Can Tanning Salon Cause RD?

[Lefteye625]

May be a silly question, but I do tan in a salon 1-2 times a week, and I wonder if this could have contributed to my retinal detachment?  If not, can I go back to tanning now?  The gas bubble is still in my eye.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

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[katika29]

I had four surgeries for a detached retina.  The first one was lazer, then cryo, with a gas bubble, these operations did not work, my retina stayed detached.  The Doctor then performed a double operation, - buckle and vitrectomy together at the same time, that is when they put in the silicone. Not fun! Had to stay face down for one week, eating, sleeping, reading, so that the retina stays attached. This major operation was done about two years ago, I still have the silicone in my eye, and was told it could remain in the eye indefinitely.  I cannot see out of the affected eye, only can count fingers when up very close, my eye is now sunken in and the lid is droopy.  I need another operation because I got a macular pucker which resulted from the vitrectomy surgery, and I have scarring in the center of the eye, blurry vision, wavy lines. When I get up the courage to do the macular pucker surgery they will remove the silicone at the same time, and hopefully the retina remains attached.
Sometimes people get detached retinas because their eye wasn't healthy to begin with, did you have a problem with that eye, like a lazy eye.  I had a freak accident, I was holding a garden hose, which slipped out of my hand and the full force of the water shot right to my eye, and I didn't pay attention to the symptoms that occured after the incident, floaters, flashing lights, I finally went to a retinal specialist, when I had a black veil appear in that eye, and then I couldn't see anything but black out of that eye.  The Doctor said that since that had been a "lazy" eye it was not healthy, so that is why the force of the water was able to detach my retina so easily.  
I would recommend that you don't fool around with your eyesight, and stay away from the sun altogether, but of course, at least wear sunglasses. I'm petrified that something goes wrong with my good eye because then I would be totally blind.
Everyone should protect their eyes even when doing simple jobs around the house, I learned that the hard way.  Good luck.  

[dukey]

Sorry, was a bad joke.

[Lefteye625]

Thanks, that was really helpful

[Lefteye625]

Thanks for the feedback.   How is your eye coming along?  And why 4 surgeries?  When was your last surgery, with the silicone still in the eye?   Can you see?


I did have to cancel a trip to NY (I'm in FL) for this month, due to the "no flying" rule.   And I just have this weird feeling that the tanning salon is why my retina detached, although Dr. Hagen says no.  In any case, I will be trying the Spray Tan from now on!  

[dukey]

Ditch the perma-tan. They look ridiculous.

[katika29]

I had four surgeries on my detached retina.  One of the first was when they put in a gas bubble, and I was told that I could not fly on an airplane, because of the decompression/air or altitude in the airplane,.  The Doctor was very serious about this and said that the bubble could burst and and then I would have major problems.  If I were you, even though the tanning bed is not the same thing as an airplane, I would be wary of doing anything that is not normal while the gas bubble is still in.  Getting rays from a tanning bed is not normal way of getting tanned, as a matter of fact, even now I am very careful not to go in the sun to tan, because I still have silicone in my eye, and am afraid something will go wrong.  Operations for Detached Retinas are very hard, complicated, and the outcome is not always good. So I wouldn't mess with anything if I were you, at least until your gas bubble is out and you're totally in the clear with your retina being re-attached.  Good luck.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

No but it can contribute to aging skin, wrinkles and skin cancer.

JCH MD