia.pdf

Treatment techniques include special glasses to minimize distortion and the use of magic tape (no kidding!) or special foils to blur vision slightly in the affected eye.  Blurring is reported to be very effective for eliminating double vision.

Unfortunately, the paper is written for eye care professionals, and it is quite technical.  If you are interested in trying the treatment techniques described, I suggest that you download the paper and take it with you to see an optometrist or an ophthalmologist who specializes in binocular vision problems.  You might get a referral to such an optometrist from a college of optometry.  Ophthalmologists in this area might also be called strabismus specialists or pediatric ophthalmologists.

It was my experience that finding a knowledgeable eye care professional who was willing to work with me was very difficult (actually near-impossible).  (My problem involved damage from an epiretinal membrane like patient #1 in the paper.)  But don't give up--if a doctor tells you that "nothing can be done," it really means that s/he doesn't know how to do anything which might help.  I ended up working online with the paper's author (Dr. Gerard de Wit), and the contact lens/glasses solution which he proposed made a huge difference in my vision.  You can learn more about all this at the opticaldiagnostics website.

[corks100]

hi lefteye.

hi and thanks for responding.  i sent a friendship invitation and hope u accept.  

i had an RD 4.5 months ago.  the doc said the detachment was 40% big but said that my macula was ok.  now, my peripheral vision is not bad at all.  however, i still have a light gray area really close to the center of my vision and it is making reading a little challenging and hard and i have to move my eye to see the rest of the words and letter.  so i am wondering if something might be wrong with my macula.  but i can see details like colors, objects (small and big...just not too small), etc.  i just have double vision when in the computer though.  i still feel pain, some pullingand stinging feeling every now and then.  

i will be seeing my optalmoligist for the first time early next week and then a new retinal specialist in about 2 weeks for a second opinion and to find out what the light gray area is.  btw....accdg to my doc my post vitrectomy process was complicated by a vitreous hemorhage caused by a small retinal tear which has been lasered and now resolved accdg to my doc.  the light gray area is very very close to where the tear was and i am thinking that the hemorhage caused the light gray area.  i truly think my vision would be ok & good if i just didnt have the small light gray area blocking my vision.  i also still see grains and specs of blood coming off my operated eye.  sometimes i think the light gray area is blood but my doc said i have no more blood in the operated eye.  my doc also called my case a complicated retinal detachment.  

few question for you:
1) what is metamorphopsia?
2) what are the injections for?  why do you have swelling and leakage if i may ask?
3) how is your vision now?
4) can you see good though?
5) what were the other 3 surgeries you had post your original surgery if i may ask?
6) did yo uhave a light gray area in your vision while recovering as well as some point?

i hope and pray so hard that the light gray area goes away.  i have been eating right, drinking a lot of water and viatmins to help me. the light gray area seemed to be getting smaller but i am not sure and feel like it has stopped getting smaller inthe last month and a half.  i am not sure.

hope you answer my questions and i hear from you soon.  thanks sincerely in advance.

[Lefteye625]

I has complex retinal detachment in August 08 and had 3 surgeries between that time and December 08.  I have injections of Avastin every 6-8 weeks to try to control swelling and leakage. The vision in my "bad" eye is distorted, it's called  metamorphopsia.  My "good" eye really kind if takes over, and most of the time my vision doesn't feel bad.  Occasionally, like when I'm tired or stressed, it seems worse and can be kind if annoying.  I'm not very comfortable driving at night.  But, really, all in all, it's not negatively affecting my daily life and activities.  When I first had the RD, and in the months following, I read as much on the internet as I could, including this very helpful site, and also kind of came to accept that my vision would never be "normal" again.  But the vision I now have has become "normal" for me, and I feel lucky to have my sight!

[JodieJ]

I believe that every case is different.  It matters whether or not the macula was involved.  If you still have one good eye, you should do well regardless.

[corks100]

Hi Dr. O,

when you say "normal", do you mean they could still see fine but not like before?  Or do you mean, they get very little vision back?  or thye could get their vision back but not 100%?  or will your eye always be problematic? or will one always feel like they have an eye and a half now instead of two?

could you be more specific?  

thanks sicnerely in advance.

[Ray T Oyakawa, MD]

In many cases the vision never returns to normal.  

Dr. O.