More Joy of Aging...PVD

[flatbutt]

Posterior Vitreous Detachment...I noticed flashes of light in my peripheral vision and thought "nah that ain't right". So off to the ophthalmologist I go. She says I have early PVD as well as a wee bit of glaucoma. The PVD is the more worrisome as it may cause a retinal tear which sounds scary AF. I go back in 3 weeks to check for progression.

So, if you see flashes of light in your peripheral vision get thee to a doctor.

[pwd72s]

Welcome to the club...

[gchappel]

BTDT
Good luck!
Eye surgeries are no fun.
gary

[Evans, Marv]

i've had that in both eyes. It seems to clear up after some time. Son't know if he heals itself or my eyes compensate in some way. It's most noticeable when I look off to the side. My eye doc hasn't said anything after explaining what it is to me, & I've had two or three, in depth exams since. Right now I don't notice any flashes & actually fogot about it until I saw this thread. I have elevated pressure in the left eye and normal in the right. I do drops in my eyes daily for it.

[masraum]

Based on my wife's experience and what the Drs said, and what I/we found on the Internet, vitreous detachment is practically a when more than an if as we age. I think pretty much everyone that gets to 80 has gone through it, and it starts in the 50s/60s.

Yes, it could lead to a retinal tear. They are very good at taking care of those these days. The key is to get in as soon as you realize there's a problem (dark spots in your vision would be a sign to get things checked out).

My wife have detachment along with a tear (she didn't realize there was an issue and waited weeks before seeing an opthamologist that then got her to a Dr that specialized ASAP. Her surgery was on the extreme side to fix the tear, but was 100% effective at repairing the tear. I suspect getting in sooner would have made the surgery less extreme.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Evans, Marv

i've had that in both eyes. It seems to clear up after some time. Son't know if he heals itself or my eyes compensate in some way. It's most noticeable when I look off to the side. My eye doc hasn't said anything after explaining what it is to me, & I've had two or three, in depth exams since. Right now I don't notice any flashes & actually fogot about it until I saw this thread. I have elevated pressure in the left eye and normal in the right. I do drops in my eyes daily for it.

As I understand it, there's no impact from the detachment (assuming no retinal tears). During detachment, there may be flashes, etc..., but the impact once it's detached (assuming no tears which is the norm, I believe) is that there should be no impact to vision.

[stevej37]

My brother just went through having a retinal detachment. He was restricted from driving and some other daily activities for a few weeks. But otherwise it went real easy. There were after affects that he had to wait out in his vision and now it's all back to normal.

[flatbutt]

Thanks guys that's good news. I asked the Dr if I caught it early enough and she said it's not yet to the point of "early or late" as there's no retinal damage yet. She showed me the pic she took of the inside of my eye (so cool) and there was just a slight shadow showing the issue.

She said it takes a few weeks for a detachment to really show up so I'll go back for a follow up soon.

Thanks!

[Tobra]

Here I was thinking this was a thread about Peripheral Vascular Disease.

Oh yeah, don't smoke cigarettes.

[tdw28210]

Originally Posted by Tobra

Here I was thinking this was a thread about Peripheral Vascular Disease.

Oh yeah, don't smoke cigarettes.

Better than what I was thinking.....Penile Vein Dislocation

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by tdw28210

Better than what I was thinking.....Penile Vein Dislocation

DUDE don't EVEN!!!!

[p911dad]

I have had it on and off for maybe 5 years (age 77 now). The eye doc says keep watching it (). I go in a week for the yearly though lately it has been quiet. I am not clear on what the treatment would entail if further therapy is needed. Good luck!

[sprio]

Have your ophthalmologist refer you to a retinal specialist. Mine did - she checked every 30 days, then reduced frequency once she was satisfied there were no retinal tears. Peace of mind -

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by p911dad

I have had it on and off for maybe 5 years (age 77 now). The eye doc says keep watching it (). I go in a week for the yearly though lately it has been quiet. I am not clear on what the treatment would entail if further therapy is needed. Good luck!

Originally Posted by sprio

Have your ophthalmologist refer you to a retinal specialist. Mine did - she checked every 30 days, then reduced frequency once she was satisfied there were no retinal tears. Peace of mind -

Mine wants me back in 3 weeks to re-check. She says if it hasn't progressed to a tear we'll keep monitoring, and I now know what to watch for. She has a retinal specialist to do a laser repair if needed.

[sc_rufctr]

Scary stuff. I'm 59 and up until this point I've enjoyed generally good health.

I guess that starts to change soon.

[Bill Douglas]

Flat, I had this a few months ago and it went away all by it's self. Vertical white lines of light flashing in my right prereferral vision in my right eye. And some vertical black lines too.

Don't panic too soo is all I can say.

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

Scary stuff. I'm 59 and up until this point I've enjoyed generally good health.

I guess that starts to change soon.

Naw, about a decade for the bad stuff...maybe more.

[masraum]

My understanding from when it happened to my wife and the Doc described it to us is as follows.

There's a sack full of fluid in your eye that is lightly attached around the inside of the eye ball (kind of like the occasional spot weld). As I understand it, the sack shrinks when we get old, and the spot welds start letting loose. If that's all that happens, it's no big deal, and happens to everyone. The problem is if the spot weld doesn't pull away from the retina, but tries to bring the retina with it.

I heard that the bright flashes were likely the result of the spot welds letting loose or maybe tugging on the retina or something like that (not necessarily an indication of a problem, just a symptom of the state of the eye and what's going on.

It's not really until/unless the retina tears that you've got a problem.

We had a highly recommended optometrist (hot too) check my wife out and then recommend a retina specialist (who she also sent her mother to for retina issues). So I think we (the missus) had a good retina person working on her.

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by masraum

My understanding from when it happened to my wife and the Doc described it to us is as follows.

the sack shrinks when we get old,

If only that was all that shrinks!

[masraum]

Originally Posted by flatbutt

If only that was all that shrinks!

I was in the pool! I WAS IN THE POOL!!!