Posterior vitreous detachment

[oli2828]

Hi,
I am a 28 year old anaesthetist from Malta.
I have myopia and astigmatism (-8.75 L -9 R)
Last Friday I noticed a large floater in my right
eye and was diagnosed as having posterior vitreous detachment
with a small retinal tear in the temporal region.
I was advised not to exert myself and not take part in any sport.

This came as a real shock to me as i play competitive table tennis-
my question is: is it really so risky for my eye sight to take part in this
non contact sport ?

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

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[AnnaE]

I am not a doctor, but I am an eye patient, and a community leader. Dr. Hagan will review this post.

What were your surgeon's instructions. You should check with your surgeon before you do anything besides sleeping, walking from one room to another. Please check with your surgeon.

[krishnaB]

Thanks a lot doc, your answer helped me a lot, i am also active young male who enjoys sports and other activities. I had surgery on both eyes for retina hole few weeks back and thinking whether to go to gym to workout or not

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

Because of your high myopia you are at higher risk for earlier development of PVD and also retinal tears and detachments. Please use the search feature to look up the  many discussions on this forum about PVD and RD.

The highest risk is in the first 2-3 months, especially the first 3 weeks as the vitreous face peals off the retina. This would be especially true if this is a horseshoe retinal tear or there is vitreous traction on the hole. There is less risk if this is a small round atrophic hole with no vitreous traction.

I would suggest a second opinion with a retina specialist. In an active young male that is highly myopic and that is athletic many retina specialists would recommend closing the retina hole with laser or cryopexy, especially sinces if it is on the top half of the temporal retina where it would put the macula at risk for detachment.  Your goals is to return to the things you enjoy and I don't see that with treatment why you couldn't go full throttle in table tennis.

Remember you will have a PVD in the other eye sometime. Be sure both eyes are checked closely when you get a consult.  

JCH III MD