Second scleral buckle recovery

[Longhairedsally]

Hi! I recently underwent a second scleral buckle procedure. In august I had a partial buckle, my surgeon said he wasn’t happy as some fluid was left behind and wasn’t going so a month ago he went in again, drained the fluid and put in a full encircling buckle.
I understand my eye has now been operated on twice in a few months so it is probably very sensitive. My surgeon says everything looks good from a retina POV but I didn’t think to ask about everything else. I keep getting the gritty feeling like something is stuck in my eye and it is very watery. I am also very sensitive to light and still struggling to watch tv and I need to wear sunglasses outside. Although I would say these symptoms are very slowly improving, they are still impacting my quality of life a month later. Is this normal for a month after my operation and when should I worry?
I am only 26 so just nervous about what the future holds.  

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

The type of surgery you had is very individually unique, each different. Thus it is not possible to generalize as with cataract/intraocular lens surgery. All of the symptoms you mention could be normal but you would need to ask your surgeon who can actually examine the eye.  You may still be on dilating drops that make the pupil big, that will make the eye sensitive to light and blur the vision.  Also this type of surgery is Very slow to heal. It may be 6-12 months before you know how well the eye will see. It always changes glasses Rx so your present glasses are no long matched to the eye.  VIP: in a young person with retinal detachment in one eye, especially if you are quite near-sighted, the risk of a RD in your other eye is very high. So have an ophthalmologist examine yearly, avoid trauma to the eye, and be seen immediately if new floaters, flashes, loss of field of vision or change in vision.

[Longhairedsally]

Thank you very much for your detailed response!

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

Happy to help, best of luck