Question
Good afternoon,
I have been concerned about my right eye, have had detached retina surgery in 2002, everything seemed to be fine apart from minor headaches, eye aches and floaters until last year. I have noticed a change in my right eye, the eye is looking smaller then my left and is giving me pain when I bend down, it throbs and the pain goes from my eye toward the side of my head. My sight seems the same, though I do have a blind section at the top left section of my right eye but I feel like something is just not right. The eye is also becoming red around the area where the silicone has been placed, it is sinking in and does not look normal, almost as if it is dying off.
I went back to my eye surgeon last year and he said it is normal and that it is the silicone that is changing color but I can clearly see it is the eye that is sinking in (or dying off), not the silicone. Since then, the red sunken in area has spread and is moving around my eye. Ive also noticed that my eye is a little cloudy compared to my left eye, its not very noticeable but when comparing closely to the other eye, you can see the difference.
Ive also noticed floaters in my left eye, doctor said it was due to the right eye effecting the left, but am not sure, I need a second opinion, Ive been with my doctor for years and have trusted him all this while. I just dont want to go blind as I am a model and a painter, It would destroy my life if I lost my eyes...
Here are the exact details of the surgery:
- Right eye sterilized with diluted iodine and draped.
- Peritomy
- Recti muscles identified.
- At least two tears noted, one lager tear at 7.30 and one smaller at 8 o'clock
- Suspicious areas of peripheral retina temporally
- Cryotherapy to surround tears (slippery scleral surface)
- Encirclement with 227 trye inferno temporally and 240 band with Watke Sleeve superonasally
- 5-0 Ethibond used (difficult to get good bite of sclera tissue at right depth one to "slippery" surface) - no puncture to sclera.
- Disc perfusion checked.
- Closure with 6-0 softgut.
Im not sure if this helps, but its what the doctor wrote. Ive since moved to the US from Asia and have not bought insurance to see another doctor to get a second opinion. I pray you could give me some advice as to if my doctor made any mistakes with the surgery and what I may have to do next... I thank you so very much for your time, this means the world to me..
P.S. I am not sure if this is related to my surgery, but my right eye often becomes really itchy and is always the closest red, sunken in part of my eye.
Answer
Dear Vanessa,
Hope I have got this right. The 'red eye' is external right? in the white part of your eye? then usually the eye does look smaller, but is an illusion.
The only way it can really look smaller is if there is any droop in the eye lid. cause can be a mild allergy to something. the redn eye also maybe attributed to that.
However, if you say that the red is from internal or cloudy in vision, then you need a dilated eye check given your past history.
Since you say you visited an eye doctor recently it is unlikely that he could have missed a finding if he has dilated your eyes.
Yes, one needs to be careful, but if in doubt, it is best to take another opinion.
If the dilated eye check has been done, and the eye centre is reputable, you should not really worry, unless you have found some new symptom since that visit.
Hope this helps,
Best,
Dr Shroff
