Aa
7-year old Macular (hole) scar . . . can it get worse?
Good day:
I developed a Macular Hole back in mid-2002, in my left eye, which affected my central vision in that eye. I'm now 31 years old. I was advised by my opthalmologist at the time to get it treated with surgery. At the time I was rather scared at the prospect of having someone touch my eyes, so I left it as it was. I didn't appreciate how easy (relatively) the procedure was. I have almost no central vision in that eye but my peripheral vision is fine. In fact, in time I hardly noticed the problem. I learned to live with it. It wasn't so bad that my daily life was affected drastically.
I recently had to get new glasses and decided to finally do something about my problem. My opthalmologist advised me that my macular hole was now covered by scar tissue and he doesn't know what can be done at this point. He referred me to a specialist.
My question is this: Will this problem worsen (if by chance nothing can be done)? It seems to have simply scarred over, and I haven't noticed any more loss of central vision over the last few years.
I developed a Macular Hole back in mid-2002, in my left eye, which affected my central vision in that eye. I'm now 31 years old. I was advised by my opthalmologist at the time to get it treated with surgery. At the time I was rather scared at the prospect of having someone touch my eyes, so I left it as it was. I didn't appreciate how easy (relatively) the procedure was. I have almost no central vision in that eye but my peripheral vision is fine. In fact, in time I hardly noticed the problem. I learned to live with it. It wasn't so bad that my daily life was affected drastically.
I recently had to get new glasses and decided to finally do something about my problem. My opthalmologist advised me that my macular hole was now covered by scar tissue and he doesn't know what can be done at this point. He referred me to a specialist.
My question is this: Will this problem worsen (if by chance nothing can be done)? It seems to have simply scarred over, and I haven't noticed any more loss of central vision over the last few years.
Thank you for the reply, Dr. Kutryb.
I appreciate the advice.
I appreciate the advice.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
No, most likely the macular hole will not worsen if it is complete. Now, we really don't have the complete picture of your case, so I'm just talking about complete macular holes. I would certainly get one or two separate opinions from retinal specialists to see if surgery might be beneficial. If so, you should strongly consider it because if anything ever happened to the good eye you will be wishing you could see with the other. If there is a limited window of time that the hole can be worked on, you might not want to let it pass by.
MJK MD
MJK MD
You are reading content posted in the Eye Care Forum
Find out how beta-blocker eye drops show promising results for acute migraine relief.
Eye whitening, iris color change, and eyeball "bling." Eye expert Dr. John Hagan warns of the dangers from these unnecessary surgeries.
Eye expert John Hagan, MD, FACS, FAAO discusses factors to consider and discuss with your eye care team before embarking on cataract surgery.
Is treating glaucoma with marijuana all hype, or can hemp actually help?
Protect against the leading cause of blindness in older adults
Got dry eyes? Eye drops aren't the only option! Ophthalmologist John C. Hagan III, MD explains other possible treatments.
