Recovery after retinal detachment surgery

Retinal detachment is a serious pathology associated with the separation of the retina from the vascular. The disease requires surgical intervention. Therapeutic methods are ineffective. With untimely treatment, blindness may occur. Rehabilitation after surgery is no less important for retinal detachment. It depends on how fully the functions of the eye are restored.

The need for a recovery period after surgery

Vision after surgery is restored after a certain period of time. This is due to the complex structure of the retina. For each patient, this period is individual. Immediately after the operation, the patient must stay in bed for several days. After that, he will be allowed to return to his former way of life.

It usually takes one to three months for vision to fully recover after surgery. In some patients, the rehabilitation period may be delayed for 6 months. This is possible in patients aged, as well as in the diagnosis of myopia. Recovery will take much longer if the vitreous is replaced with a low viscosity saline solution.

How well a person will see during the recovery period depends on the following factors:

• timeliness of treatment;
• the state of the retina, the presence or absence of organic changes in it;
• How well does the optic nerve function?
• the degree of transparency of the optical media of the eyeball.

To effectively restore the functions of the eye, it is necessary to follow all the recommendations of the ophthalmologist. The result of the operation is also influenced by the professionalism of the surgeon.

General recommendations

For a speedy recovery after surgery, you need to provide the necessary conditions:

1. Less eye strain.
2. Reduce physical activity.
3. Regular visits to the ophthalmologist.
4. Avoid temperature fluctuations.

Air travel is not recommended for certain interventions, such as retinal gas tamponade.

Early rehabilitation period

The recovery period after surgery for retinal detachment is divided into early, which lasts a month, and late. In the first days after the intervention, the patient should devote as much time to his health as possible. The ophthalmologist leaves prescriptions that must be strictly followed.

During the early recovery period, you must follow the recommendations:

1. The patient must monitor his own feelings. If signs such as a cloudy image, flashing spots, flies before the eyes, a black veil in the field of vision appear, you should contact your doctor as soon as possible.
2. It is worth limiting physical activity - do not lift weights that weigh more than 3 kg, do not exercise too intensely in the gym, exclude strength exercises. In the recovery period, you can practice light exercises, swim, walk in the fresh air.
3. The patient needs to constantly control the position of the head - it can not be tilted down. For a while, you will have to give up activities such as gardening, knitting and sewing. Do not tie your own shoelaces and wash your hair, tilting it forward. You can sleep in any position except on your stomach.
4. It is necessary to strengthen the immune system and prevent colds. Infection can provoke the development of early postoperative complications. It is best not to visit public places in the first months after the intervention and communicate less with people.
5. It is necessary to exclude any thermal effect - do not visit baths, saunas and solariums, do not take a hot bath.
6. You need to protect your eyes from sunlight. Since the retina is very sensitive to ultraviolet radiation, the sun can easily damage it. To protect your eyes, you should wear glasses with tinted lenses, and in the summer also a hat.
7. The patient must regularly take medications to restore the retina of the eye, prescribed to him by the attending physician. Eye drops are prescribed to prevent infection. You need to bury them by pulling the lower eyelid. Use the drops carefully, without touching the bottle to the eye. If an ointment was prescribed, then apply it to the lower eyelid, and then blink for 10 seconds.

Compliance with these requirements will minimize the risk of re-detachment of the retina after surgery, recovery will be more successful.

In the first days after the operation, discomfort when blinking can provoke stitches on the conjunctiva. After 10-14 days they are usually removed.

late recovery period

A month after the operation, the patient must visit the attending physician without fail, even if he feels fine and there are no suspicious symptoms. The doctor will conduct a thorough examination of the operated eye, examine the fundus. This will reveal any changes in the state of the visual organs.

To avoid recurrent retinal detachment, the patient is advised to continue following the guidelines that have been established for the early recovery period.

In the late rehabilitation period, the following rules apply:

1. You need to be careful with the operated eye, avoid situations where it can be damaged, and avoid getting foreign bodies or irritating liquids into the eye.
2. Do not stay in the sun for a long period of time.
3. Strenuous exercise should still be avoided.
4. It is not recommended to drink alcohol, smoke. It is necessary to avoid intoxication of the body, exposure to poisons.

Recovery in the late period may be characterized by the presence of symptoms such as bifurcation or distortion of the outlines of objects. Such phenomena usually decrease after a few weeks after surgery, and sometimes months. In order for rehabilitation after retinal detachment surgery to be faster, the doctor may prescribe the wearing of glasses or contact lenses.