Vitreous Hemorrhage

[Bob Rufener]

My cousin and his wife were visiting us from North Carolina. We went to the state fair on Friday and, while walking around, I began to notice a dark line on the left side of my vision. All of a sudden, it spread out and I had tens of thousands of small dots in my vision. Fortunately, my cousin's wife had worked for many years for an ophthalmologist. She said it could be a torn retina. I contacted my local clinic and they set me up with a late afternoon visit at an ophthalmologist about 15 minutes from where we were located. The doctor checked both of my eyes and found a retinal tear in both of my eyes. No symptoms in my left eye at all. We went to the hospital and he lasered the tears. When the right eye retina tore, it broke a blood vessel causing the dots in my vision. I am so grateful that I got it taken care of so quickly. The blood in my right eye is a nuisance but should clear up in the next month or so. I am not writing this for any sympathy but just to remind everyone to get regular eye check ups, especially we seniors. If something changes quickly with your vision like lightning flashes or a lot of floaters, run-don't walk to your nearest eye doctor.

[Andrew Joiner]

Yes, a good warning to all Bob.
I had torn retina 2 years ago. Here's what happened. I woke up with a lot of floaters in my eye. I'd get a few floaters now and then in my life,but this was a lot that lasted all day. The next day I saw an eye Dr.and he said I needed laser surgery within 36 hours. I went to the recommended specialist an hour away. All is fine now but I guess if you ignore it you could have serious problems.

[Shawn Pixley]

Scary, Bob, scary! I am glad it worked out as well as it did. My eye continue to get worse. I've had glasses since I was 4 years old. each year a little worse. I'm at +6-1/2 with astigmatism. Your story is much more scary.

[Ted Calver]

I've had two detached retinas, one in each eye. I waited too long to see a doctor on the first one and ended up needing a scleral buckle (a silicone band is wrapped around the eye and the resulting pressure forces the retina back in place). Not a painful procedure, but required a hospital stay. I immediately recognized the symptoms the second time and ended up getting an injection of some kind of gas in the eye to force the retina back in place, following which I had to hold my head in a particular position, night and day for a week until the gas was absorbed and disappeared. The specialist then used a laser to tack the retina in place. It was one of the most painful things I've ever endured...don't want to do that again. I echo what Bob said. Head for the doctor at the first sign of trouble.

[Stephen Tashiro]

I am not writing this for any sympathy but just to remind everyone to get regular eye check ups,

Since eye problems can be caused by blood pressure problems, diabetes, etc. people should have regular check ups of the general sort too.