Other Activities: You may resume most of your activities around the house including most routine chores. However, do not bend below your waist, move suddenly, straining or lifting more than 20 pounds for the first 2 weeks after surgery. Bending should be from the knees, to keep your head above your heart.
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. Then, gradually resume your regular activities.
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.
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.
After some types of retinal surgery, you will need to keep your head in a face-down position. This is because a gas bubble has been put in your eye. Recovering with your head down allows the bubble to float into the correct position. The bubble holds the retina in place to heal correctly.
The most common restrictions following retinal detachment repair include avoiding air travel, maintaining certain head positions, and avoiding high-level visual tasks. A retinal detachment occurs when the retina spontaneously separates from the back of the eye, most commonly between the ages of 50 and 70.
It is recommended to sleep on either side or even your front, but not sleep on your back as that would make the bubble move away from the macular hole.
You should avoid exercising for at least 2 weeks following your surgery. You may resume normal activities, little by little. After week 1, you may start by walking as much as a mile. You may advance to 2 miles, in the second week and can typically run by week six.
In the 7 to 10 days after the operation, the gas bubble slowly starts to shrink. As this happens, the space that was taken up by the gas fills with the natural fluid made by your eye, and your vision should start to improve. It generally takes 6 to 8 weeks for the gas to be absorbed and vision to improve.
You cannot fly in an airplane or drive above 1000 feet elevation if you have an air or gas bubble in your eye. Talk to your doctor about the duration of this restriction. When can I shower and wash my hair? You may shower or bathe when you get home, but avoid getting water in your eye during the first 2 weeks.
Watching TV and reading will cause no harm. Your vision will remain blurred / poor for several weeks. Often the vision is distorted after surgery. This will vary depending on the type of operation, e.g. if a gas bubble is inserted into the eye, as the bubble shrinks you might see the edge of the bubble.
You will have to keep your head face down (parallel to the ground) or lie on one side for several days to a week after surgery to allow the bubble to stay in the correct position.
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. Your vision will be blurry – it may take some weeks or even three to six months for your vision to improve.
Bending over will place pressure on the eye and this may cause unnecessary complications to your eye. The main complication will be a delay in the healing process. Avoid bending over by following these rules. No heavy lifting.
Instead of getting a special face-down pillow with a space cut out for your face, you can arrange a large towel into a horseshoe shape to support your head as you sleep. You can also place trays on top of pillows or bean bags to make a useful surface for eating, reading or using a laptop or tablet.
What is posturing? With a gas or oil bubble in the eye your surgeon may ask you to posture after the operation for up to 10 days. Posturing involves placing your head in a specific position to allow the gas or oil bubble to float into the best position to support the retina.
Certain retinal surgeries require that you keep your head in a face down (parallel to the ground) position during recovery. If this position is not maintained for several weeks after surgery, the surgery will not be successful.
What Are the Risks of Surgery? Any surgery has risks; however, an untreated retinal detachment will usually result in permanent severe vision loss or blindness. Some of these surgical risks include infection, bleeding, high pressure inside the eye, or cataract.
Glasses may or may not help with vision after surgery. The retina is very similar to the film in a camera. It has to be healthy to get a clear picture. In a camera with damaged film, having a more powerful lens on the front of the camera may not result in a clear picture.
Living with the effects of retinal detachment can be daunting at first. Treatment is available, but its success can depend on how quickly it happens – and how much damage has already occurred. However, most people live independently with a good level of vision following retinal detachment surgery.
The most common cause of tractional retinal detachment is diabetic retinopathy — an eye condition in people with diabetes. Diabetic retinopathy damages blood vessels in the retina and can scar your retina. As the scars get bigger, they can pull on your retina and detach it from the back of your eye.
One drop (Durezol or prednisolone, milky fluid) is for inflammation after eye surgery. The other drop is an antibiotic to prevent infection and promote healing. The antibiotic drop (clear) will be used for 7 days after surgery only. The steroid (milky drop) will be used for 3-6 weeks typically.
A corneal scar or even a scleral buckle used to treat retinal detachment can contribute to migraine—again, due to trigeminal input from the cornea and the eye.
In addition, the changes of nerve activity in specific brain regions of RD patients increase the risk of brain dysfunction related diseases, which is helpful to understand the pathological mechanism of vision decline or related diseases in RD patients.