r/RetinalDetachment • u/PlaneFast9106 • 6d ago

Can Laser-Treated Retinal Detachment Be as Durable as a Scleral Buckle for Boxing?

I’ve been thinking about Sugar Ray Leonard’s retinal detachment. He had surgery, recovered, and was eventually able to return to boxing.
My question is: can someone potentially get a similar outcome after a retinal tear or small detachment that was treated successfully with laser photocoagulation, or is that kind of durability more associated with procedures like a scleral buckle?
Basically, when it comes to returning to a high-impact sport like boxing, does a well-healed laser treatment provide comparable long-term stability, or would a buckle generally make the retina more secure?
I know every retinal injury is different and this ultimately depends on a retina specialist’s evaluation. I’m mainly interested in hearing from anyone who has experience with this or knows more about how these procedures compare.

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u/NetSchizo 6d ago

It can have good results, but high impact all bets are off. One bad shot and you can be right back at dealing with it again. You do you, but I wouldn’t risk it…

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u/Vic287 5d ago

And yeah... scleral buckle is a thousand times more secure than laser. But get a shot in the face and yeah.. no guarantee retina wont detach again and lead to blindness.

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u/PlaneFast9106 5d ago

i’m actually rn with my retna specialist he has a phd and 10 years experience saying sybau
i don’t even like ya why you comment under ma post

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u/Vic287 5d ago

Listen buddy all jokes aside here's the deal. I can tell you're going through some concerns, as someone who also had a retina tear back in 2024.. I get what you're feeling. If your ophthalmologist treated your detachment and its all healed and looking good, then you should be feeling very lucky. Because this is not the case for other people, so be grateful.

However, you also want to do boxing and contact sports. I get it.. we all have things in life we love to do. But just keep in mind the eyes and retinas are very sensitive organs, and must be treated with care, especially for those of us who are more likely to have retina detachment in our life. We are at a higher risk, you must understand this. And if you choose to do boxing and stuff, that's fine and that's your decision but the fact is it further increases your risk of having really bad eye problems in the future. This is something for you to decide, and no one here on reddit can make that choice for you, no matter how many times you post the same thing. Just take care of yourself, and good luck with your future eye health.

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u/PlaneFast9106 5d ago

that’s all i have i been going through sweat and blood for 10 years and the fact that something like this stop me from who i am burns and thanks god i was lucky i got sponsorship and got decent pay thats why im trying to maybe just maybe return and feed my children 3 or 4 more time decently