Is Eye Fatigue Normal After Surgery for a Torn Retina?

The retina is the thin tissue lining the inside wall of the eye, and photoreceptors on the retina receive light and transmit images to the brain. Detached or torn retinas must be surgically treated to avoid blindness, but surgery is successful in more than 90 percent of cases, according to the Florida Retina Institute.

Process

• In the case of small tears, treatment might be scleral buckling (the most common) or vitrectomy. Both surgical procedures require hospital stays, and have similarly positive outcomes, with success rates of more than 90 percent particularly when the macula has not been damaged or affected.

General Recovery

• Whatever type of surgery is done for a retinal tear, certain parts of the recovery process are the same such as redness, swelling, watery eyes and soreness. These symptoms may continue for about a month.

Eye Fatigue

• Blurred vision may continue for several weeks and although the patient will be encouraged to use the eye soon after surgery, eye fatigue is normal. You can read, write and watch TV, but expect to need frequent rests for the tired eye.

Considerations

• During the healing process, you may be given eyedrops to use, be instructed to avoid washing your hair in the shower for a couple weeks, and to avoid strenuous activity, active sports or sudden movements for two months.

Follow Up

• After surgery, you will have follow-up appointments with your doctor to monitor the healing and recovery of the retina and to monitor the other eye. In about 10 percent of cases, scar tissue may form and the retina may detach once more but second operations are typically successful.