Wavy or deformed vision after Retinal detachment surgery

[AKod]

Hi,
My brother had a RD surgery (Macula off) on 28th Jan with Scleral buckling procedure with a best doctor. His vision started showed symptoms of improvement after 3 weeks of the surgery but Doctor said it will take up to 2- 3 months get the vision stabilised. We understand that the RD surgery was successfull with carefully attached Retina. However, he is complaining of
a) Wavy or deformed lines or objects after two weeks of surgery which still continue to exist
b) Floating objects in the vision which keeps moving when the eye lid moves
c) Blurred vision
We have been assured that (b) and (c) will improve over a period but not sure of (a) i.e bend or waviness in the lines or objects. Can someone please explain the reason for this as well as if this is normal and gets improved later?

Thanks in advance for your time.

[CBCT]

Try applying Scotch Satin tape to the inside of the glasses lens of the of your  weakest eye.  It might blur the vision enough to ignore, but preserve some depth perception.  I have dragged fovea diplopia syndrome from a macular pucker.  Images are 13 percent different from one eye to the other and my central vision cannot fuse.  A small square of tape obscures my central vision and allows me to use peripheral vision.  I'm not sure if this would help you, but it may be worth experimenting.  Tape is cheap and it will not damage your glasses.

[piratepete930]

Further for all of you high powered surgeons, as an engineer myself an a patient 13 times over I can tell you thanks for my sight which does no good if it has to be patched!  

Shame on this sector, looks like 'bones' from star trek was right about our time. We are barbarians  with our invasive moves burning tissue for a half a$% attempt to communicate with the body. A heavy hand indeed and I'm not bitter for my personal situation I'm grateful and being honest here as to the severe shortcoming of the current practices.

In the age of nano tech and we still as yet have no 'heavier than water tamponade' which is not toxic.  Heavier than water tamponades are proven to properly DEWRINKLE the retina as you lie supine and yet all you guys could come up with was per flouro n-octane? What a joke honestly and yes I can do better on a 3d printer!  

And before you say would you rather be blind I say "I'll take it from here with alt medicines and anti vegf and all the other things being poo poo'd by $500,000 a year garage mechanics. Thanks for the weld!

The future of retinal surgery is LATE and it may includes things like ;
1 non toxic heavy than water tamponades
2 magnetic buckles and fluid
3 natural anti - veg f injections
4 activation of progenitor cells
5 documenting all work (so we finally have a comprehensive database)

Now I will patch the million dollar eye as I gather a out of the box path towards usable vision..

Sincerely

Pirate Pete

[lcchan1]

I had a similar macular off RD vitrectomy with gas bubble surgery on 6/18/15, able to see things after 4 weeks of surgery. My bible still at 20-30%, after 5 weeks. Now I am seeing smaller images, blurry, distorted and double vision just like you descried few months ago. Can you give us a update on your current conditions?
Sometimes not sure which is worst to have vision like this or to have no vision at all.
Thanks, Larry

[Graphismo]

Hi, I'm in the UK and had a bad macula off detachment treated with a vitrectomy/laser/gas bubble on 6th May 2014, so very similar timescale. I also have the distorted vision issue with circles seen as narrower ellipses, difficulty reading text unless it's larger than usual because letters appear crunched up and mis-shapen and my sight in low light in the affected eye is a lot worse than the other eye with lack of contrast definition.

I needed to have a cataract operation in November because my sight in the vitrectomised eye had worsened a lot and It was impossible to drive at night. The detachment and repair made my vision correction go from -6.75 diopters to nearly double that amount.  I had a fixed length lens inserted in my eye which has given me back distance vision, although certainly not what it was pre-detachment.

The trouble I have is the difference in the sizes of the images my left and right eyes see - anisometropia as it's called. My consultant wants to put an IOL (lens) in my 'good' eye to correct my myopia which would certainly make things easier, but I won't have it done because I worry that it will increase my risk of a RD in that eye which is well known - and as I'm now heavily dependent on it for accurate vision I won't take any chances if I can manage the way I am. It does mean that I either have to wear one contact lens in my 'good' eye, to correct for distance, and use reading glasses for close vision. If my contact lens isn't giving me really sharp correction ( more often than not I don't find a contact lens as good as glasses) my vitrectomised eye's distorted image can be more dominant, which isn't ideal.  

Sometimes I find it easier to wear the varifocal glasses that I was wearing before the RD, which correct my good eye very well, but are all wrong for my 'bad one'. That way I'm using just my good eye so it's like returning to the pre-cataract operation situation with no depth perception and night driving a no-no. Unfortunately I think the distortion is something that will always be there now and the two different sized images from left and right eye are something my brain is having to try to adapt to, but it does make me feel spacey.

I will be interested to hear how things are now with you and whether you've had to have a cataract operation yet.

[HondJoe]

Since I also had a macular off situation, see things smaller and wavy after 5 weeks...I am wondering if that improved for anyone over the months?

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

Hate to be vague but sometimes yes and sometimes no. Will take as long as 6+ months to tell.  Discuss with your surgeon

[MrPresley]

Yes waviness and smaller images in my operative eye improved greatly in my case over the course of nine months to a year. The smaller images the slowest to correct themselves, and it may have been my brain adapting to it.  I have also returned to wearing RGP contacts daily after a break of a little less than two years.

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

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

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[Graphismo]

Hi, I'm a macula off case! I had my vitrectomy on May 6th so nearly 6 weeks ago. My vision in the affected eye must have gone from a pre-op -6.75 diopters to about -12. The glasses I was wearing before the detachment are nowhere near strong enough for that eye now, but my optician says it's too early to do anything about it until 3 months post op because the eye has to heal. I know that the blurred vision can be improved by looking through the pinhole. However what probably won't improve is the distortion and the difference in size I now have to deal with. My affected eye sees everything about 15% smaller than the good eye and everything is distorted. A round object is no longer round and text is wobbly and crunched together in places.   But hey, I'm not blind - and for that I'm eternally grateful. Looking through both eyes feels spacey because of the big differences between the two eyes but I'm hoping that my brain in time adapts to this and compensates.  I'm very cautious when driving now and have only done short familiar journeys.  It sounds to me as if you still had the gas bubble in your eye when you posted. I guess that's disappeared now so you should be able to see a bit better. I think we need to be patient as recovery can take a year or more, and added to that certainly I will need a cataract operation, so as one aspect improves, another is worsening unfortunately. Good luck with your recovery and getting your life back.

[kwalshpc]

You have the same conditions as I do. ie smaller size, and wavy. I am 8 weeks out now. 2 eye vision is ok, reading is not easy. Did you get rid of the wavyness?

[kwalshpc]

You have the same conditions as I do. ie smaller size, and wavy. I am 8 weeks out now. 2 eye vision is ok, reading is not easy. Did you get rid of the wavyness?

[MrPresley]

It took me a good nine months after having a vitrectomy/ macular pucker surgery for the waviness and distortion to significantly correct itself.  It's a slow process, but things do tend to get better.

[JohnHaganMD]

Mr P Thanks for sharing your experience

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

Keep looking there are many macula off posts. No one can tell you your final vision and it could be 6-12 months before that is known. Discuss this with your surgeon.

Don't forget your most important eye is your other eye. Live a healthy life and avoid injurys to your good eye. Never go longer than 12 months without seeing an Eye MD ophthalmologist

JCH MD

[threetears]

I did but no  one said they macula was also off. Is there any certain eye progression?  Later can glasses bring my vision in, ive never worn glasses? How long should I wait? At this ppint I cant drive yet

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

Use the search feature and archives and read the many informative posts and discussions about retina detachment surgery and vitrectomy. It will be informative and very useful
JCH MD

[threetears]

I had a viterectomy. my retina and macula was detached. the doctor said it looks as if its been going on since fall, so its been a while. I am 11 days in and I cant tell if I am having a depth perception issue or what issue. when I walk everything is jiggly almost like i'm drunk. I tried to walk around Wal-Mart and everything is distorted and I cant see people clearly. whats the usual vision progress of this surgery? its scary I cant even drive yet.

[piratepete930]

guys i have NEVER seen an internet post EVER That said they have wavy vision and it went away.. Not to say that it hasn't happened but on all the vision board nobody has EVER SAID waviness improved.

However I do remember reading research about kids being able to recover from waviness and what I'd like to know is that the brain overcoming or the photo receptor cells realigning??

I'm sure NO Doc will agree but  I think we have a secret way to reprogram the brain. I wonder how the brain interfaces with the retina? if it were a computer you could reprogram the interpretation of the photoreceptor cells by remapping memory. Can the brain do that?

For sure it can not if we have never tried to use our MIND to retrain an old brain.

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

q

[marl287]

I too  have had a detatched retina operation two in fact then followed by a cateract removal   I was discharged yesterday my sight is very good but like you I have a wavy  distortion still in the same eye I asked the consultant about this and he replied that its up to nature now   I suppose I should be satisfied with the results really so let me know please if yours has improved at all It has been 10 months since my retina op and 2 and a half months since the cateract was removed   Marlene Edmunds uk

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

Already answered on your other post.
JCH MD

[MikeJS]

I saw the surgeon yesterday for over two hours.  He got 99% of the fluid out of the eye during surgery and thought about drilling another hole in eye during the retina reattachment surgery just to be safe.  We are talking about microscopic amount of fluid.  Somehow someway, whatever fluid that was left settled on the opposite side of my eye than were it should have settled to drain. This is the reason face down recovery for the first 12-24 hours is critical.  The fluid dried, leaving a flap or minute ridge in the middle of my vision.  this flap or ridge may never disappear, and this wavy line in my field of vision may be there forever.  He said It isnt something that will go away, if it does, quickly.  We are looking at 6 months plus, if ever.  The only other option would be to remove the retina completely and reattach it again.  My retina tear was at about 30%, and not over my macular -central vision area of my eye.   I have no idea this will go away.  I am not optimistic.  It is possible since I did not stay awake for the surgery that the fluid drained the wrong way when the anesthesa tubes were removed.

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

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[Ramprat]

So at the moment there is nothing to help ppl with waviness years after retinol detachment surgery?

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

Only the retina surgeon could tell you.   Need macular OCT.   If fluid is present medications might be tried to remove fluid.  I epiretinal membrane (ERM).  If severe enough membrane peel.   If no fluid and no ERM and this usually occurs with macula off RD then not much can usually be done.

[MikeJS]

The Wavey Line thing and the crumpled picture comparison is interesting.  I was initially thinking the bubble itself was causing this.  My bubble is now two bubbles (one little on formed/broke away).  But as it gets smaller overall, I still see this wavey line.  I am fairly young and healthy and hope this wavey line thing goes away.  Anyway, have you heard of anyone with this condition after retina detachment surgery who eventually had the wavey line disappear?
MikeJS

Thank you!

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

He may have a cataract forming, he may have dysphotopsia, it cold also be that the night vision system was more damanaged by the "RD than the day vision. Glasses may help.
JCH MD

[AKod]

Dear John,
There appears a difference in the vision between day and night . While day vision is gradually improving, my brother still have not seen much improvement in the night vision. Any reason for this?. Will this improve when he gets new lenses?