Detached Retinas anyone?

[divern2h20]

Well guess I've joined the group. Had the "buckel" done Oct 11 left eye.
No bubble or "positioning" thank goodness!!
Nearsighted and age only factors, Doc really didn't give a clear timeline for returning to diving. I have A Coz trip in January, keeping my fingures crossed.

[DabldoMaui]

I had a torn retina in two places and it took 4 days until I lost nearly half my vision. I had retina surgery (May 6 2010) and the nitrous oxide bubble evaporated 16 days later. I cannot corrolate it to any trauma or age or nearsightedness, I fell in the 1% of people that just get it. I am a dive instructor so I am interested in studying the effects this will have in the future on this eye and my other eye.

I see the doctor in a month and hopefully will be cleared to dive again. I am curious if other divers are finding retinal tears a common issue for those doing 100+ dives a year.

Aloha

Well the same eye tore again! They say it was from the scar tissue from the first surgery that pulled it. Much worse this time, got the buckle and the recovery time is a lot longer. I did have the oil put in this time instead of the gas bubble because I needed to travel on a plane to get home. Have only done 6 dives between the surgeries so I am not convinced it is from diving. Anyone else out there thinking the diving and retina detachment are related?

Aloha.

[gert7to3]

I haven't stopped by the diving medicine section recently.

I am an ophthalmic photographer not a doctor. That said, I have not seen any association of detached or torn retinas with diving. Mypoia is the chief culprit because the eyeball is elongated in near-sighted people. We all suffer some amount of liquefaction of our vitreous humor (the jelly which maintains the shape of your eye) as we age. This can lead to uneven stress distributed over the retina, which can cause posterior vitreous detachments (benign) or tears, holes and detachments (serious).

Scleral buckles are basically a rubber band applied around the outside of an eyeball. They hold a block of sponge against the area over the detachment. The vitreous volume may be adjusted or the fluid under the detachment may have to be removed.

Your eye is mostly liquid and unless you are getting a mask squeeze there is no particular extra torque or pressure exerted on your eyes from diving.

Signs of a possible retinal tear or detachment include a sudden increase in floaters; flashes of light perceived even in a well light environment; spots, shadows or cobwebs appearing in your peripheral visual field, but just in one eye. Should you experience any vision issues, get it checked out ASAP. Don't let them schedule you in weeks or months, tell them what your symptoms are and get examined.

[Carlos Guzman]

Hi Billb:

I had a detached retina repaired with surgery on 2007. My doctor recommend me not to dive more than 50 feet deep. I did 9 dives already between 25 and 60 feet deep and had no problems. Now I would like to do a couples of dives in St. Thomas, USVI by the end of this month that are going to be between 70 and 85 feet deep. Do you believe that I can do it? How deep do you dive after the detached retina problem?