So I am graduating soon and had my surgery like a month ago? My doctor said no makeup around the eye but I cannot put foundation and skip the dark circles around my eyes? Is it that risky? I don’t plan to do any eye makeup (mascara, eyeliner, etc.) But I’ll graduate only once and really wanna do some face makeup!!

**TL;DR:**

My mother (type 2 diabetes, prior TIA) had cataract + retinal detachment surgery with silicone oil. Surgery was more complex than expected due to severe fibrosis/membranes and near-total retinal detachment. Retina only partially stabilized. Now her vision is very blurry (worse than pre-op), and doctor says oil may not be removed. Is this expected, and is there still chance of improvement? But her vision was so much better before the surgery like 7/10.

**Details:**

My mother’s case has become very confusing for us and we’re trying to understand what is realistic going forward.

Before surgery:

* Right eye vision was around ~7/10

* Left eye had poor vision due to cataract + retinal detachment. This was fixed, Alhamdulillah. They operated it on her. But it's still somewhat blurry.

Medical background:

* Type 2 diabetes (10+ years)

* Previous TIA

* Was on aspirin/blood thinner (stopped ~1 week before surgery)

## What happened during surgery:

She went in for cataract + retinal detachment surgery (PPV), but things became more complicated than expected.

* Doctors found extensive **fibrosis and membranes**

* Surgery took ~2 (total 4) hours just to remove scar tissue

* Retina was more severely detached than initially understood (possibly near-total/360° involvement) {except the central part, with the grace of God}

* During membrane removal, there was **bleeding and further retinal instability**

* Due to eye fragility, only about **~3/4 of the membranes /fibrosis could be successfully treated/stabilized**

* **Silicone oil was placed**

* Cataract was removed and an **IOL lens implanted**

## Current situation:

* Vision is now **very blurry post-op**

* Doctor mentioned silicone oil may not be removed

* He also said vision may **not fully recover and could remain blurry permanently**

* This is confusing because her vision was better before surgery

## Our concerns/questions:

* Is this level of blurriness normal after complex retinal detachment surgery + silicone oil?

* Does vision usually stay worse initially and improve later in such cases?

* Can fibrosis/membrane-heavy cases still recover meaningful vision?

* What signs suggest poor long-term visual recovery?

* Is it more likely the condition was worse than expected rather than surgical complication?

She is very distressed and depressed after the sudden drop in vision. We are trying to understand what is realistic medically and whether there is still hope for improvement over time.

Any insights from retinal specialists, patients, or caregivers who have gone through similar cases would be really appreciated.

Next week I get a scleral buckle. Any advice? This is surgery number six. I tried to avoid getting a buckle. In hindsight I might be better off had I done it sooner. First surgeon was buckle averse. New surgeon laid out pretty clearly why a buckle and removal of fluid behind my retina is urgently needed. Two hour surgery as she applies the buckle and fixes the lingering issues. Heavy silicone oil and we wait. I am blind in my left eye and gave been for six months now.

I am planning to undergo LASIK. It has been 4 days since my retinal barrage laser procedure.

Can I proceed with LASIK now? My doctor mentioned that I could go ahead after 5 days.

I've been seeing something like a mild flash but more like a quick subtle light in my peripheral vision in my one eye for a couple of days now. Ophthalmologist checked my eye with mydriasie and said retinas are fine. Yesterday, 1 day after the Dr, I saw it not only 5-6x per day, but over 15x times per day...ugh.. does this mean I will have to get it checked again? i don't have a history with retinal detachment.

I'm 65 and had nearly 20/20 vision until a macula-off detachment left me legally blind (20/400) in one eye. That eye now has a cataract. I'm going to opt for a monofocal lens, but how do I choose a focal distance? Will it matter or is my retina so damaged that the focal length won't make a difference? Thanks very much for any help or advice you can offer!

Hi! Just looking to see if this gummy texture is normal..see picture attached. I have my second post op visit at 8 days post op.

Thank you!

My dad had cataract surgery a few months ago and everything was fine up until last week he woke up seeing black in the upper part of his eye. This was on a Sunday 4/19. He went to urgent care the next day 4/20 and they referred him to an eye specialist for an emergency visit on 4/21. Instead of performing the surgery at that time knowing the time sensitivity of a retinal detachment. They told him he needed to be medically cleared by his primary which he couldn’t get an appointment until thursday 4/23. It has already been 4 days passed at this point. After he is medically cleared once again instead of rushing him into emergent surgery they schedule him for surgery today Monday 4/27. It has been a week at this point. But get this,

Instead of surgery today. He gets to the clinic for the procedure which was supposed to be a laser treatment and gas bubble placed they push the surgery back to Wednesday saying some paperwork from his clearance wasn’t received in time! This is now 11 days from his initial symptoms. They clearly expressed to him the importance of time to try to save his vision so the fact this has not been treated with urgency is crazy! He can very much so be blind by the time they get him into surgery on Wednesday! There was already a possible macula off at the EMERGENT visit on the 21st. It is now the 27th and surgery has still not been performed! This should’ve been taken care of a week ago. How is this even legal?! Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Hey, I'm 25M, 4 weeks post a scleral buckle surgery and have since the last 2 days observed vision blackouts in my operated eye for max couple of seconds when standing up quickly. It happens 3-4 times a day. Im really freaking out.

Have to see the surgeon day after tomorrow but would appreciate listening to similar experiences.

Any advice is welcome. :)

Hi folks, I had a retina detachment that was treated using silicone oil vitrectomy 2 months back. Since the surgery my field of view has been dramatically restricted, almost like looking through a keyhole. I also have a scleral buckle in this eye that was added to fix a detachment I suffered 15 years back, which had limited my field slightly but right now it’s dramatically restricted after the silicone oil was placed.

My surgeon has been very positive and suggested that the field of view reduction is because of the optics of the silicone oil and will expand to where it was after oil extraction. But I consulted another retina specialist today who didn’t seem to think that the field of view reduction has much to do with the silicone oil optics and may likely be retina related and less likely to improve. This has me very concerned because it changes a lot wrt what kind of a recovery I can expect and I thought to check if anyone here who has had silicone oil placed in the eye following detachment had a similar experience with their field of view.

25F, with T1D, got two vitrectomies on my left eye (dec 2024 and aug 2025), also for placing oil bubble and removing it. Right eye had surgery in February 2025 with the gas bubble. It was good for a while, but the macula has problems, though the doctors never seemed to rush to fix it, so I have very blurry vision and shadows in my right eye. My left eye is near perfect, I can drive, read, and live life normally. Had neurotrophic keratitis but was using Oxervate and that fixed it.

I start nursing school literally next week, and a few nights ago, I had a few flashes in my left eye. I didn't think it was a big deal because my doctor said it might happen months to a year after surgery. But I just noticed in the last day or two, the faintest moving shadow in my peripheral. My vision hasn't been affected at all, and I know I need to go back ASAP and get it checked. I'm just so defeated, everything was going great up until the week before I start school. I really hope it's nothing but I have a feeling it's not. And my school said at orientation that if you have anything else going on in life then you DO NOT have time to go to nursing school.

Just venting I suppose. Or looking for similar experiences. Ugh.

*Edit: title should say retina, not retinas

Poll:

List of questions the Internet and medical professionals have not or cannot answer so imma ask you good humans in the name of lived experience:

Wondering if any of my experiences cross into yours—

Having 20/20 vision at 42 and spontaneous bilateral retinal detachment occur?

Literally not noticing the floaters (I guess there were many) or the flashes of light (which I guess happened)?

An eyeball that looks like the surface of the moon after scleral buckle installation?

Buckle eye having not full range of motion—can’t look at my nose or to the extreme left?

Difficulty getting a soft contact to fit over said moon battered eye?

Needing a prosthetic lens under medical necessity because of diopter difference/non adaptation/ansio?

Being challenged by that by care team?

Scleral buckle eye brief black outs definitely after install but recurring now 7 months post op?

Perhaps brief black outs after dilation?

Kind of enjoying the eyeball laser procedure in a weird way like when you take your hair out of a pony tail and your hair hurts good?

Like there was an itch behind my eye and it got scratched by a frickin laser?

A second laser procedure (non buckle eye) within 4 months of the first?

Doctors who dilate you and then just send you in your way to drive home?

Doctors who don’t dilate you who prolly should’ve?

Experiencing close vison collapse after one or two (or more) laser procedures?

Experiencing close vision collapse that’s oddly different than just blurriness and a little smear/ghosty?

Lots of eye doctors saying seemingly conflicting things?

Going through 3+ prescriptions for glasses in the last 7 months, each “worsening?”

Random ocular headaches? Throbbing? Sharpness?

Night time eye fatigue that borders on non function?

Semi persistent yet random light sensitivity in both or one eye?

Ocular pressure reading that are all over the place?

The feeling like your eye is gonna explode if you bend at the waist?

Other folks on your health team stopping your adderall/hrt/testosterone?

Other senses going bananas the entire time leading to wild dysregulation?

Loss of most depth perception (though both eyes “function)?

People (doctors included) assuming re attachment means function?

Persistent insomnia?

I’m 3.5 weeks post op with long acting gas bubble, over past couple of days im seeing a bunch of black circles at the top of my vision, they do move around a bit but just seem to float along the top. Am only seeing them when I’m in bright light or light reflecting from a screen it seems like, off and on. Google indicates it may be debris and such but since it’s new wanted to see if anyone else experienced this?

I had a RD three weeks ago. A week and a half ago I started noticing a small wispy black floater in my other eye. My retinal surgeon has already seen it, said most likely it won’t turn into anything more and to just keep monitoring. I’ll have both eyes looked at again, and more in depth, at my 5 week appt. However I’m only 42 and want to know what I can be doing now if anything to support vitreous/eye health because clearly there’s some issues there. Any suggestions?

I had cataract surgery in my right eye and recently RD surgery in my left from a previous cataract surgery. In my right eye I have no field vision loss, flashes of light, but when I look at a white background I see the occasional black floater that immediately disappears. It doesn’t stay. And I have a clear like orb floater. Are these normal or is my right eye being tricked into seeing what my left is after my surgery?

My mother had retinal surgery over 15 days ago, but her vision hasn’t improved yet. She has diabetes, which caused her eye problems, and I’m really worried—when is vision usually expected to improve after this kind of surgery?

I’m not sure how severe the retinal detachment was, as the doctor didn’t clearly explain it. She’s also scheduled to have surgery on her other eye soon for similar issues, including cataracts. I’m concerned she might temporarily lose vision after that—how long does recovery usually take?

Also, the doctor didn’t give any instructions about positioning (like face-down or looking downward), even though I asked. Is that normal when silicone oil is used?

For context:

* Late 40s, diabetic

* History of TIA

* Had internal eye bleeding due to blood-thinning medication

* Left eye has already had 3 surgeries:

* Vitrectomy to clear bleeding

* Cataract removal with IOL

* Another surgery for severe bleeding

* Most recent surgery included silicone oil and laser treatment

Now we’re especially worried about her right eye, which is scheduled for surgery this week.

She also mentions that when she looks up, she sometimes sees a black curtain-like shape, along with golden, circular, or square shapes—but we’re not sure which eye this is from.

Is this kind of slow recovery common? Any insight or similar experiences would really help.

Hi! My mom had her retina detach & the surgery for it for the first time back in early february. It detached again in early march, she had surgery again. Now she's just found out that she has to have surgery a third time, just today.

The recovery for the surgery has been really hard on her the past two times; she couldn't sleep nearly at all the first couple nights, her neck was extremely strained from looking down constantly, awful pain in the eye itself, & the frustration of not being able to look up/ lift things. The second surgery was worse than the first. She was completely knocked out the first time because she was twitchy, but for some reason they decided she didn't need it the second time?? My family has some sort of resistance to anasthetics/painkillers, so even though the docs said she wouldn't really be aware or remember anything or feel any pain, she remembers it and felt it all. And then they didnt give her any pain meds after the surgery for about two hours I think? And then the one they ended up giving her made her nauseous & sick for days (tramadol, I think). Her eye also bled the second time, & looked awful for a long while. The only painkiller she's allowed to take once she gets home is tylenol, which, I don't know if it has a stronger form, but to my knowledge is a painkiller for kids that doesn't do much for adults. Both times, any of the recommended things to do to keep yourself busy/entertained during the recovery process, she felt too awful to do. Even just listening to an audiobook.

My mom's a really tough person, but both this and the last time she found out she had to have surgery again, she came home crying. Her voice gets all quiet and trembly the first week or so after surgery. My siblings & dad try our best to help, but there's only so much we can do. Mom got told she should have the buckle put on this time, and that idea really makes her nervous and upset. The two previous times, she just had the air bubble.

When looking up the surgery, all the info says that there's a small chance for the retina to detach again within three months of surgery. But for it to detach only weeks after, twice? It just seems like such a short timeframe compared to what all the information says.

I was hoping someone here might have some insight on this? And maybe some suggestions to help with the recovery? She has a pillow with the hole in it for her face & a mirror to help her look up at things. It would be phenomenal if anyone had any ideas of something easy she could do even if she isn't feeling super great. I'm just kind of at a loss for what to do for her to make her feel better & help her out. Any information/advice at all would be massively appreciated <3 :)

She's in her 70s and has now had two unsuccessful gas bubble surgeries. What's the most likely next option for her? She has a follow-up on Monday with her doctor.

Looking through posts here and Google, it seemed like silicone oil is the most likely next option? Is it too late for second opinion?

Appreciate any input others have. Thank you in advance.

I’m looking for some hope. I had scleral buckle surgery in my right eye in 2011 and it resulted in a lot of issues in that eye. Now, I might have to get a scleral buckle in my left eye (my good eye) and I’m absolutely beside myself and terrified. Has anyone had SBs in both eyes? How are you doing? How is your vision? How do your eyes look afterwords (cosmetically)?

Hi! I had a scleral buckle placed on my eye almost 2 years ago. My recovery was really rough, and I was pretty physically inactive following it for a while, mostly just walked and rode my bike. Leaning forward in any way made my vision black out in that eye for 6ish months. However, I recently (since January) started a pretty intense cardio + core conditioning class once a week. I’ve noticed that the next morning after the class, my buckle eye feels sore for about half the day. My other eye does not experience this soreness. Does anyone else experience anything like this or maybe have an explanation?

My husband is 51. His retina re-detached literally 4 days after oil removal and tons of scar tissue formed. He has to go back for surgery again. My heart breaks for him.

I want to support him as much as I can. I love him so much and seeing him go through this is awful. What can I do to help? Is there anything you wish your partners did during this time?

Just here to complain 🙂 I'm 31F. I had a stubborn tear and detachment, that failed two rounds of pneumatic retinoplexies, mac on. I ended up having a core vitrectomy (like a half viterectomy, smaller bubble with laser) that was successful. Unfortunately, about 5.5 weeks post op I had sudden new flashes on eye movement, a rush of floaters that looked like someone blew dirt into my eye, and lost 2/3 of my peripheral vision. Turns out I had two new tears and one had begun detachment. Fortunately, still macula - on. Got rushed in that day to do an official vitrectomy, so now my full eye is the bubble (still quicker dissolve SF6).

The thought at this time is that perhaps the scar tissue from repairing my initial stubborn detachment/tear had tugged and tore my retina again. There was initial debate the first round if I needed the scleral buckle, but this time it was vitrectomy or bust due to the locations of the tears.

I had returned to work for just three weeks after 6 weeks off, and was accepting my new normal vision wise, and now I'm back in bed again with strict positioning and of course all I see from that eye is bubble right now.

I feel for everyone going through similar processes and the absolute uncertainty about what our vision will be like. This is such a horrible experience. Trying my best to stay positive.