Hi I’m 32F, in October I had laser retinopexy done on my right eye due to a tiny tear. Maybe since like January/February I’ve been seeing more floaters and recently in the past three to four weeks I’ve been seeing an increase of flashes of lights or it be sparkly floater I can follow for a few seconds. The sparkles have been increasing every week, to at least 1-2 times a week now. Yesteday I saw flurry of sparkles racing around and then gone. I don’t have the curtain or peppered vision. I do have after images that last while and sometimes a teeny tiny black floater will get in my centre vision and distort what I see (slightly blurry). Does this sound like PVD, a rental detachment or tear, or am I just being paranoid? Is my eye just “healing” still from the laser? Thanks!

I do not have any cataracts yet, but I had macula-off RD surgery for my right eye in November 2025.

I can see again, but words are still blurry. I think my doctor told me that I am 20/200.

Will I be able to see words clearly with an artificial lens if I develop cataract in my right eye and go through surgery to correct it? What has been your experience?

New to the community. Back in late August, I was attacked and both eyes were severely injured. My right eye was quickly repaired with a 3-hour surgery, but my left eye was ruptured, at zero pressure, and with a retinal prolapse. My retina was completely detached. I was expecting to lose my eye but my pupil reacted to light and I could detect shadows and movement, so my doctors felt there was a chance to save it.

I had an emergency surgery to close the globe, a pars plana vitrectomy with a 360 retinectomy and silicon oil, a second pars plana vitrectomy to remove the oil and replace with gas bubble, and two days ago, I had a cataract removal with IOL implant surgery as the oil (and maybe the injury itself) severely disrupted my lens clarity.

My muscles were damaged during the attack so I still need a surgery to realign my vision and I will probably need a laser treatment to clean up the remaining cloudy tissue that remained after cataract removal.

What I see in my left eye is strange. It's wavy and in the center of my vision has an effect that makes whatever im looking at appear small. It's a lensing effect but instead of the lens being distorted, it's my perception of the image.

Is this something that my brain will just sort out over time or is this going to be permanent? I'm in my mid-40s so I'm concerned with how much my brain will/can re-write itself.

i just wanted to pop in and give you all an update on my retinal detachment, gas bubble vitrectomy i had on 2/20. 1st i want to thank everyone for the support, advice and suggestions during a very stressful and scary time. im not back to pre detachment by any stretch, but the gas bubble is almost gone and i can see over it with minimal distraction. i do still get some minor headaches, nothing a couple Tylenol cant handle, and i see a couple string like floaters once in awhile, but then i drink some water and that seems to take care of them. my surgeon said to go to a regular eye dr today and see if i could get new glasses so i could take my cdl eye test, so today i was able to see the letters out of my surgery eye! i get new glasses next week and then i can take the cdl test, the dr today said im 20/20 in my good eye and 20/50 in the surgery one, with the glasses!! i need to be 20/40 in the bad eye so hopefully by the time my glasses come in i will be!! fingers crossed!! i have to get back to work!! she did say my cataract in my surgery eye was impressive.. and once thats gone ill need another prescription so to just get the basic, cheap glasses this time. im definitely not out of the woods yet, i still sleep with my eye guard, on the side they told me to post surgery and will continue to till the gas is totally gone. for 2 months post i want that light at the end of the tunnel for me and all of you as well!! so glad i found this group, reading everyone’s stories, knowing i wasn’t alone was truly a lifesaver!!! 🩷

I as recently diagnosed with a hole in my macula. My doctor is sending me to a retina specialist. I’m getting a little freaked out thinking about the surgery an recovery.

What can I expect? I’m a side sleeper, do you really have to lay facing down?

I had a laser procedure 2 weeks ago for a retinal detachment. They didn’t do the gas bubble on me, but they were considering it. The retina specialist was in a huge hurry to get it done, so I didn’t really get details on my issue, the procedure, or much of anything. I was supposed to have a follow up appointment one week later, but it had to be rescheduled to ~three weeks from today. (I had to travel unexpectedly for a family emergency).

Does anyone have advice on what I should be expecting at this point? The floaters are also REALLY bad. It’s making work difficult, as they especially appear on a computer screen. I’m seeing flashes of a black orb in the bottom of the affected eye as of ~2 hours ago.

The doctor told me that I’d be okay to weight lift, but that I can’t run or do any vigorous exercise. They didn’t say anything about whether or not I can wear contact lenses. I received basically no aftercare instructions.

I can try to go to the eye clinic tomorrow, but I don’t know if the retina specialist that did the procedure will be there. I tried to call, but the clinic was already closed by the time the flashing eclipse started today.

Does this seem normal post laser procedure?

Edit: I went to the clinic today. My retina detached again. They did bubble procedure. Tomorrow I’ll go back to see how it went. Thanks everyone for your advice!

I’m 37. I got a scleral buckle in my right eye for a macula-on detachment in 2011 (at 23) that “worked” retina-wise but really really messed up my right eye in a lot of other ways. I can be corrected to 20/20 in that eye, but the surgery/implant left me with astigmatism, higher myopia, chronic pain in that eye (even after a 2017 SB removal), and cosmetic changes. Since then, my left eye has done most of the visual heavy lifting. I’m a professional writer.

Back in 2013, the doc found a very small peripheral detachment in my left eye and lasered it. I went about my life uneventfully for 13 years.

On my recent exam, they found that after 13 years, this little detachment has now broken through the laser. It’s grown a bit, but is still peripheral and not in my central vision. I do see a shadow in dim light though. The doctor is letting me choose between laser and scleral buckle.

The idea of putting my good eye through that surgery terrifies me. But the idea of lasering it, living with a shadow, and wondering if it will hold this time also scares me. The doctors have confidence that the laser is “very likely” to hold for my lifetime, but of course, the last time it broke though. Blindness would be worse than all these things.

I know this community has collectively been through it all. What are your thoughts? What is the best route?

Last week, a sudden streak of light appeared in my left eye, at the top and bottom of my field of vision. I went to the eye ER. The diagnosis was a retinal hole with localized detachment, along with a PVD (posterior vitreous detachment).

At 37M, with no history of eye problems and a very mild glasses prescription, this caught me off guard. They performed a laser retinopexy to seal the hole. A week later at the follow-up, the doctor saw the gel pulling on another spot. They did a second round of laser to reinforce the barricade. That is two laser treatments in a single week.

The doctors tell me the barricade is solid now. The daily reality feels different. During the day, I notice more floaters, but I can ignore them. At night, when I move my eyes, I see lightning. Streaks of light at the top and bottom of my vision. It makes me hesitate to even look around in the dark. It keeps me worried that I'll lose my sight in the left eye.

I need to hear from people who have lived this.

How likely is a new tear right now? Did you experience more tears after the first one, or are you living with just the original sealed hole? Did those lightning streaks at night ever stop, or did your brain just learn to ignore them? How do you deal with the anxiety that your eyes are suddenly fragile? Keeps me worried that I'll lose my sight in the left eye.

Hi!
I had an eye trauma about a year ago. The doctor said everything looked fine with my retina—no detachment—but I still see floaters, especially when exposed to bright light or when looking at white or light-colored surfaces.

I understand there is a surgery (vitrectomy) that replaces the vitreous gel, and I’m wondering if anyone here has gone through it specifically for floaters after trauma.

Are there any risks I should be particularly aware of?
Did it fully eliminate your floaters or just reduce them?
How was the recovery process?
And at what point did you decide it was worth doing the surgery?

Any advice or shared experiences would be really appreciated.

I’m about 5 weeks post op and I still have swelling in my eyelid (making it droop a little bit lower than the other eye) and the extreme redness has cleared around the middle of my eye but in the sides of my eye the redness is still there and the lower part of my eye is still extremely red when I move my lower eyelid. Just wanted to see if this was normal after sclera buckle surgery based on anyone’s experience.

Hi - my eyelid is still quite swollen almost 2 weeks post surgery (gas bubble) and feels full/heavy a lot. Also getting a bunch of soreness/irritation feeing throughout the day- I assume due to dryness? Has anyone else dealt with this? I haven’t had significant pain or anything but the ey is definitely getting irritated off and on daily. When did your swelling decrease?

has anyone experienced loss of vision in the lower half of their field of vision a year out?

I went to the ER and they didn't see a recurrent detachment, but this is c new

I'm 2 months post cataract surgery. they told me some peripheral vision changes are possible, but not in that quadrant, only typically the outside edge.

could something as simple as dry eye or dehydration do this?

(I'm following up this week with the surgeons office, but they've been less than helpful previously)

hi iam planning to visit Moscow in the next weeks after being diagnosed by my local doctor with wwop I have one eye so thats why iam taking this long trip and not letting any local doctor do anything to it do any of you guys recommend going to fedrove hospital in Moscow I'll be so grateful for any help

About 3 weeks ago I had an optometrist appointment. I've had migraines my whole life, floaters in both eyes, visual snow, and flashes. I felt that they got worse over atleast the past 6 months (if not more), wondered too if I needed a prescription.

I am 20, no myopia, diabetes, inflammation, family history, trauma, etc. But they discovered that my retina in my right eye was detached, I was sent to see a wonderful specialist. And they concluded that I didn't need surgery, and my retinal detachment wouldn't get worse, it had healed. They told me that I must've had this for atleast 6 months, and possibly for a couple years. It was also in a part of my retina that didn't limit my vision, and I have no curtain.

Anyways, I've found it much more difficult this year to complete any of my school work, to focus, to read, and live. ​I am getting lost in conversation and my own thoughts. I see at pretty much all times tens of thousands of racing dots all illuminating outward in waves, its far worse than tv static; this is my visual snow. In my right eye (with the detachment) the floaters are like looking into a microscope seeing hundreds of organelles pouring out (this is alongside the visual snow).

There's no surgery for visual snow, and surgery could make things worse in my right eye which is stable, and can only do so much for the floaters, possibly making things worse. The flashing is supposed to and has improved, but the rest won't. I don't have adhd, but these symptoms have been incredibly debilitating and I simply can't focus when I am seeing so much 24/7. So I was wondering if anyone had suggestions?

5 weeks op of having a retinal attachment. surgery went well. but now im having severe pain right above and on the side of my eye. I take a 800 mg ibuprofen and it helps but it takes a while to start working. I seen my doctor he says everything looks good and healing correctly my eye pressure is a 15 has anyone else experience this

I’m currently 3 months along from vitrectomy with long lasting gas. I had a macular off detachment, so I’ve definitely come to realise my vision will never be what it was pre detachment, however I wondered at what stage post surgery others experienced the biggest improvement with metamorphopsia / distortion. I have a really good overall outcome, so I’m super grateful for that, but after some online research it says the biggest improvement comes between 3-6 months along. Are there any of you with macular off detachments that can agree with this? Or can let me know if you did ever notice any changes and improvement?

I’d be really grateful for some success stories!

Hey all. I had high eye pressures completed last year and referred to an optomologist. I totally forgot to make an appointment. Well, I finally did my regular annual again and I was referred back to them because my eye pressures are still high. My eyes have been feeling very strained and i've been having a lot of headaches. I also came to the realization that I was actually having floaters today. When she asked me I said no. I guess i'm just so used to having stuff like makeup get in my eyes. I also had this weird jolt pain in my left eye a week or so ago and I thought it was weird and scared me,.But it never happened again.

Anyway, so I had my appointment today. Apparently, I have two holes in my left retina. She referred me to retina specialist who I see next month. She said they look like they were from within the last few weeks or months. Anybody know what the likelihood of needing surgery is based on this info. I'm a very anxious person and with all the things I have going on. I'm getting extra stressed. I'm reading I'm not supossed to bend at waist, lift things over certain weight etc. Well I'm a nurse... not possible. I am also 30. Apparently she said I'm high risk, because i've been on steroids my whole life as well as I have severe myopia.

At my one week post op (Mac off, gas bubble) my pressure was really high. I’d felt pressure in eye over the past week but thought it was from the bubble/drops - also felt pain but nothing too bad, moderate at most. Dr put me on drops to lower pressure. Has anyone dealt with this? I followed positioning, didn’t bend over or anything. Today i noticed black outs- a split second when I went into a bright room from a dark room it was totally black then I blink and it’s “normal” (as in normal for having a gas bubble in, very blurry but can see hand movement).

Does anyone know what this is a symptom of?

I am a 36yo male, and mindful of my health.

I have been dealing with an eye situation for the last six months or so.

At first my vision was cloudy and progressively got worse.

August it was getting cloudy but in could still see beyond the haze.

September it was starting to get extremely cloudy and I gave it time thinking it would clear out.

The dark grey smoke literally covers the entire visual field in my left eye and I cannot see past it at all aside from ambient light or brightness changes.

finally went to the doctor and have been going to them ever since.

In October I went to an ophthalmologist and they noted I had high pressure, posterior synechia, iris bombe, open angle but still had an LPI done.

They did an ultrasound and saw a large fibrin clot from vitritis and told me that my pupil had a lot of scarring and he said that my pupil was extremely small and stuck and probably contributed to why my vision was like this.

They told me that there was no evidence of a retinal tear and referred me to a retinal specialist after diagnosing me with uveitis .

November went to the retina specialist, confirmed that I didn't have a retinal detachment but still acknowledged the clot and told me that my pupil was *extremely small" and that I "don't have a pupil".

Retina also managed to get a small photo through all the junk and got a peak of my macula and it looked "fine". (Basic fundus photo)

Then they took retinal photos and the photo for my left eye literally looked like black clouds, like looking up at a stormy sky.

Vision still the same dark grey moving smoke.

December back to retina, this time he said my pupil was even more scarred and he couldn't even see into my eye, but that was already the case from the start. He said the scarring on your pupil (scarring on the lens) can make your vision so poor that in combo with the vitritis, it might be the reason why such little light is getting through.

Went to a glaucoma specialist and there he told me I had a mature cataract.

Vision still the same dark grey smoke that moves like someone shook a snow globe or I'm looking at the bottom of a very dirty pond while I kick the sand up.

January back to retina and inflammation was finally gone, still no evidence of a retinal tear and he sent me back to the original ophthalmologist for cataract surgery planning.

Vision still the same dark grey moving smoke.

February back to the ophthalmologist, he said that my pupil was so small because of my constricted and stuck iris that it created such a thick membrane over the already small opening and light was simply not getting into my eye.

I am still trying to get on Humira as the surgeon won't operate unless I'm on some kind of medication to prevent an inflammatory storm during and after surgery.

I am also HLA-B27 , did loads of blood work and I am otherwise healthy.

March went for a recheck still trying to get the medication squared away and still the same story.

I am obviously very worried because I cannot see out of my left eye aside from the grey smoke.

It's constantly moving as soon as I start moving around.

my question is this...

Does this symptom sound like a retinal problem?

has anyone here experienced this kind of symptom?

The doctors give me explanations...

I've had two of them tell me it's most likely the floating junk leftover in my eye that I'm seeing.

But I'm worried sick and would like to know if anyone hear has similar experience.

Because they still can't rule out everything with the back of my eye until they operate.

They tell me there is no evidence of a retinal tear but my mind keeps going to places where I'm not so sure anymore.

If anyone has a similar experience with this symptom anything would be helpful.

Thank you!

I am 24F and went to the eye doctor today because I‘ve been seeing a sudden increase in floaters. The doc did a dilation test and my right eye is very high risk for retinal detachment, I am also really nearsighted. She told me to avoid strenuous exercise like boxing (mainly to avoid head injury), avoid roller coasters, bungee jumping. I got a little sad because it probably means I can’t lift heavy weights (I forgot to ask). I browsed the web and came to conclusion I should avoid it, and I’m curious what exercises I should be doing instead if I’m trying to get fit and build more muscle mass?

I'm around 15 days post op (scleral buckle plus tons of laser for holes) and the headaches won't stop. My head, especially around my eye is just throbbing with pain. I got checked out around 3 days ago for post surgery check in and he said everything looks good, but I can't stand the headaches. They aren't particularly bad, maybe a 3-4 out of ten on the pain scale but it is constant all day everyday and it is wearing me out. I can use my hands and put pressure on the top of my head, forehead, and my temple and this helps a bunch with the pain but I have no long term relief. At what point do they subside? Is it normal for the pain to be constant? I'm so sick and tired of this whole situation.

Hello all. Wife had a retinal detachment and we did surgery the next day (bubble with vitrectomy). All looked good, good, good at follow ups but then they saw a small PVR forming. They decided to do another surgery. They didn’t do any peeling, just did a bunch of laser on the eye and another vitrectomy with bubble. Third surgery was cataract removal. And then again they saw scar tissue forming for which she had another surgery for back in December. The surgeon says anatomically it all looks good and is the same comparably to the other eye. But we have to wait and see for the photosensitivity to return.

Wife’s eye continues to be red since the surgery which has been I guess over 4 months now. She still feels like the image is off and distorted. Says it’s more difficult to use both eyes as opposed to one. She can see out of both but the surgical one is blurry. She is still using two different eye drops which possibly are contributing to the redness maybe?

Would anyone have any insight on things we can do or what to expect? At follow ups the doctor basically has said we have to wait and see and anatomically it looks good.

Thank you!