Okay, I really feel a little silly posting this, but since Pikabike added an injury-related post, I decided to finally add my own as I have been curious if anyone else has had a similar issue!
I was diagnosed with a Posterior Vitreous Dislocation about 8 weeks ago. This is when the jelly in the back of the eyeball pulls away. The danger is that in doing so it can also create a retina tear. This happens to many folks as they get older, but in my case it’s not aging related, rather I’m high risk due to extreme myopia.
My opthamologist said the dislocation often happens over a period of time, so from the onset of my symptoms (blurred vision from very large “floaters”), I was supposed to take it easy for a period of 7 weeks. This meant lifting nothing over 20lbs (which ruled out lifting my kayak or canoe), and also being sure not to get hit in the head (which also ruled out whitewater kayaking).
The high danger time period of 7 weeks has past, so I “should” be fine to resume normal activity. If the jelly has completely separated (which they cannot know 100% for sure), then I actually now have very low risk of any retina injury in that eye. But, I am at risk of the whole thing now happening in the other eye.
Apparently PVD in most cases is only mildly annoying and soon goes away and is not noticeable, but my dislocation is “prominant” and I am constantly bothered by the very bad vision now in my right eye. I was told I might see (no pun intended) improvement in 2-6 months. It’s been 2 months and NO improvement, and now he says I may never see clearly from my right eye again. It’s extremely depressing, actually. As a result, I definitely do not want this to happen to the left one as well, as it is barely tolerable in one eye.
So my query is: has anyone else had a PVD and if so, were you warned that activity such as rolling a kayak could put you at higher risk of retina damage? How about a blow to the helmet when in whitewater? The truth is I rarely flip in ww now except if I’m trying a new surf move, but I also don’t want to never try a harder run out of fear/danger from flipping and hitting my head. On the other hand, I don’t want to cause this to happen in my other eye and/or risk retina damage. I don’t really understand how at risk I am from a blow if I’m wearing my helmet, or if even the phsyics/forces from just rolling could put me at risk (my doctor seems to think so, but I’m not sure he really knows).
Anyway - I posted about this awhile ago on Boater Talk since I figured to get more ww kayaking responses but there really wasn’t anyone who posted who had a similar experience.
I’d love to hear if anyone else had this problem and what precautions you were told to take or are taking…
Something tells me it’s probably rare and so I’ll expect this thread to drop like a rock!!!
Thanks
Bumpity Bump.
Have no experience with it, but I sympathize and don’t want to see your thread “drop like a rock” without any chance of someone knowledgeable seeing it.
Hope you get better news/results with time. . . .
You’ve got my sympathy
I’ve had a few eye injuries they are scary. Can you check your local medical association to find a Dr with a sports background who’s familiar with this condition? They may know better how impact will affect you.
Good Luck
Randy
Go to a retina specialist ASAP!!!
I am 54 years old and the same happened to me. All started about a year ago with LOTS of floaters. Went to my regular eye doctor and was told basicaly the same as what you said. The jelly was pulling away but probably would be alright after a few weeks. He said there was no tears in the retina. Week or two later back to the eye doctor with more floaters. Thousands of floaters and am NOT kidding Still was told everything looked alright, no tears in the retina but should be alright. I was told that if I started to see like a curtain was going over my eye to see him ASAP that this would likely be a torn retina. He also told me that he would send me to a retina specialist just to make me feel better if I would like, but me being a trusting person turned the offer down. A week or so later I noticed that I couldn’t see my hand directly above my eye and my side vision was gone. Back to the eye doctor. More tests. This time he finally did see two creases or folds in my retina. An appointment was made for a retina specialist the next day. My eye doctor told me that the specialist would probably do laser surgery to fix the folds.
The next day I was told by the retina specialst that I had SEVEN tears in my retina and that some of them were OLD tears plus the two folds. Four days later I was operated on for 1 1/2 hours to fix the eye.
Two months after the first surgery I was operated on again to remove scar tissue.
Could go on with all the other things that have happened with the eye but would take a long time. A year later still having problems. The latest is swelling and fluid in the eye and not sure if the treatment is working yet. Just hope and pray the eye will get better but the doctor told me that there was so much wrong with it to start with he doesn’t know how it will work out. Sorry to be so long, but if you haven’t seen a retina specialist get to one ASAP!!! PLEASE!!!
Retina specialist
Thanks for your concern..but I am under the care of a retina specialist and have been seen the onset of my symptoms. Because of my myopia, I had been warned for years about warning signs of retina tears since I'm at risk, so I knew to be seen right away when I developed the symptoms. Luckily I seem to have dodged any retina damage at least in this right eye; unluckily even though I have no retina damage the prominant jelly dislocation is still extremely distracting.
Sorry to hear about your own troubles, and I wish you the best. I've had various injuries throughout my life, but anything with the eyes is just a totally different ball game (to me, and I think to most of us). Scary stuff.
I'll also just add for those who have never had to have a careful examination for retina tears: I maybe am extra sensitive, but I feel the exam crosses the line into being much more like being at the dentist rather than the normal, benign appt with the eye doctor! There are parts of the retina exam when I feel like I almost could be getting a lobotomy! I hate it, and unfortunately will have many more. Better get the exam though and catch any problems as early as possible.
sports
Thanks - that might be what I need…specifically a retina specialist who deals with sports. I feel comfortable under my current doctor’s care in terms of monitoring my condition…it’s more the future and precautions and risks that I’m not sure about, and that I don’t really think he’s sure about either. I will see if I can’t find someone with more of a sports background. Thanks for the idea.
Good Luck
Wish you well…Eyes are very precious
Best Wishes
Roy
Wishing
both the OP and other poster with retina issues the best of luck in dealing with their serious eye problems. It would be awful to have to chose between possibly permanently damaging your eye sight, and living your life the way you love to. I just had surgery to remove a mole like lesion from the inside of my lower left eyelid that is possibly cancerous. I’m ok, and surgery went well, but the swelling of my eyelids, the stitches, and the ointments I have to apply are killing my vision right now. I really sympathize with the OP, and anyone facing permanent affects to their vision. I’m sure this surgery will mean I can’t hit the water in early March as wanted to due to fear of infection, but hopefully won’t interfere for too long.
Good luck and take good care of those eyes!!
Paddlelupe
Retinal tears are certainly no fun; I've had a multitude repaired via laser on my right eye. I also suffered a retinal detachment (left eye) at the age of 21. There was no slow black curtain, just instantaneous black. That was very scary. Yes, continue to see your retinal specialist. It sounds like you're getting pretty comprehensive exams and I know what you mean about feeling more like it's a trip to the dentist...they really get in there and look around!!
However, even a retinal tear or retinal detachment is not the end of the world. My scleral buckle was very successful but not something I'd ever want to "volunteer" for :). No, my vision is not what it was before but I'm not blind either. Mine was directly related to head trauma, even though I was myopic before it wasn't to an extreme level. I suffered two concussions w/in about a three week span and one of those or the combination of them led to my detachment. One of those concussions was due to an MVA (some a** tried to drive over me and my steering wheel) and the other from a sports injury. I went to a retinal specialist who did specialize in active clients and though he told me to try to stop banging my head I think he recognized I wasn't about to sit on my butt the rest of my life.
I've been having some strange vision issues myself lately and I know it's time to go get it checked out. They'll probably find nothing but you do become extremely sensitive to changes in your eye. All you lose is the copay, right? Thanks for your post and good luck. Guess it's time I should make my appointment too.
One last note, if you ever feel you're not getting a good response from your doc, change to someone else. It could just confirm things and put you at ease or help you avoid the nightmare of having something missed. Sounds like you found a decent doc though.
Hey rroberts
Is this what Pat had?
They usually see eye-to-eye, but Pat
maintains a certain detachment about Rick and floaters in general. ]
Detached retina
was my situation. Woke up with a “curtain” progressively blinding my left eye. Despite a scleral buckle surgery, I lost most of my vision in that eye. Fortunately it was my bum eye anyway so I never relied on it too much. Use caution and watch for symptoms.
Bob
Pat had a torn retina…
…they were able to “weld” it before it detached,
and she does have a scalaral (sp?) buckle, which
is basically a rubber band around her eye that
keeps her eye deformed enough to hold the retina
against the back of her eye.
Her eyes get tired very easily and she can’t use
her eyes for extended periods–quite a torture
for a quilter/knitter/reader.
BTW. Did you know that g2d is the HPC’s
Lord High Geezer of Irrational Nonconformity
and Trip Waivers?
I didn’t know that ! The fabric of my
thought does become torn and detached, I admit. But I have never taken steroids or HGH, and I have never attended a party in Harveysburg.
I didn’t know that was g2d!!!
And isn’t it about time for a paddling porn party at Ronzo’s? (subtle hint)
that’s good advice
I had a sports-related eye injury in college, scary stuff. I was referred to a Dr. dealing commonly with sports injuries of the eye.