Video Games, Sunglasses, and Hyphema

[ccantwell]

So, I have a weird reason for my hyphema. I work at a cub scout camp in New Jersey and just celebrated our 75th anniversary two days ago. That night the cub scouts, the other camp staff and I went for a night swim party in our waterfront pool. One of the staff members found small rubber duck toys and began to throw them at people. Eventually, he threw one that was filled with water across the pool and it hit me directly in the eye. For the next two days, my vision was blurry and I went home today and got it checked out. My hyphema is located on the side of my iris and not the bottom of my eye. I was wondering if I would be able to things like play video games with the brightness down all the way and wear sunglasses at the same time?

[ccantwell]

I should mention that it is relatively small and I am currently on a cortisone eye drop that I have to use 4 times a day and am relatively new on eye care

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

A hyphema is a potentially serious problem and there is sometimes rebleed between day 3 and 6.  Also it is not infrequently associated with other eye injuries that might not be apparent: retinal tear/detachment, traumatic glaucoma, traumatic cataract.  So eventually you will need your eye dilated and the posterior part checked carefully and a test called 'gonioscopy" done to see if the fluid outflow (filtration angle) was damaged. Then you will need annual exam rest of your life and any eye MD caring for you should know that you have hyphema in one eye.  Eventually you should be able to return to playing video games.

[ccantwell]

Thank you for the response, I am being checked every day with ultrasounds and normal checkups from my ophthalmologist.

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

good luck