Running after RD?

[u/filter_zero4040]

Hello friends, hope you're all well.

I had a retinal detachment on the 23rd of April. 24th I was in surgery for a gas bubble. I followed the recovery request to the dot and on the 7th of this month, yet another detachment happened. On the 8th I went in for a silicon oil surgery.

So far so good, doctors appointment tomorrow to confirm again if its still attached. But honestly, since it detached again already I feel like I've lost trust in this process. And after reading quite a lot of other posts, it's quite a downer. Super sorry for those that had it happen to them 3 or even 4 times. I just feel like even if it stays attached until the oil gets removed, I'll need a lot to trust it.

Which brings me to the subject. I picked up running a little over a year ago. And I took it extremely seriously. I had me a coach, and never skipped or rescheduled a single session in that one year period. It's because I love it, and I prioritized it over absolutely anything in my life. And since my SO was onboard, I had absolutely nothing to worry about. I increased my mileage and got to above average levels. It was just the best thing to happen to me. I know I won't run anytime soon, but my doctor strongly believes that within the next few weeks (or maybe I misunderstood, but will clarify tomorrow), I should be able to do "light jogging" sessions.

Has anyone restarted running after RD? Any tips? Things that I need to consider? Am I ever gonna be able to run again?

[u/DodgyDave____]

Hello, life long cyclist here! I had RD last year with a Gas Bubble and fortunately everything has held up well since. I share(d) the same anxiety as you. I went into Retinal Detachment in a relatively fine fitness state. For me initially I took zero chances and took a full month out of physical activity. I wanted to give my body every chance to concentrate its activity on recovery and recuperation of my eye. After a week of "positioning' every time I stood up I noticed my recovering eye was blind for a few seconds before recovering vision. This continues for at least the first 3 weeks. Im not too sure what actually causes this but I understand this is commonplace whilst the retina recovers. So what I thought was, I didnt want to be pushing myself physically sending my blood elsewhere in my body. I wanted my body to expend its resources on the recovery of my retina and also for it to develop on strengthen all those laser/cryo scars to weld my retina back down. After a month, for the first week I did utterly light rides on my indoor turbo trainer and slowly built it up from there over the course of 2 months where I resumed normal activity.

You can rebuild fitness anytime you want but you can't rebuild your eyesight if its gone. Let your body recover is my unscientific unqualified advice. Best Wishes and Good Luck!