trauma to the head cause vitreous detachment

[psuoh]

i bumped my head on a computer equipment and started to see floaters and dots that evening. the episode of floaters and dots progressively got worse. the first episode the dots went away after an hour or so.  the second and subsequent episodes lasted longer and more floaters appreared.  eventually too much hemorrage in the eye imjapired vision to a point that I only could see hand motion.

after 3 weeks later i had retinal detachment.  I saw black shadow in the pheriperal vision near my nose.

I ended up with retinal detachment surgery.

i am having hard time proving to my worker's comp that my detachment was caused by the trauma to the head.  They say detachment can happend to anyone.  I am near-sigthed in right eye -7.50 and age 39.  my doctor is willing to write a statement that she believe that my RD is caused by the trauma to the head.  I have co-workers stating that I complained of floaters and dots due to the bumo. Can the doctors at this forum confirm this as well?

has others at this forum difficult time proving to the worker's comp that it can be work related injury?  I see posts that people getting PVD, RD, etc from getting hit in the eye and so forth which appears to indicagte to me that trauma to the eye, or near the eye can lead to retinal detachment.

thanks.

[BILLYJJG5426]

A related discussion, Detached Retina was started.

[zuzu20]

A related discussion, posterier vitreous detachment was started.

[Eyespy300]

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[psuoh]

mickey25

if you have hemorrage in the eye with floaters then should be closely monitored by your eye doctor,  dont take chanese.  i was being closely monitored by my doctor for several weeks until the RD evetually happened.
i was told that RD will appears within a month or so after your finitial  onset of floaters/blood/flashes..
i dont mean to scare you but it is good to play it safe and have it checked out often.  if RD affects your macula you can go blind so should catch early onset of RD and stop the RD before causing damage to your macula.

[mickey25]

oh yes, ive listened intently. i had a hemorrhage but extensive tests did not reveal any retinal tears and or detachments. im having bi-lateral issues and am not sure why or how this started. as a semi pro hockey player i did have a helmet twist off of my head @ 2 weeks before the symptoms but it didnt seem to hit my eye or cause any issues, its a fairly common occurrence and i had a full face mask/cage. the hemmorhage is there with the pvd.

im getting a second opinion at ny eye and ear infirmary, im not messing around with this as im having bi-lateral problems. the only issue that was on going at the onset was i had severe sinus problems and had a sinus endoscopy just a week before the onset of the symptoms. im heeding all medical advice and will stay positive. hockey career is on hold.

[psuoh]

mickey25 listen to the Doc.  check your eyes to make sure you are okay.  in my case immediately after a bump to my forehead i saw flashes in the shape of eclipse when i blink.  i had vitreaous detachment along with vitreaous hemorrage.  i saw dots along with floaters. in your case you dont sound like you have bleeding just floaters.  after my severaal episode of floaters and dots i rested from work and basically did nothing physcial but the bleeding just got worse and i lost vision in my right eye.  the blood cause my right eye to become severely hazy and cloudy.  i only could see hand motion.  after a month later the bump i had retinal detachment. if you are going to have RD then you will have it eventiually it is just matter of time. I had RD surgery and they put in oil and last week i had the oil taken out and put in salin solution.  it is hazy opaque again and i am waiting to clear up which will take months.  when the salin gets absorbed by my body and gets replaced with my body's own vitreous fluid i should regain most of my vision back but i was told i will be even more near sighted.  was -7,50 but may end up -12.00!  
since oil will eventaully cause cataracts my doctor is considering doing a cataract surgery even i don't have it now.  it will correct my near-sigtedness and prevent cataract development in the future.

it has been over 5 months now with RD and it is tough and very fraustrating.  hopefully you are lucky enough to not to get one.  

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

when the vitreous begins to strip off the retina it usually comes away in sections (think like wallpaper starting to peel off the wall or a mudslide that occurs over several months). It's not a completely on then completely off. So as a section comes loose it might cause an increase in floaters and some flashing lights in the eye, then a equilibrium is reached. More vitreous gel liquified and the vitreous body becomes unstable then another section cleaves off. Sooner or later (usually within 3-6 months), almost all the vitreous is liquid and the vitrious "face"  is pulled away from the retina and floating in the middle of the eye. (Use Google Images and search vitreous detachment and it will show pictures of what this looks like).

Floaters in an eye that does not have a PVD often come from debris left in the eye when it was forming. There is a large strand of arteries and veins that runs from the back of the eye to the lens, iris and cornea that nourish that part of the eye in the womb. Late in the third trimester they start to disolve but some piece may remain. That's why young children may have floaters but no PVD.

I don't drink so you don't owe me a beer but next time your hear someone running down doctors for one reason or another, tell them about all the free expert advise that's given at www.medhelp.com  

JCH III MD

[mickey25]

one more question then i owe you a beer. when you say pvd's, can i get more than one detachment in each eye is it limited to one? im concerned because the other yes has two floaters that wer epicked up by the "optometrist"  who was unable to pick up the pvd in the other eye. that was picked up by the opthalmologist.

do the floaters in the non pvd eye represent a breakdown in the vitreous?

thanks

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

There is no way for sure to tell if it was causitive or co-incidental. It really doesn't make any difference. The recommendations would be the same either way.

JCH III MD

[mickey25]

first off, thank you very much for your prompt responses, they are most appreciated. im doing some research on this as it caught me totally off guard. so let me just make sure i understand, you do believe it was caused by the trauma?  im just surprised because it was really nothing more than my helmet rubbing across my eye.

either way, after reading the research and your forum i have gone from obsessing to a more clear understanding and it has helped the anxiety.

thanks

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

Given the time frame the PVD was probably caused by your trauma. Rember that PVDs are usually the result of aging not trauma. At your age almost half of people have PVDs given your degree of myopia its inevitable that you will have a PVD in the other eye. However most PVDs don't cause bleeding in the eye or retinal detachments.

If you have any flashes or increase of floaters in the injured eye return for a re-exam.

JCH III MD

[mickey25]

i have two vitreous floaters in the other eye and am concerned that this is going to happen with that eye too.

[mickey25]

thanks, i did that when it happened. had a complete opthamoligcal exam. and that is when the pvd was diagnosed. i had a hemmorhage which he told me was from the pvd. no tears in retina. do you think it was the trauma that caused the pvd or was it just something that that happened?

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

There is some urgency in your seeing an Eye physician MD (Ophthalmologist) for a dilated examination to make sure that you have not had bleeding in your eye, a torn or detached retina. Your myopia and truama increase the risk. Please do this as soon as possible.

JCH III MD Eye Physician & Surgeon

[mickey25]

realtive to the above i am 44 y/o

[mickey25]

hi. i had a sudden onset of pvd and floaters @ 1 week after a minor trauma to my eye. i had no swelling or blood in the eye and it was the result of a helmet twisting and coming across my eye. i am -5.75 and -5.00 respectively. i have a history of floaters in the other eye. is it likely that the trauma caused the pvd or was it more likely simply an inevitable event that spontaneously happened?

[psuoh]

To elaborate immediately after the bump I saw floaters and flashes and bleringd and  progressively got worse to a point where I only could see hand motion.  

It was "wait and see" until the detachment was to occur or not it took 3 weeks for the detachment to occour

Prior to the bump I never had any eye problems.  Only after the bump I see floaters and flashes

My doctors seems to be on my side on this

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

Can't help you psuoh.  Very few retinal detachments in the overall total number are due to trauma. You are at an increased risk of retinal detachment because of your degree of myopia. Probably everyone that has a retinal detachment sometime in the preceeding month had a minor fall, jolt, head bump, stumble, etc. In almost all of these the relationship is co-incidental.

It's unlikely that a bump to your head with computer equipment caused your retinal detachment. Now if you had a baseball hit your eye flush on and it knocked you unconscious and filled your eye with blood that would be a different case. Your case was likely due to posterior vitreous detachment and myopic degeneration unrelated to your minor trauma.

Your time frame is also out of kilter. If trauma caused the problem I would expect your symptoms to start immediately i the 24 hours after the injury. Three weeks late weakens your case.

JCH III MD  Eye Physician & Surgeon