Resuming physical activity after retinal surgery Ask your surgeon when you can get back to your normal routine. No strenuous (tough or challenging) exercise for 1 to 2 weeks after most retinal surgery. Light exercise, like walking, may be safe.
Don't do things where you might move your head. This includes moving quickly, lifting anything heavy, or doing activities such as cleaning or gardening. You will probably need to take 2 to 4 weeks off from work. It depends on the type of work you do and how you feel.
If necessary, bathe the eye with cooled boiled water and cotton wool. If no positioning is required, avoid strenuous activity (weight lifting & swimming) for two weeks. Watching TV and reading will cause no harm.
For those that have recently undergone laser surgery for a retinal tear or detachment, the healing process could take anywhere from one week to four weeks. It normally takes a full week for the laser treatment to fully seal the tear and prevent detachment, but things can still go wrong once sealed.
Generally, driving can be resumed in several days if you have good vision in your other eye. If you do not feel comfortable driving, do not drive! Your depth perception may be decreased, so you will want to try driving during the day in light traffic until you feel comfortable driving.
After surgery for retinal detachment
During the post-operative period: Your eye may be uncomfortable for several weeks, particularly if a scleral buckle has been used.
Avoid getting soapy water in your eye but it will not harm the healing process. Do not wash your hair for a few days. Avoid any bending or lifting for 1 week after surgery. After 1 week, you may do light housework and bend over to pick up light objects.
I always tell patients, however, to avoid activities such as skydiving, bungee jumping, or bumper car rides, where there is potential for whiplash injury, when they have been diagnosed with complications of PVD such as those mentioned above (retinal tear, hole, or retinal detachment).
Retinal surgery has a high success rate, and for most people vision is preserved. However, in some people, there may be a recurrence of retinal detachment that may require two or more surgeries to treat. Risks and complications of all retinal surgeries include bleeding and infection.
Sometimes you might to sleep face down for one night after the surgery, it is a hard position to maintain. If you need to be face down then we recommended placing pillows behind your side to prevent you from rolling onto your back for that night.
Do not lie flat on your back until the gas has been fully absorbed: this can be up to eight weeks; this varies depending on the concentration and type of gas we have used. Do not fly in an aeroplane until the gas bubble has been fully absorbed; this can be up to 8 weeks following surgery.
Most patients notice no vision changes following their laser surgery, although there may be some temporary blurring for several weeks to months. In addition, depending on the condition being treated, some may notice a permanent blind spot or decrease in peripheral and night vision.
Resuming physical activity after retinal surgery
No strenuous (tough or challenging) exercise for 1 to 2 weeks after most retinal surgery. Light exercise, like walking, may be safe. Ask your doctor. No swimming (or direct exposure of water to the eyes) for 1 to 2 weeks after most retinal surgery.
What does the operation involve? Various anaesthetic techniques are possible, including a general anaesthetic or a local anaesthetic that is injected around your eye to numb it. The operation usually takes about 90 minutes. Your surgeon can repair any tears or holes using a laser or by freezing treatment.
What causes retinal detachment? There are many causes of retinal detachment, but the most common causes are aging or an eye injury.
Recovery after a retinal tear is nothing like the recovery after retinal detachment surgery and much easier! For the most part, patients are even able to drive and work after laser treatment for a retinal tear, and there is no bubble needed (unlike in retinal detachment repairs).
With a 99.3% reattachment rate for primary RRD repair after one or more surgeries, the Mass Eye and Ear Retina Service continues to maintain high success rates for this procedure. For the past 10 years, the Retina Service has consistently met international benchmarks of 97% to 100% for successful RRD repair.
Retinal detachment refers to the full lack of attachment of the retinal tissue along the back of the eye. This is more severe than retinal tears. The longer that a detached retina remains detached, the greater the risk of permanent vision loss.
You may get eye drops after surgery to help prevent infection. You may also have to wear a patch over the eye in order to avoid any unnecessary exposure to your eye. It can be normal if you have redness around the eye, swollen or inflamed eyes, or blurred vision after the surgery.
Some retinal tears require immediate treatment with either cryotherapy or laser. Your ophthalmologist must feel your tear is at low risk for progressing if the treatment is elective. As a general rule, physical activity is not thought to be a contributing factor to either the formation or progression of retinal tears.
You probably won't feel pain, but you may have blurry vision and a lot of eye floaters and light flashes. Your provider can repair a tear before it leads to a detached retina.
The timing depends on the type of gas used: short-acting gas (SF6) takes 2 to 3 weeks to disappear; long-acting gas (C3F8) takes about 2 months. When the gas bubble is down to half size, you will see a horizontal line across your vision, bobbing up and down with head movement.
After surgery, you may have some amount of pain in the eye. Your eye may be tender, red or swollen for a couple of weeks. During the surgery, if the doctor has used a gas bubble to compress your retina then you might have to keep your head in a special position for a few days.
Reasons for blurry vision after retinal detachment surgery
The retina's light-sensitive cells, the rods and cones, are still recovering. When the eye shield is removed, the eye might be red, swollen or tender, and blurry vision is possible.
A patient with an acute retinal tear may experience the sudden onset of black spots or “floaters” in the affected eye. This can have the appearance of someone shaking pepper in your vision. Flashes of light (Photopsia) are another common symptom.