SightWisesm

 
A public service of  Moyers & Associates
This website is about preventing loss of eyesight due to Detached Retina
 

"If you're very nearsighted* & over 40 (maybe younger) you are more susceptible to Detached Retina-You have a 1 in 20 chance in your life time of a detachment versus 1 in 300 for the general population"
* -6.0 Diopter correction or greater

A Detached Retina is a Medical Emergency! - most people know about heart attack and a stroke symptoms, but few know about detached retina symptoms and the urgent need to get treatment.
Open Letter to Eye care professionals 

Detached Retina Symptoms
Flashes of light, increase in Floaters, or a Dark Curtain across your field of vision.  Other symptoms very widely and include - holes in visual field, peripheral vision loss, wavy lines, and sometimes no symptoms. See an eye M.D. if you sense something strange or unusual going on with your vision.

You Need to Act Quickly
If you have any of the above symptoms go see an eye M.D. ASAP!  Call them at night, weekends or holidays. If the Retina is detached it should be reattached within 24 hrs for best outcome. Do not wait! Too many people wait. You won't die from inaction but you may lose sight in the affected eye. If you don't have an eye MD click here to find one.

Find a Eye Specialist in the U.K. - link to SpecialistInfo.com (U.K. medical specialist database)

Link to "Find an Eye M.D." Utility on AAO Web Site  AAO is American Academy of Ophthalmology

National Eye Institute Detached Retina Resource Guide

History
I started this web site in 1999 to reach "At Risk" people with information that was not given to me in 45 years of going to a dozen Optometrists and Ophthalmologists . I am not an eye care professional. Since October 1999  100,000's of  people have visited this site. 100's have sent me direct emails asking for help and many say the message here saved their eyesight. This is the number one detached retina website on the web and our companion newsgroup at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/detached-retina has over 2100 members (Winter 2012) and is the number one vision related newsgroup with over 37,000 messages posted.
"Hal at sightwise.org"

My Detached Retina Story
On August 31, 1999, while doing computer work at 1:30 in the afternoon, a "Dark Cloud" began to move across my field of vision and I could not see out of my right eye (my best eye) after a few seconds. I was in the Ophthalmologist office closest to home by 3:30, with a Retinal Surgeon by 10:00 am the next day and out of eye surgery by 1:00 in the afternoon the third day. Three days that changed my life. I have recovered now but a lot has changed. No more running 3 to 4 miles three times a week, no more weight lifting, no more roller coasters. In 45 years of going to eye care specialists nobody warned me about the risk. I was pretty nearsighted with well over a 6 Diopter correction. If you are nearsighted you know what this means. My sister, who is also very nearsighted, also had never been warned about the risk. On January 1, 2001 the same thing happened to her!  We were able to get her to a retinal surgeon in 6 hours on a Holiday.

What would I have done differently if someone had told me about the risk of detached retina?
1. Annual Eye Exam with Eye MD.
2. Asked Eye MD about Vitreous and if it has already detached or not.
3. Only ride in cars with reduced force airbags
4. Watched for increase in floaters or flashes

Click here for other detached retina personal reports

What are your chances?  (Source "Retinal Detachment" Gregory Luke Larkin, MD, MS, MSPH, FACEP, Professor of Surgery, Associate Director of Emergency Medicine, Department of Surgery, Section of Emergency Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine)

Overall chance of a detached retina in any given year for the general population in the U.S. is 1 chance in 15,000. Some sources indicate chances are 1 in 10,000. That's 25,000 people with a detached retina in the U.S. each year!

5% of very nearsighted people (over 6 Diopter correction) will experience a retinal detachment in their lifetime.

40 to 50 % of retinal detachment patients are nearsighted/shortsighted (myopic).

Click here to see this reference paper

Your risk of detached retina increases:
1.If you are very nearsighted.
2. As you grow older.
3. If you are physically very active (including extra strenuous work e.g.  tree surgeon).
4. If you already had a Detached Retina in one eye (I am at high risk).


Click here for more on the surgical procedures I had and you might have to have

Click here for a site visitor's account of a retinal tear repair (a tear can precede a detachment)

Many site visitors have asked about a news group about detached retina. I have set one up and there is no other.  Join and post a message Click here to go to  detached-retina newsgroup

Best prevention is a periodic comprehensive eye exam by an Ophthalmologist who can assess your degree of risk and possibly catch a problem early while it can be treated more easily. Plan what you would do if you have symptoms
24 hour eye emergency resources

Best eye hospitals in the U.S.

Many Detached Retina patients report they did not know about the symptoms-help get the word out          

                               Copyright 2010 Sightwise (a public service of Moyers & Associatesalso see HopeRising