Hello everyone, I am 26 and had 2 retinal detachments in my left eye back in March. The first scleral buckle was unsuccessful and 2 weeks later, my retina re-detached and they adjusted the buckle. So far, it has been holding up and I have another follow up in November. The last time I went was July and everything was going well. I’ve noticed that in this left eye since the surgery, when light changes from bright to dark, even for a second, I get a spot that floats up and disappears in the corner of my eye where the detachment was. Does anyone else have this? I’ve kind of learned to live with it but it does freak me out sometimes because I’m always worried about another detachment. I know I’ll probably forever have weird things with my vision in the eye but the floating spot is the one that gives me the most anxiety.

I’m 26M from Toronto. I had a macula-off retinal detachment and underwent vitrectomy with SF6 gas on October 8. Unfortunately, my retina detached again within two weeks, and my vision is now much worse. I can barely see from my right eye.
I’ve seen different retina specialists, and they’re recommending completely different approaches:
Option 1: Repeat vitrectomy + silicone oil + cataract surgery. My original surgeon wants to remove my natural lens for better visibility during surgery.
Option 2: Pneumatic retinopexy + laser treatments over several days, with different positioning instructions. If it fails, the backup is a scleral buckle with gas. The surgeon estimates around 50% overall success.
I also have multiple retinal breaks and mild/early PVR (scar tissue).
This is an emergency, and I know I need treatment urgently, but I’m genuinely so confused about which option to choose. I’m only 26, and I’m terrified of permanently losing my vision or undergoing multiple unnecessary surgeries.
Has anyone experienced a failed vitrectomy? Did pneumatic retinopexy, scleral buckle, or silicone oil work for you?
I’d especially appreciate input from retina specialists or anyone who’s been through something similar. I’m overwhelmed by the conflicting recommendations and just want to make the right decision before it’s too late.

I posted on here back in August; I’m 25. My retina detached and I had a pneumatic retinopexy instead of the big surgery. Then, a couple weeks later, it happened a second time (in the same eye, but they said it was a totally different area/tear). After a 2nd pneumatic retinopexy, my vision was perfectly fine for a while and it seemed to be healing well. The gas bubble is basically gone now—just a tiny little dot.

I went in for a follow-up this past Friday (October 23rd), and they said they needed to do some lasering. It’s been, like, four days since I got the lasering done, and all of a sudden I’m noticing another grayish-black splotch in the lower corner of my right eye. Is this just destined to keep happening? Is redetachment common?

It’s really hard to have a discussion with the ophthalmologist because they’re so busy.

Has anyone been able to chat with a doctor about this or the ophthalmologist? Basically, I’m wondering if the vitreous gel has been removed in both eyes does that lower your risk of a

so, is there anyone out there experiencing pain and told everything is healing nicely? Real pain, like a knife twisting inside your eyeball pain - still 2.5 months after vitrectomy and follow-up laser 10 days after that. And pain with quick eye movements? The pain really started with the laser, not the vitrectomy. Drs office acting like my pain is abnormal but just telling me to ice it. I take hydroxychloroquine for a scalp issue and wondering if I have a new inflammatory issue triggered by the surgeries that’s slowing my recovery. I’m stumped.

hey all

I was curious about what kind of optical illusions. Do you guys see what silicone oil in your eye?

For example, like splotches is moving around sometimes when I open my eyes or like pinpoint in my eyes. anyone also have this or more?

after getting a scleral buckle and three vitrectomies (1 gas, 2 oil) this year, im nearly six months post op from the third attempt and facing a new risk i didnt even think was possible when this all started.

my doctor was originally planning to take the oil out six months after my third attempt but at my appointment last week, he's decided we need to wait indefinitely because i have new scar tissue and overall, my eye has not healed fully. this is likely because i had so much done to my eye in a short timeframe and my eye was never given a proper chance to heal in between all the surgeries. i do have PVR and scar tissue buildup is what caused my retina to re-detach after the first two surgeries, but my scar tissue has been stable for months so this came out of left field. because of the PVR and the history of my retina re-detaching, my doctor is concerned about doing another surgery on my eye. hes concerned i could grow even more scar tissue and not only lose my vision, but im at risk of losing my entire eye. i cant even wrap my mind around that. losing my eye was never something i thought could happen during all of this.

my doctor said he would take the risk of doing surgery if i had the potential for good vision again, but ive also lost that potential. he thinks my vision in my detachment eye will likely never be any better than it is right now. i dont currently have peripheral vision because of where my scar tissue is located, i cant make out anything with my glasses or not, my vision is basically nonexistent in this eye and it will never get better. the only thing that should change is the double vision caused by the oil.

i dont know how to cope with this new risk and knowing i likely wont actually get my vision back to something normal. its completely unexpected and i cant process it all. everything was good for months and now this is a major disappointment i wasnt ready for at all. i'd been bracing for the other shoe to drop because thats unfortunately become a normal outcome for me since this started, but something like this just feels too unreal. i did everything right, i did everything i was told to do to protect my vision and my eye and i could still lose both. it doesnt feel real at all.

i dont know if anyones been in a similar situation since this is pretty extreme, but if anyone wants to give advice or even just share their own story, i'd appreciate it because i dont know where im supposed to go from here. i dont know how im supposed to move past this disappointment and anxiety like i have the other times ive gotten bad news. i dont know how im supposed to be optimistic about my eye anymore

If you got a retinal detachment and got it fixed, were you still able to see after or have you lost vision in that eye?

Earned myself a retina detachment at 25 years old last September and all my doctors say I am in fine health, 6 months after my surgery. Curious if anyone else has had random flash flickering in their eyes months after their surgery, but only lasts a few minutes

Any advice would be welcome.

I'm 7 weeks post op from a vitrectomy for a full retinal detachment (mac off) that went misdiagnosed as a stroke in the ER and led to several days of delayed care which turned into an emergency surgery. I had the long acting gas put in.

Despite the calming meds and local anesthetic I felt the procedure throughout until they loaded me up with pain meds.

I found out in the ER yesterday that it redetached, and I'm having to wait to be seen several more days before I can be evaluated and likely given another emergency vitrectomy.

I'm so anxious about having the surgery again that I'm nauseas and on the verge of a panic attack. The whole thing was a traumatic experience for me and the week of looking at the ground left me with immense back and shoulder pain.

Has anyone had success advocating for general anesthesia or something to put them to sleep? Last time I didn't have time to look into the surgery before it happened, but this time I know and I'm for sure going to have a panic attack on the table. I barely held it together as it was last time.

Thanks for listening to my spiraling

Following up on my last post. I’m 26 and need a second retinal detachment surgery.
One surgeon recommends removing my natural lens and using silicone oil, saying it’ll give him better visibility to reattach my retina.
Another surgeon wants to preserve my natural lens because of my age, even though cataracts will likely develop eventually.
Anyone working in ophthalmology or who’s been through this? Which approach makes more sense long-term? I’d really appreciate your opinions.

I’m asking because both of mine are detached. In my opinion, it can be done. It shouldn’t be that hard.

Disaccordo di retina opera con olio il 28 luglio, 20 settembre tolto olio e messo aria. Ad oggi tutto ok, il 29 visita definitiva con OCT.
Per cui ha passato questa esperienza, dopo quanto è tornato a fare sport? E sopratutto che sport ?

It's almost 4am here in Aus and I've been awake panicking most of the night.

Yesterday my optometrist told me my retina was detached in the lower part of my left eye. Because it's a Saturday, the only eye specialist in town was out of town for the day as they're not open on weekends. My optometrist called him and the specialist said he'd text me in the evening and he'd get me in tomorrow.

I have no idea what time today he will get me in as the clinic isn't even open on Sundays. But since my eye appointment yesterday morning, my grey veil has gone from being the top third of my eye, to now covering almost my entire eye. The optometrist said my detachment hadn't affected my macula yet but I'm so scared that it has now.

My biggest fear is that I'm currently studying to be a paramedic, and I'm so worried that the surgery won't fix my vision and I won't be able to chase that dream anymore. Retinal detachment has been the thing that's scared me my whole life (32yo, F) and now it's finally happened.

On the plus side I guess, at least when he does the vitrectomy, he'll remove all my eye floaters. And thankfully, none of this is painful.

I don't expect anyone to reply to this, and if you've read this, thank you. I just needed a place to get this out because I'm terrified and I don't know anyone who's had this happen before.

Hi everyone,
I’m reaching out to the community because I’m navigating a difficult transition with my eye health and my athletic routine, and I’d love to hear from anyone who has been through something similar.
Context:
Back in 2024, I was treated for retinal holes. Recently, I started noticing new phosphenes (flashes of light). I immediately got a full fundus examination (fond d'œil), which came back completely normal. However, because of the symptoms, I was advised to stop training completely for 15 days and closely monitor my vision for any changes.
What I'm struggling with:
1. Restarting exercise during/after the 15-day period:
I’m trying to figure out how to safely scale back into physical activity (light cardio, conditioning, shadow boxing) without triggering symptoms or elevating eye strain/pressure too quickly. How did you structure your return to exercise after a retinal scare or mandatory rest period?
2. The "grief" of losing sparring:
Combat sports (Muay Thai) and high-intensity training are a massive part of my life and daily stress management. Having to step away from sparring indefinitely due to retinal safety feels like a real loss/grief. It’s hard to accept, and managing that mental shift while staying hyper-aware of visual symptoms is exhausting.
I’d love to hear your experiences:
How did you approach restarting physical activity after a retina scare or doctor-mandated rest?
How did you cope psychologically with giving up sparring/contact work while keeping your passion for training alive?
Any tips for managing the daily anxiety during the 15-day symptom-monitoring window?

I saw a different surgeon today, and he recommended pneumatic retinopexy instead of another vitrectomy with silicone oil and cataract surgery.
He wants to inject 100% SF6 gas (a small amount of undiluted gas), have me come in daily for 7 days, change my head positioning to target different tears, and use laser to seal them. He estimated around a 70% success rate, which he acknowledged is lower than vitrectomy.
For context, my first vitrectomy with SF6 was on October 8, but my retina detached again, my macula is off, and my previous report mentioned early PVR and multiple retinal breaks.
I’m honestly confused about which surgeon to trust at this point.
Has anyone had pneumatic retinopexy after a failed vitrectomy, especially with multiple tears or PVR? Did it work, or did you eventually need another vitrectomy?
I’d really appreciate hearing your experiences.

I had a segmented scleral buckle done about 5.5 weeks ago for a localized retinal detachment (mac on). It's chronic since I've had the same tear for almost ten years now, however laser coagulation ultimately did not work for me and the fluid went past my laser scars this year so I had to get the buckle surgery. I just had my one month follow up where the doctor confirmed the buckle was sitting well on my tear but the fluid extent on the scans look exactly the same as last month. I'm a little disappointed but the doctor did say the fluid is shallow and will take a long time for my body to absorb. Anybody have any similar experiences or timeline for how quickly the fluid will drain? I guess I thought it would improve faster.

Also I (28F) was completely asymptomatic and only found out about needing surgery when I was getting evaluated for smile refractive eye surgery.

Hello, I have a macular hole but can't find a SubReddit for that! I have a victrectomy coming up on Monday and have heard that the gas bubble floating can cause motion sickness. I am very susceptible to motion sickness and am concerned about it, but also read that Dramamine can interact with the eye drops I will have to take. My surgeon refuses to prescribe Zofran. (According to the surgical coordinator, if a vitrectomy resulted in motion sickness EVERYONE who has one would get motion sickness. Alrighty then.)

I'm curious if anyone has had motion sickness post vitrectomy or I'm worried about something that is highly unlikely to happen.

Posted before as well got really good information. I’m 25 and had retinal detachment surgery at Toronto Western Hospital on October 8. Unfortunately, my experience was terrible, and my vision is now significantly worse.
Before surgery, I could still see, but everything was wavy and distorted. After surgery, my retina detached again, my macula is off, and I’ve lost significant vision in my right eye. Now I’m being told I need another surgery involving silicone oil and cataract removal.
I’m honestly devastated. I’m only 25, and I have my whole life ahead of me. I don’t want to keep undergoing surgeries, and I’ve lost confidence in my current surgical team.
Can anyone recommend the best retinal surgeon in Canada, especially for complicated retinal detachments and PVR?
I’m in Toronto but willing to travel anywhere in Canada. If you’ve had a similar experience, please share your surgeon and outcome. I just want the best possible chance of saving my eye.

O doutor que me operou disse que até um ano ia clarear,só que não estou vendo muita evolução,essa parte que está mais alta ea faixa e minha conjuntiva aparenta ser fina e dá pra ver os pontos da faixa e isso está me incomodando um pouco! Mais feliz por até agora minha retina estar colada

Estou procurando pessoas com a mesma experiência que eu por que aqui até agora não vi relatos igual o meu

So 4 months ago my toddler clocked me in the eye with a book. Immediately I saw flashes and a dark spot. I went to an ER here where I live (the ER here is connected to a college so they are able to treat specialty cases like eye trauma etc since they always have an ophthalmologist on call with people doing their residential following them ) and I was diagnosed with a vitreous detachment from eye trauma. I want to note that I already have terrible terrible vision. Extreme nearsightedness (prescription is -18.5 I believe ) and the doctor said that due to me having very bad vision and elongated eyes that the trauma triggered what would have happened eventually as I age. Just sped it up. They have me going to advance eyecare every month to follow up and check the progress , so far it has pretty much remained the same. That is until 2 days ago.

I started to notice this weird disc shaped shadow in my peripheral after I’d blink, but it would fade as I kept my eyes open to where it wasn’t noticeable. That started around the afternoon and persisted, i thought maybe my eye was just acting up. Yesterday morning i woke up to flashes and that disc shape being in my peripheral constantly and not fading like the day before, it was more like a shadowish gray thing. Then at about 3 pm the vision in that eye -the best way to describe it- was seasoned with pepper. Just black specs everywhere. I was on my way to the gym but turned around and had my mom stay with my kids and went to the ER. It took about 2.5 hours for an ophthalmologist to see me, and when they finally did they said I had a retinal tear but not a detachment. The retina specialist was with a detachment patient performing surgery and that as soon as he was done they’d see me next. This was at about 5:30 or so. During my wait I noticed the spot in my peripheral getting worse and larger. At 7, the retina specialist finally took me back and did the exam, he said that my retina was starting to detach and was small but a bit of fluid had gone into the tear. He said because of my age he felt the risks of doing a full detachment surgery would outweigh just repairing the tear and stabilizing the detachment. So they did some laser and sealed the tear along with a few other holes in my eye. He said that he would say 90% it will be success and my retina won’t continue detaching for now, but it still could and to come back if it worsens and only then will they recommend the surgery.

Has anyone gone through this? The dark spot was very bad last night, it’s a little bit better today, but still there. He said likely vision won’t return to my peripheral.

Around 2021 I was seeing flashes, had a lot more floaters and had blurry vision. Went to the opthamologist and they said my retinas were thin with atrophic holes but there was nothing too concerning right then.

I assumed it was vitrious detachment and just kept monitoring. The flashes died down. All of a sudden I'm seeing flashes again. Of course I'm making an appointment but just wanted to ask if anyone has had something like this happen?

I’m 25 and currently living in Toronto, Canada. I was in a car accident earlier this year, and a few months later I noticed straight lines looking curved. I found out my retina was detached.
Before surgery, I could still see, read, and recognize everything, just with some distortion. Doctors told me I needed urgent surgery to prevent permanent vision loss, so I went ahead with it.
Unfortunately, my retina detached again after surgery. Now I have a shadow in my vision and can barely see properly from that eye.
I’m struggling to trust the same surgeon again. Part of me feels like my eye got worse because of the surgery, but I also understand complications can happen even with a good surgeon.
My first surgery involved a gas bubble. Now they’re recommending another surgery involving silicone oil and cataract removal at the same time.
I’m only 25, and I’m scared of spending years going through repeated surgeries and potentially losing my vision. I’m considering getting the second surgery overseas instead of Canada, but I still have a small gas bubble left, so flying is another concern.
Has anyone experienced something similar? Did you stay with the same surgeon or get a second opinion? Did your vision improve after the second surgery?
I’m genuinely overwhelmed and would appreciate hearing your experiences.

hi folks, I have two quick questions.

1. Has anyone taken a flight abroad or gone on an airplane with oil in the eye was it OK? Have a vacation coming up and feeling nervous
2. Please see edit below for clarity : Currently have silicone oil in the eye and see these weird visual phenomenon. Spoke to my surgeon about it and it wasn’t a concern, but just wondering if anyone else has experienced this. I’ve had it in my eye for about a month now and it seems like when I open my eye there’s this weird that’s black and it just fades after I open my eye after a few seconds. It seems like a bubble, but obviously it isn’t. Changes colour based on light to. It’s not in a fixed position like a curtain but yeah, it’s just like this weird spot or for example, if flash hits it.

EDIT: just making an edit for clarity. I do not have a gas level. I only have oil. Also, the silicone oil is in my right eye. For example when I open my right eye right when it opens, I see like black spots kind of like an after image.. then it fades after a few seconds. Ifor, for example, if the light turns on after a dark room, I will see that kind of after image in the silicone oil bubble.. or if there’s a camera flash that specific area will be an after image. I’m just wondering if anyone else has experienced this.

ty!!

I'm 30 days out from surgery. Mac-on. Bubble is gone. Vision is clear, but everything is smaller (Micropsia) and some waviness noticed when trying to read (metamorphopsia). I have to close 1 eye to read anything or take glasses off. Google says normal and can take up to a year to get better. Curious if anyone has had same experience? Brad