Can deep tissue massage cause vitreal detachment?

[gumdrop847]

I had an extremely hard therapeutic massage in which the therapist pressed his elbow into the place where my neck meets my shoulders, and the sides of my face were pushed very hard against the "doughnut" part of the table. As soon as I arrived home I began seeing laser pointer type flashes and a huge floater that moves like a windshield wiper across my right eye. My ophthalmologist examined/dilated the affected eye twice and said I have vitreal detachment. Could the massage have been the trigger for this incident? I am a 51 year old woman and in great health otherwise.This is distressing because the floater makes it more difficult for me to do my writing/editing job.

[rdeldr79]

This exact thing happened to me. It happened and I knew something was wrong as soon as I rolled over after the massage. I kept blinking and it was very milky and unclear. I saw an opthalmologist ASAP and it was a PVD. I'm very nearsighted and the pressure they put on the back of my head caused PVD in the right eye. I could tell something had happened. There are articles out there where this has happened before. It was not a random coincidence.

[Tatum21]

Im only 31! I have pain where my neck meets shoulder and just used my home massaging device then had black floaters in my vision. Most doctors are undereducated quacks, who only got into the business bc at the time if felt like the job that would provide the most money.

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

The PVD and floaters are much more likely due to being 51 than the massage. The only way that might be a factor if the eyes were massaged heavily thru the closed lids.

JCH MD

[rdeldr79]

Exactly the same thing happened to me less than a month ago.  I was face down, lots of pressure where skull meets spine and on the neck. When I raised up I thought I just had a lot of tears but it didn't go away. PVD was the diagnosis when I saw an Ophthalmologist.  I'm only 40.

[JohnHaganMD]

Then I would put massage on the list of things for you to avoid.  That being said there are no studies that indicate massage as a common cause of PVD.

[Olgaiva]

Hello,
My mum has exactly the same pro lem after getting a massage. She is very stressed about it. It made her go into depression and I dont know what to do. Did anyone manage to resolve this issue? Her opthalmologist said that her eyes are perfectly fine. CT scan and MRI also did not show anything wrong. This is so stressful for her as they dont go away for nearly half a year now.. Can anyone please help?

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

By age 50 half the population see floaters and have some degree of posterior vitreous detachment, by age 70 its up to 75%.   So floaters are a part of the way the eye ages. If she does not have a retina hole/tear/detachment which are unusual she will just need to get used to the floaters. Over time many floaters drop to the bottom of the eye , out of sight or the brain stops paying attention to them. (neuroadaptation).  A variety of lasers have been tried with not great success to break up floaters.   "Floater only vitrectomy" is a big operation, often not covered by insurance and carries many risks and a guarentee of cataracts.

[isispjones]

I have had this twice after a massage.  A constant tearing of the eye, the first time the doctor put me on an eye gel.  I had not done a massage for  3 months did one last week and the same thing happened.  I went to the Ophthalmologist and was diagnosed with PVD.  I do not think this is a coincidence.  

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

Then avoid massages.

[rdeldr79]

I wish information was out there before I had the massage that caused the problem. Here's an article though: https://www.aaojournal.org/article/S0161-6420(22)01009-0/fulltext

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

That article is not applicable to normal eyes. The person in that report had high intracranial pressure, swollen optic nerves (papilledea).  With those problems bleeding from the optic nerve into the vitreous often occurs spontaneously.