Does anybody know if shock or vibration of the head can trigger a retinal detachment? I’m at high risk (family history plus extreme myopia) and at my annual eye exam the doctor said something about trying not to hit my eye. I assumed she meant not to injure my eye, but I started worrying about prolonged exposure to vibration (e.g. riding my recumbent bike).
Typically, I have seen detatched retinas associated with more energetic shaking of the head: Boxing for example; or vehicle crashes.
I would be surprised if the vibration from riding a recumbent bike would do it. Hopefully QtM will come by with a more definitive answer shortly, or… Why not simply asked the doctor that gave you the warning. This is appearently is someone who knows you and your family history.
I’ve had 4 retina surgeries. (extreme myopia). I didn’t do anything to cause the tear. They’re weak and they broke from normal activity, such as washing dishes or getting firewood.
When we get about 35, the gooey stuff in the eye gets less firm and breaks up; sort of like stirred jello. This causes tugging on the retina. If your retina is weak, it will break.
Happily, if you get surgery right away, it’s mostly fixable. Hurts a lot, though.
Thanks. Yes I should have asked my doctor but I didn’t think of it till I left the office. Next time, I guess. I might still use it as an excuse to buy that suspension unit I want for my bike.
My father has had one surgery too and told me the horror stories. I’m dreading the day they’ll have to stick a needle in my eye. (Is general anesthesia an option for those surgeries?)
My wife suffered a torn/separated retina when she stumbled walking out of a store that had an old-time step in the front. She never hit her head; just the jarring caused the tear. (She too had a pre-existing condition due to being a preemie in the 1950s.)
She said the local anaesthesia was sufficient for the operation. (While the idea of someone digging around on one’s eye causes most of us to shudder, she said the event was not that bad.) Her pain (very severe) came when the local wore off and lasted nearly a week.
(I would think that preventive surgery with a laser might be less painful because it would not be adding incisions to an existing wound, but that is a WAG from someone who has never suffered either type of surgery–ask your doctor.)
Odd. I too had an operation to retach the retina in my right eye. Except they put a general anaesthesia, and my eye didn’t hurt a bit after I woke up - just a bit of discomfort.
My mother was at a high risk to get a detached retina. In the mid 70s, she was in an automobile accident and was rear-ended and that did it.
She had to go in for surgery that same week.
I would avoid roller coasters.
Surgery for detached retina has come a long way. My father just had it. What they can do now (warning, this sounds a little icky if you’re sensitive), is inflate the eyeball with a bubble. This pushes it back up against the retina. Then you have to lie very still for about a week to keep the bubble in place while the retina reattaches. Lying still for so long is no fun–but there’s no incision at all, hence no pain, and no scarring.
My grandfather got a detatched retina while quail hunting. It seems the recoil of the gun provided enough force to finally detach it. He thought he had a gun malfunction (blowback) until he realized he could still see out of one eye and was not bleeding.