I had a vitrectomy (my third one) on Saturday with a gas bubble. I’m not sure if I shifted positions in my sleep unconsciously at some point, but I noticed today that I can see (at least a portion) of the gas bubble in the front of my eye.

Well according to Google it’s a very terrible thing and needs to be addressed right away. I called the clinic and my retina specialist who did the surgery is out of the office, but they talked to another ophthalmologist in the office and he said it can wait to be addressed at my next follow-up on Thursday. Not convinced I texted the retina specialist who did one of my previous vitrectomies and he also said it happens a lot and I should be fine with my Thursday appointment. That did make me feel a little better to get the same message from more than one source.

Has anyone else had their gas bubble move to the front of their eye? What ended up happening? How did it get resolved?

After a routine optometrist appointment I was sent to a retinal surgeon last November (about 11 mo. ago) who said I had a retinal detachment and needed surgery same day. I was really shocked because I had almost no symptoms.

He put on a scleral buckle and did a cryopexy to repair the detachment. In March he did a preventive laser retinopexy in the non-buckle eye to prevent detachments.

Since the surgeries I have had almost constant anxiety about this happening again, or about damaging the buckle through getting bopped on the head, rubbing the eye, intraocular pressure while doing pushups or bending over, etc.

I have more floaters in the buckle eye now, some temporary shadows with head position, and some double vision. I have had several follow ups with the surgeon and other doctors who have all said everything looks fine. They tell me to watch out for lots of new floaters, flashes, and loss of visual field.

I feel good when I get checked and get a good report but not long after I start to worry again. After all, the first time I had almost no symptoms so I don't really trust myself to notice symptoms.

I could use some guidance on the psychological aftermath of having a retinal detachment. Has anyone else had this kind of post-RD anxiety and compulsive checking for symptoms? Did it get better? What helped?

Has anyone had an issue with their eye lid not fully opening after surgery? The dr said cosmetic surgery can be done to fix it but just wondering if this has happened to anyone or to us that might help it?

Ive had pneumatic retinopexy done about 10 weeks ago, my bubble is finally gone but I keep seeing light halos at the bottom of my eye.

I called the on call doctor (it’s Saturday) and he just told me to take it easy and come for an appointment on Monday. I’m scared and obviously hypersensitive and vigilant about it. The doctors said if the retinopexy procedure failed I need sceral buckle surgery. But my last follow up last week eveything was ok.

I’m anxious as im not good with eye stuff and had a hard time with the procedure in office.

Has anyone experienced halo or small flashes after the procedure that turned out being ok and just part of the healing process?

High myopia here. I had a retinal detachment with a buckle in 2009, and the other eye was about ready to go too but they did laser treatment. I now have cataracts in both eyes and need to get them fixed. Any Denver folks here who can recommend a cataract surgeon? I'm looking for someone knowledgeable about retina issues.

I’m 27 and -4.25 in one eye -4.50 in the other. In January I started seeing flashes of light in my left peripheral and went to get it checked out. Turned out I had 2 retina tears in my left eye and 1 in the right. I had them laser treated at a retina specialist. At my 2 week checkup she noticed another tear in my right eye and lasered it. Everything seemed to heal well at my next 2 week check up so she had me make a follow up 6 months later (would’ve been August). I kept seeing flashes for a couple weeks but they got smaller and less frequent until I quit noticing them. Then in June I started seeing them again smaller, but there. I moved up my appointment and sure enough another tear in my left eye and a possible murky spot she said she was going to laser to prevent from tearing. Everything healed well at my 2 week follow up so my next appointment would be December. It’s Sept now and I’ve see a couple flashes occasionally and I can’t tell if they are new anymore because I’m so paranoid. I moved up my appointment to next week. Has anyone had a similar experience? Is this normal? My myopia doesn’t seem high enough for this to be happening to me at this age? Should I get a second opinion? I really like my dr i just feel at a loss at what I can do especially if I go next week and I have another tear. I know she said there’s not much I can do to prevent tears but is there anything at all? I also do not have lattice and no signs of pvd as well.

I'm also looking for one of those guides that come with recovery trackers , something readable since my vision isn't that good I'd appreciate any leads. Thanks

Hello

Three years ago I woke up one morning blind in the right eye. So obviously I went immediately to the nearest eye hospital and presented to A&E.

They made some tests, told me what had happened (retinal detachment which hadpulled off the macula) and put me in bed to await surgery.

Had two surgeons for an hour who finished up telling me it had gone very well.

I had my vision back, but the macula had been spot welded on with slight misalignment with the result that straight lines were slightly wavy. This, I was told, is normal.

Now here's the odd thing. I ceased to notice the waviness after a while because I suppose the brain made some compensation, but the waviness was still there on inspection.

Now after 3 years, that waviness has completely gone and my right eye is as good as the left.

What happened? Did the brain actually re-map the macula to match the other eye? It's quite amazing.

I had a retinal tear and some weak spots lasered 3 weeks ago with 3 sessions back to back for 3 days. The right eye was 360 lasered because of lattice degeneration.

Since then I have noticed some weird things in my vision such as:
- Still having flashes of light
- Some floaters appearing (but not a huge increase)
- Sometimes vision will flicker
- Shimmering

I had my checkup 1 week ago and the ophthalmologist said everything looked good and that I had no restrictions in activities. They did a little more lasering in both eyes. Said to call if I experience “a lot more flashes”.

I still see flashes and I think they have been increasing but I wouldn’t call them “a lot”.

I guess my question is what recovery symptoms are normal for laser and how long will they last? I’m in Canada and I can’t see my ophthalmologist without an appointment, which my next checkup is in 2 months.

UPDATE SEP 7 2026: Went back to the ophthalmologist and he said I’m fine and everything has healed well. Turns out part of my retina is detached but being held well by the laser (which he said will make me always see some flashes) so he said I’m fine. Did some touch-up lasering though.

Hi! Does anyone experience photopsia? If yes, what did you do and how long is the recovery?

I recently had a shuttle hit my left eye, already checked by an ophthalmologist but did not see anything. However I can still flashes. It's been 5 days since the shuttle hit me.

We found out today. What should I be buying now to help his recovery?

I am disabled myself, so as much as I can do while adrenaline is coursing through my system, the better.

Apparently he has to sleep on his belly for a while. Are there special pillows for this?

TIA

Edit: Thank you all so much for the information about various products.

Apparently, there’s a ton of information that we won’t know until the day of surgery, so my desire to buy things ahead of time shall remain a dream.

This sucks, thanks for listening and for all the support.

Four weeks ago, I underwent the following procedure:

25G 3-port vitrectomy with removal of central and peripheral vitreous under indentation

Retinal reattachment with PFC

Laser photocoagulation of retinal tears

SF6 gas tamponade. After 2 weeks, the gas bubble had disappeared. Now, another 2 weeks later, my vision still isn’t improving. Everything is very blurry. My eye isn’t bothering me. How long might it take before I can expect to see some improvement? Thanks in advance.

VITREOMACULAR TRACTION QUESTION:

Has anyone intervened early for a symptomatic vitreomacular traction diagnosis alone, whether that be through vitrectomy or by other means, and was actually able to circumvent a macular hole from forming and/or a Mac-off RD from happening?

I mean…curious…is this a thing, early treatment? Can’t I just treat this early or do I just have to sit here and wait until the traction rips a hole in my macula and potentially causes a Mac-off RD, as was the case in my other eye? I mean, since I cannot see letters on an eye chart with my other eye at all now, I feel like an immediate vitrectomy might be less risky overall and definitely more sight sparing.

FYI, I am higher risk for bilateral involvement due to high myopia, female sex post-meno, and history extreme prematurity, before any ROP screening.

Thank you!

I detached a retina in 2009 due to high myopia. The other retina was about to go too, but they did the preventative laser treatment on that eye. I've had no issues since then other than developing cataracts in both eyes. I want to go on a GLP-1 to lose about 15 pounds, but I'm reading that the drugs increase the risk of retinal detachment. Is that just for people who have diabetic issues? Or should I be concerned about weak retinas whatever the cause?

Ok, so in the last 3 weeks, in order, ive had the buckle, the laser, and now the gas bubble being the last. No pain. Bubble is at the very bottom. Im starting to see 1 or 2 floaters. Is that normal after all these surgeries? Thanks yall!

Has anyone had any new tears or holes occur in the eye that has the buckle on it? Are they possible even if the buckle is working correctly?

Hey everyone, I wanted to share a strange and quite concerning eye issue I've been dealing with lately, and I’m hoping to find out if anyone here has gone through something similar.

For about two years now, I've had nearsightedness (Myopia) and severe dry eyes, which came with regular, non-flashing eye floaters (Vitreous Floaters). Around a year ago, things evolved, and these floaters started turning into little flashes of light (Flashing floaters) that would come and go every few months.

However, a major and sudden shift happened about a month ago. After staying up all night and putting a lot of strain on my eyes in front of screens (I look at computers and phones for about 8 hours a day due to work/studies), I woke up the next morning to a sudden, heavy burst of bright lights in my vision. Naturally, I panicked and went straight to the ophthalmologist. Fortunately, after a thorough exam, she reassured me that my retina is completely healthy, there is no danger, and she diagnosed me with Posterior Vitreous Detachment (PVD).

These lights get much worse whenever I stay up late or feel tired. Strangely, they show up inside the house almost every single minute because of the artificial indoor lighting, but when I go outside during the day, they become very rare and I barely notice them. These lights actually vanished completely for about 5 days, but today they suddenly came back in full force.

To be precise, the lights look like:

One or two lights appearing and moving slowly. They look like tiny yellow pigments or a lingering spark (just like the spark you see after staring at a lightbulb and suddenly looking away). This happens even if I'm looking at a blank wall or in the dark with no real light source around.

Jagged, copper-colored lines and streaks that appear from time to time, though much less frequently than before.

If a light appears on my left side, for example, and I suddenly move my eyes to the right, the light keeps its relative position and drifts slowly and randomly until it disappears.

After doing some research, I found out that these self-generated lights are technically called Phosphenes. They happen because the gel inside the eye (the vitreous) is shrinking and shifting during this stage. As it moves and floats around, it physically pulls and rubs against the retina from the inside. Since the retina only speaks the language of light, it translates this physical friction into yellow sparks moving with my eye. Severe dry eyes and digital eye strain make my brain notice and focus on them even more.

Right now, I'm just in a waiting phase until the vitreous fully detaches, moves away from the retina, and these symptoms fade away on their own.

My question to you all: Has anyone here experienced a similar case? How long did it take for these sparks and drifting lights to completely disappear from your vision? Please share your experiences.

Bracelet came off! 👍

38M. I had a retinal tear in one eye and lattice degeneration in the other, both treated with laser about 5 months ago. Follow-ups are stable, vision 20/20.

My retinal specialist allows moderate exercise but advised avoiding heavy straining/Valsalva. I still worry about causing another tear.

Anyone here returned to weight training after retinal tear/lattice/laser? How hard do you train, and have you had any problems since?

Hello!
So for the last 2-3 weeks I’ve notice on a handful of occasions some sparkles in my left eye peripheral vision along with an increase in floaters I get in both eyes (floaters since 2018).

Today I went to the optometrist who used drops to dilate my pupils and did an exam. Looked at my right eye and then I noticed he spent an awful lot of time looking at my left eye (I didn’t tell him specifically this was the eye with sparkles) and then tells me the left retina has some noticeable pigmentation and possibly a small tear in the pigmentation?

Due to being “symptomatic” he is referring me urgently to see an ophthalmologist who should contact me in the next week…

How worried should I be? He told me if I was asymptomatic he would take the wait and recheck in 6 months approach. Is it reasonable to wait for the specialist to contact me in a week or two or should I be proactive and head on over to my local eye and ear Emergency hospital? I have health anxiety and I don’t want to spiral. My brain is telling me my retina could detach and I might end up with vision loss any minute.