vision recover after RD

[rory59]

I have SO many unanswered questions.  I am a 51 year old female that had RD surgery six weeks ago.  I had the buckle and gas bubble.  Went to my Dr. for a six week check up and was blown away when she told me that my vision is as good as it will get.  I had lasik surgery before my RD so my vision was wonderful.  My vision now is very blurry and I describe it as...looking through a door peep hole. I am despondent over the fact that my Dr. does not think my vision will improve after only four to six weeks.From the outside, my eye is smaller than the other, pink, and the pupil is very dilated--still using drops once a day for a few more days. From my research, I expected to slowly recover more of my eyesight...not to be told, 'this is it'.  My right eye is the eye that is used for distance and the disparity between my left eye and right eye makes feel a little nauseous.  Do you think there will be any hope for my vision to improve as my eye heals?  I still have a small gas bubble!  My Dr. says that she think being nearsighted was the reason for my RD--although my contact correction was under 3--  Could having Lasiks nearly 8 years ago contribute to my RD? I know that if you have RD in one eye that you very well may have it in the other...but what is the percentage?  My vision is so very poor in the one eye, it scares me to pieces that I will have the very same thing happen in the other.  When I blink, I feel the buckle in my eye and am hoping to get used to it. I am trying to be positive and grateful that I am not blind as a result of RD...but I am depressed with my outcome and was hoping that with time I will eventually improve.

[Michael J Kutryb, MD]

Right on comments from Berrywoo.  I suspect that your vision may still improve a little at least.  You really need a general  ophthalmologist in addition to your retinal specialist.  The bubble needs to be totally gone and all inflammation gone and sometimes there may be macular edema or an epiretinal membrane and definitely may need stronger glasses.  I wonder if you're major concern is that you will need glassses since the buckle will make you nearsighted again.  In that case you will have much better vision as long as you wear glasses. This is a very major point because people who have has lasik sometimes think thay magically they will never have to wear glasses again.  See a general ophthalmoloigst, get checked for glasses, and understand that you are still too early in the recovery process, way to early, to be judging your vision quality quite honestly.

MJK MD

[berrywoo]

First,it takes time for your eye to recover from surgery so all the redness should subside with time and the vision should also improve a bit more with time. Depending on how long ago you stopped use of a red-topped eye drop, will influence how long it takes for the pupil size to return to normal, but sometimes it won't return to normal.
Second, myopia and aging are to big factors in developing an RD. Lasik did NOT contribute to your RD.
Third, scleral buckling will make you more near-sighted, so you will need an Rx change. This should also help improve your vision.
Lastly, even though the risks are a bit higher for the fellow eye to have an RD the chances that it will occur are still relatively slim (up to 15%).