If you have had retinal holes, tears, partial detachment, what were symptoms, treatment and how did it go?

[Pen]

and if laser treatment was used, did the laser light go in from the center, pupil area, or from the outside?  Were you up and about immediately afterward?

[extendedforecast]

My dad had this in both eyes a couple of years apart. He said it was an extremely painful procedure. I'm not sure if lasers were involved.

[umsami]

DH is a vitreoretinal surgeon.  If you have specific questions I can ask him later.

 

Basically…you can't tell the prognosis.  Usually, he will try and treat non-surgically if possible… so either cryo, laser, or gas… and often that is enough if it's caught early enough and depending on the severity of the tear.  But as he says…sometimes the person who you think will do great, doesn't….and you need surgery….and vice-versa.  Not all surgeons are comfortable using all of those, or sometimes just looking at it, you know that surgery is required.

 

Symptoms can be as simple as flashers and floaters…or a change in visual field.  

 

If you do have surgery or a gas bubble, often positioning is crucial.  So you have to position your head in just such a way so that the gas bubble or silicone oil presses against the retina helping it re-attach.  Some surgeons can hook you up with a medical supply company to rent either a massage chair or table which makes positioning much easier.

 

How the laser is used most likely depends on the location of the tear.  One should be up after the procedure…but for a very few cases, DH has had to take them into the operating room for laser because they needed anesthesia (difficult to examine/laser patients.)

 

Vitals.com is good for doctor reviews.  ASRS.org is the main retina group that will help you find a doctor.  You can also look at the AAO http://www.aao.org/aao/find_eyemd.cfm

[Lolly]

Dh has had a detached retina. He had floaters, blind spot, seems like pain involved too. I don't remember exactly what all they did to him. Seems like laser and a gas bubble. He had to stay face down for quite a while and pretty much no activity for two weeks or so. It has been a few years now, he still has to use drops in that eye to keep the pressure down.

[ThatHomeschoolDad]

I had a detached retina 5 yeas ago -- symptoms were little flashy jellybeans near the periphery.  What detached the retina was an ocular melanoma tumor, so not to be Dr. Doom here, but do not wait to see an ophthalmologist and/or retina specialist.  This week would be good.  Today even better.

[Journey]

can someone describe the "flash" that some people talk about? 

[ThatHomeschoolDad]

can someone describe the "flash" that some people talk about?

It's technically light "leaking " around your retina. Mine looked like white jelly beans that would scoot across the very top of my field of vision at random intervals. I would expect others to see diffdrent intensities and locations based on their particular detachment.

[Pen]

It is for a relative, and I am trying to get info, in part because this person lives alone, and maybe we need to try to go to be there if it is going to be as someone described of 2 weeks needing to be still... or else some sort of in home care or something will be needed ...

 

and this person is scared of having a laser go in near the pupil area... or lots of pain like the first reply suggested...

 

but my sense is that if laser could solve it, that might be the best option...

[Lolly]

Someone definitely needs to be there to take them home after the procedure. After that, it just depends. Dh would not have been able to manage on his own for the first few days, after that, he could have probably made do if he had easy to get to food/drink. You won't really know until they find out what will need to be done. I would have a plan in place to have someone available for a week if at all possible. 

 

[Trish]

can someone describe the "flash" that some people talk about? 

 

Like movie marquee lights. I had some retinal tears lasered. For me there was no pain involved. It would be nice to have someone to drive you home from the procedure! I remember being a little light sensitive that day.