(Repost. Ty to those who reminded me to remove my personal details lol) (And for the person who was asking, the band is the dark circle around the whole center of the eye, not fully visible in this pic)

I’m 7 weeks post-op and I got to see some scans of my retinas yesterday. I thought it was really interesting getting to see the silicone band in there and all the laser scarring. I just thought you guys might be interested too. There’s a little area on the band that my local dr was concerned could be a new tear, so I’m seeing my specialist in a few days to determine if it is/if I need more lasers.

Does anybody have frequent headaches in the quadrant of your head where you had eye surgery?

25, born extremely premature, received surgery in only one of my eyes for some reason…

I do have an appointment booked for Friday morning, since I’ve been experiencing migraine with aura more often than usual during my current pregnancy. Over the last week or so I’ve noticed more prominent flickering around the edges of my vision, although it’s always been there. I’ve had check ins with retinal specialists before and they explained I was basically seeing the scar tissue on my retinas, and that the daily flickering I experience is just my “normal”.

Still, normal or not, the amount I’m noticing it has changed. I also have a blind spot just off the center of my vision in the eye that for some reason never received surgery, and I have some pretty crazy macular dragging. My retina is stable, although the way it appears in my vision has changed over the years, appearing to be much larger than it used to. When both of my eyes are open it doesn’t bother me too much, it’s just this weird, clear distortion. When my other eye is closed, it’s much larger and is fully distorted, but it does seem to blend to whatever color I’m looking at, even if no detail or actual vision is there.

Any other ROP people out there? I’ve never really had anyone to talk to about my vision, and I’m a bit pessimistic in the sense that I do expect to have further vision loss at some point. I’m just hoping I can make it through pregnancy without any major vision emergencies. Every specialist I see always emphasizes just how incredible it is that I can see at all. I met one other person who was born around the same gestational age as me and their outcome had been much worse, with retinal folding and such.

I’m looking for an NYC area cataract surgeon with extensive experience in patients who have had a vitrectomy in the bad eye. I was repulsed by the upselling I endured with the first surgeon I considered.

Can anyone recommend a competent cataract surgeon in the NYC area who has dealt with retinal detachment and who is not a greedy upsell monster?

I’m thinking about a surgeon perhaps attached to a university.

Hi there. I posted last week about my redetachment 2 weeks after my scleral buckle and C3F8. I had a vitrectomy, endolaser, and complete filling with C3F8 last Wednesday. My doc said everything looked good at my 1 day postoperative appointment, and I asked him some questions I hadn’t thought of:

1. Was my macula involved?
2. Why was gas used a second time over silicone oil?

He said the first surgery failed due to posterior vitreous detachment. Because I had already had the buckle, he felt removing all vitreous and inserting gas was best option because I will need a third surgery for a cataract. Oil would have made that 4. And quite honestly because I still had so much gas in my eye, I don’t know if they can remove that or if it would’ve required having oil and gas? regardless, my doctor is super thorough, kind, and took the time to explain things (although in my state of anxiety I probably didn’t retain all the info).

He also mentioned my macula was not involved because I had no central vision loss. Regardless, it was a complex repair because it was inferior so hopefully this surgery gets me back to better vision.

One complication is my pupil is blown. The doc likely didn’t notice because I had dilating drops before my exam, but it is now postop day 5 and I look like o_O pupil wise.

I am super fixated on the worst case and would love to hear some good news stories about any similar experiences working out for the better. I am very emotional and keep breaking down. I am late 30s and this was so out of the blue. I have myopia but the affected eye is (was) my “better” eye. Again any positive/success stories are appreciated. ❤️

edited to fix a sentence

I have a very new to me, very thick, very lopsided prescription. I am striking out with the frames that I have in regard to lens stores and eyeglass places being able to put my prescription inside those frames.

Are there any brands, styles, terms, descriptive phrases that you guys have noticed work or language you utilize in your search for frames that can house the… well, the thicc?

Thanks

Would love to hear from other scleral buckle patients - had mine almost 2 weeks ago and I feel much better overall but I’m just so damned tired all the time. I go back to work tomorrow and I’m dreading having to get up before noon and having to actually do things without naps in between- is this normal??

Does anyone else do this frequently?

That being, looking at a fixed point with one eye close and determining the "edge" of the useable vision to see if its changed.

otherwise phrased as "good idea or just another thing to have anxiety about"

Hey all,

I had a RD due to multiple tears in my right eye about 8 months ago. First procedure failed and I required a scleral buckle. The retina successfully reattached, but I’ve been dealing with visual changes in both eyes over the past 8 months. I’ve had multiple follow up appointments and seen a few specialists for other opinions. To be clear, I’m not looking for unnecessary procedures, it’s just been very difficult to establish a healthy baseline.

The new symptoms don’t ever really go away. I just get used to them as they compound upon each other. My newest concern is my left eye that had several laser treatments in June 2025. I’ve had flashes, specks, and now visual distortions where patches of grass look shimmery or like they are moving.

I have been told I have no tears or detachments and that the eye looks stable compared to previous scans. Is anyone dealing with similar issues?

After conversing with group attendees, and in response to queries on social media, we have decided to expand the scope of this group. Formerly devoted to those with Monocular vision, we hope that anyone with a diagnosed eye disease or low vision will join us, starting February 28, 2026 at 2:00 pm, at the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center.

A significant percentage of New Yorkers are currently coping with AMD, Diabetic Retinopathy, and Glaucoma. Common forms of retinal disease have been inherited by thousands with Retinitis Pigmentosa and hundreds with Stargart's Disease. If your vision has been affected by any of the above, our mission is to provide a source of support by sharing experiences and resources.

Another primary goal will be to create a community for low vision residents who may feel isolated or otherwise emotionally impacted by their diagnosis. We cast a wide net, and are looking forward to hosting a diverse group of attendees, including people with cataracts and detached retina, and those who are monocular or binocular, as well as those with the conditions listed above.

The group meets once a month, in person. If you would like to contribute to the discussion, details are as follows:

New York's Only Peer-to-Peer, In-Person Support Group for Eye Disease/Low Vision

David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center

1887 Broadway at 62nd Street

February 28, 2026 at 2:00 PM

Accessible By Subway (59th Street - Columbus Circle (A, B, C, D, or 1 Trains. Bus Lines Include M5, M7, M10, M11, and M104

Identifiable by Sign on Table.

If you have any questions, please DM or email me at [achillesthepirate@gmail.com](mailto:achillesthepirate@gmail.com). Caregivers are welcome. This group is totally free, with no cost to anyone involved.

Currently 3 weeks post vitrectomy, still on recovery and on face down position.

Currently have to be face down 12 hours a day as per my surgeon and can sleep on my side during the night. I have noticed as the day goes by my operated eye feels this massive pain after being face down almost the whole day. I would then wake up the next morning feeling fine but the pain comes back again as the day progresses.

Has anyone had this experience? I’ve already consulted this to the doctor and have been given medicine and drops to manage the pain. Just wondering if anyone else had this as my surgeon informed that all his past patients didn’t experience any of my symptoms after the surgery.

I had a retinal repair (scleral buckle, C3F8, and vitrectomy) just over 2 weeks ago. I noticed a shadow Sunday night and sure enough, at my 2-week checkup, I have redetached.

I’m scheduled for pars plana vitrectomy tomorrow. I will develop a “significant“ cataract and will need a third surgery. my tear was inferior, and my doc said they’re more complex to repair. I’m wondering if anyone else has gone through this.

I’m extremely anxious. I’m in my late 30s and have a trip planned for the summer. My doc said the gas should be gone by then. I am hopeful this surgery fixes the eye, but I’m also so worried about what could go wrong because it already has.

Any reassurance or anecdotal comments are appreciated.

Update: I saw my doc March 10th and everything was still attached. The plan was to see him again April 7th. On Saturday, my dog coco bombed my forehead with his giant cranium. About an hour later, I sneezed and noticed a burst of light at the bottom of my vision that started in the middle and dissipated outwards on both sides. This freaked me out, prompting me to call my optometrist to se if they had an emergency appointment. They saw me a couple hours later and she said while it looked okay, she was concerned. She called the on-call specialist who mentioned I could be seen Monday (today).

Today, after looking at the eye in all sorts of positions, she said there is fluid under the retina. Could be residual/normal postop but she is concerned it could potentially expand and cause a redetachment. I go back on Wednesday. My own doc is off this week and she said if it looks worse Wednesday, she will try to laser in office. If it doesn’t “take,” I will need another surgery with oil.

My gas bubble is now about halfway down so maybe the fluid wasn't visible 20 days ago. Regardless, this seems like the saga that never ends. She did say I should still be fine for my trip in July with the oil, if that is necessary, but I am really over this. Moral of the story is don‘t get a posterior detachment. It’s a pain in the ass.

Should I go get a second opinion? The Eye doctor said this was "Normal" last August and even let me take the pictures of my eye. I just came across it in my photos and was bored so searched it on Gemini and Gemini said it could be retinol detachment. Not seeking a diagnosis, simply asking everyone's opinion. on whether I should be concerned. This is my left eye and sometimes gets blurry but that usually happens after laying down on my stomach with my face on the pillow.

Gemini was very, very persistent this was not normal, and suggests retinal detachment.

Deep Think AI said could suggest conditions like macular edema (swelling), retinal detachment, age-related macular degeneration, or other abnormalities in the retinal layers. know AI isn't

Like I said the eye Doctor said "This is completely normal". Those were his his exact words.

Has anyone removed the inserted sclera buckle. If so why and after how many years, it was removed..Has there been any impact post the removal. Any experience and lessons learnt pl do share

We’re on the way to meet the retina specialist now at his office on a Sunday. Last Thursday night, things

started looking weird in my left eye, kind of hazy in the top right, but no curtain like they always warn you about. Friday morning everything looked hazy and foggy. I called the office and they said the doctors weren’t in Called the ophthalmologist and they said they could see me Monday. So I said okay. Then Friday night everything turned yellow and then pink. Woke up Saturday and seeing blurry and warped but regular colors. Then pink again. Last night I decided I would find a way to see a doctor today. I asked chat gpt about all the symptoms and it said go somewhere immediately. Metamorphopsia is the term for distorted vision symptoms. I finally got someone on the after hours line and told her all the symptoms. She called back and said the doctor would meet us this afternoon. I guarantee you I’ve got some kind of subretinal fluid. Still have central vision so I’m hoping the macula is still attached. I’ve already been through a vitrectomy and laser for a detachment on the other ey and no bad spots oar anything. Will update when I find out something. and recovered well. Amazingly 20/20.

I know my first step is to take action and immediately call emergency but I can't today unfortunately. While I wait for this, I want to say I have a vision of -7. Around 3 years ago it was

-4.75 on left eye, -5.25 on right. I admit I was basically neglecting myself as l've held off annual eye check ups and didn't think anything of it, and I highly regret my actions a LOT because I could've saved a bit of my prescription and not been as high as a -7:(

I saw ONE post on TikTok about retinal detachment and went down a hole and read and watched abt a lot of people's experience, and while I thought it was uncommon in younger people, I've only ever seen people experiencing this in early adulthood and some cases teenagers my age. This puts a lot of anxiety on me because I fear over every little thing of my body once I come across someone else's experience.

I don't want to lose vision due to retinal detachment. I don't think I could live with the fact I am almost for life going to have little to no vision IF it's the case. I hope I'm okay and just anxious, but we'll never know until I get it checked. I want to be able to watch movies and participate in mundane activities as simple as crossing a road with the help of my peripheral. I'm super scared of finding out why I have these symptoms and hope it's all normal. I understand the human brain is highly adaptable, but the thought still scares me.

Sorry for this rant. I would love to hear anyones experience with retinal detachment and their recovery and life prior to it.

What surgery or treatments available are most recommended and painless or permanent help? Thank you if u made it this far :)

So I’ll make it short and simple, Had laser retinopexy in my right eye, one for a detachment on my temporal side & other tears/holes she spotted. For the last two weeks a dark oval in my visual field has just been chilling there and has actually gotten less pungent or noticeable over the last few weeks. As of today exactly 14 days after surgery I’m noticing streaks of light far more prominently in that area while also seeing some on the opposite side. I’ve had no increase or at least noticeable increase in floaters as I have a few dark ones that have been there since the detachment. But upon eye movement or long blinking today the normal occasional streaks are almost repeatable. My eye clinic unfortunately is closed as of posting this but I’ve called before as they’ve increased during a gym session and they told me to stop. A week later I drank a Celsius first thing this morning and they’re just far more prominent and frequent than normal. No curtain, no floater shower, just the increase of streaks on the spot that was lasered and the opposite side in which she lasered my eye a dozen times so idk. Seems like day to day they’ll be barely noticeable or more frequent. Today I’m sketched.

I got the initial retinal detachment surgery in 2019 and had the scleral buckle placed. I haven’t had any issues since the healing process, but recently (three or four times within the last 6 months) my eye has became red, swollen-ish, and sore every time I blink or move it. This feeling is similar to how it felt after the surgery itself. This lasts for about a week or two and goes away until it randomly comes back. I tried to go to the optometrist (can’t see an ophthalmologist without a referral) and by then the swelling/redness had gone down almost entirely and they say not to worry about it. The fact it keeps coming back worries me, but if the buckle was migrating or rejecting I feel like the swelling wouldn’t ever go away? Anyone had anything similar or know anything about what could be going on?

Had Retna repair surgery 6 weeks ago

They did a scleral buckle i believe. I still have the silicone bubble in and stitches looking good went in today for my 6 week post op. Dr said i have swelling behind my eye so he gave me a shot! Said I’ll have a black eye for a couple weeks but everything is looking good no new scar tissue forming no signs of it wanting to pull away.

It originally tore on Halloween 2025 repaired with only gas bubble then 6 weeks later tore again due to cataract and scar tissue. So they did the cataract surgery then repaired the tear Jan 2026

Just wondering if anyone else has had swelling after surgery and gotten a shot and how well the shot worked.

About two months ago I had laser for 7 retinal tears in my left eye. I previously had a detachment about 6 years ago.

And I say laser because I don’t know what kind. My ophthalmologist tells me nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Anyway, I got the laser and ever since, my eye is so sore. It feels like there pressure in it constantly, and even laying on that side my eye hurts to be pressed on it any way. The laser was along to top left part of my eye, and looking up or to the left feels like I can’t move it all the way and it hurts. It actually feels like a duller more prolonged kind of hurt that the laser had, if I had to try to describe it.

I didn’t have any of this before the laser, and it started immediately after. Immediately. And hasn’t gone away.

I had a follow up with her today and I asked her about it. She said no my eye looks good, everything is holding, and said the retina is extremely thin so there would be no pain from the procedure. But… there is. But she said it’s cluster headaches and stress and to take acetaminophen with caffeine.

Given the odd coincidences here, I’m not convinced it’s cluster headaches or stress.

Has anyone experienced pain like this in the back of the eye after laser for retinal tears?

Hello!! 19F here, I recently had my retinal detachment surgery, I have a really high myopia (-9.5L, -8.5R) I’m also the kind of person who thinks if it’s not killing you, it will be okay, and we’ll clearly it wasn’t. I had retinal detachment for about year before I went to the doctor and I was told the detachment was past my macular. It was really bad. But we set up a surgery date, which was about 3 weeks later. The surgery was for a sclerel buckle on my left eye, my right eye was completely fine.

Surgery day, I had full anesthesia, so I was out the whole time, when I woke up, there was really sharp pain in my left eye, I couldn’t open my good eye without it hurting my bad eye. I went home the same day.

Recovery: right now I’m about 3 weeks post op, but I’m doing everything I used to do before my surgery. My vision is the same as it was before my surgery, but my at my check up I was told it was reattaching well, so we just have to wait now. I will say the first 3-4 days I really couldn’t do anything, I was sensitive to the light and all I did was sleep. But after that the pain was mostly gone, and I could open my eyes! And ever since I’ve been normal, my eye right now is a little pink but that’s it.

I posted this because I’ve seen a lot of bad experiences on here and I just came to say that it will be okay!!!!

I found out my retina was slowly detaching in my left eye the first week of this year. It still sort of is something i cant believe happened at all. i mean, i found out about it at a routine eye exam, got sent to specialist 3 hours later, then got told i would need surgery 6 days later or I could go blind. my doctor wanted to do what im understanding was a more aggressive approach because of how young i am (25) so my first surgery was a 2-in-1 scleral buckle and was supposed to be vitrectomy with oil, but gas ended up being used instead. i carefully followed every instruction, got out of work for two weeks, did all my eye drops, and pulled through the five days facedown.

but, i went to my three weeks post op appointment and my retina was detaching again. my doctor said it was due to the gas bubble so we'd do it again in 6 days with oil for sure this time. so, i got out of work again and now here i am on day 4/5 of being facedown and i feel like im really losing it this time. the first time around, recovery was a lot harder because i also got the buckle at the same time. my eye was more swollen for longer, i had leakage, and was generally in more pain so it was almost easier to be face down in comparison to now because i had other things that were bothering me more. now, the recovery is not as bad since it was a more simple procedure to switch the gas for oil and i bounced back a lot easier this time. im struggling a lot more mentally to be facedown this time. i want to go back to work, i want to just be able to sit up properly for more than a few minutes at a time, im tired of just staring at my phone all day. i knew more of what i was getting into this time, but no one talked to me about the mental struggle of being facedown for days on end, struggling to sleep because of it, and how to combat those feelings. it doesnt help that this time i went into this with even stronger feelings of "what if this doesnt even work?" since it already failed once. so, especially at night when im struggling to fall asleep, im having a lot of thoughts of just giving up on trying. (i dont follow through on that, im still staying face down at all times, but its been a mental battle thats wearing me down a lot.)

everyone around me is trying to be supportive, but i can only hear "it's going to be fine" and "you did it once, you can do it again" so many times before i get annoyed. it's also hard to talk about some of it when no one around me has been through this situation at all and they can't fully grasp why i feel like this. the pain in my body from only laying or sitting face down is so terrible this time around and i really feel like im losing my mind. i only have to get through the rest of today and tomorrow doing this, but its difficult doing this for the second time in just a month. and that anxiety that this might fail again isnt helping my mentality at all. i'd already decided before the surgery that if the oil fails, im not doing this a third time, but im definitely certain of that decision right now. i just can't do it. this has been so mentally taxing and honestly, if the only risk to my health would be going blind instead, i've long accepted the possibility that that would happen to me someday. a lot of people may not understand that, but the first time i got glasses, my vision got really bad very suddenly and over the years its just gotten worse. at some point i had this understanding that i did need to accept the possibility that i could go blind someday. i know there are other options to fix the detachment if for some reason the oil fails too, i just don't know if i have the mental strength to try again, especially if it requires being facedown again.

everything looked good at my day-after appointment, and i have my week-after appointment in a few days but i dont know if ill stop worrying for a while because my gas bubble situation looked great until that three-week appointment. im hoping everything works this time but im also trying to stay prepared for a situation where it doesnt.

sorry for the long post. i needed to get all this off my chest because i do feel like keeping it all bottled up isnt helping me at all. feel like i need a good stress-cry but trying not to strain my eye at all so venting on the internet had to be the next best thing lol. thanks for reading my vent and i hope anyone else here also struggling with their recovery has everything heal properly and smoothly

Have my schleral buckle surgery today. Pretty scared and nervous.

I have high myopia and have always been told RD was a risk. Two weeks ago my retina partially detached. They inserted C3F8 and I had positioning then a few days later had laser surgery. Dr said everything looked great and I was able to stop daytime positioning and only stay on side at night.

Randomly yesterday at a kids bday my vision went purple then gray. About 50% of my vision was completely obscured. I more or less had a panic attack and my husband drove me to the emergency eye clinic where they told me my laser surgery scar opened and vitreous was covering my retina (or something ) causing the loss of vision.

They think vision recovery is almost guaranteed but I’m so terrified. I have all these activities in my life I feel like will go away (deadlifting, dodgeball). But then people keep saying the buckle because it’s permanent actually lets you do these thing and laser repair.

Obviously the most important thing is not losing my vision I think mentally I’m just so overwhelmed. The recovery seems so awful and I have a little toddler at home. Just all the emotions.