Editor’s Note: The main character of this article is a 28-year-old, well-educated and gentle Cheng Xuyuan. He shared a personal experience of his own.
One morning, as usual, I turned on the computer and began to write the code. Suddenly I felt as if there were some dark green [thread ends] in front of me, floating down slowly from above, turning my eyes slightly, and the thread ends would float back and forth.
At first I thought I stayed up too late and didn’t care. But for several days, I found that the thread was always there, and only my left eye could see the thread, but my right eye didn’t.
Now I’m a little panicked, feeling that things may be a little big. Because I used to listen to friends who studied medicine say, [if something is wrong, but there are both sides, generally there is no big problem; But if it only appears on one side, it is best to go to the hospital to have a look]. So I hurried to the ophthalmology department.
The doctor asked about the situation and arranged for me to have some examinations.
First, let me experience the feeling of a bright blind dog’s eye. Just in the clinic, the doctor used a [small flashlight] to shine on my eyes. It was amazing that the tears I had endured for decades came out of my eyes… but there was no other what who felt uncomfortable.
Second, I made a B-ultrasound of my eyeball. I used to think that it could only look at my stomach, but I could also look at my eyes. It was really a long knowledge. After the results of B-ultrasound came out, I went back to the clinic.
The doctor said: There is a hole in your retina, which is called retinal tear.
Cheng Xuyuan: What? Sounds like such a big disease, can also let me get it?
The doctor said: Young man, are you quite short-sighted? If you don’t pay attention, it may develop retinal detachment, which requires surgery and laser welding of the retina.
Cheng Xuyuan: What? And surgery! The somebody else is not prepared at all.
The doctor said: However, your current situation is still relatively light. You don’t need to have an operation for the time being. You should pay attention to eye hygiene at ordinary times and come to the hospital regularly for reexamination.
The doctor also specifically explained that if there are the following situations, you must come to the hospital in time:
1. The sudden increase in [thread ends] seen in front of us;
2. There are inexplicable bright spots;
3. The things seen on the left and right sides are asymmetrical, or it feels as if the visible range is missing a part.
Otherwise, missing the best treatment time may cause blindness.
Fortunately, retinal holes have no great influence on me for the time being, but now I dare not stay up late, and I dare not hit people fiercely when playing football. Other things are basically the same as before. Occasionally, when having dinner with friends, I can also use this to gain everyone’s sympathy and drink less wine or something.
What did the ophthalmologist say?
1. What is retina? Is detachment a retinal drop?
The retina is a membrane that, at the back of the whole eyeball, like the negative of a camera, is specially responsible for photosensitive imaging. The structure is very complex, but it is very precise. Normally, the retina is tightly attached to the back of the eyeball wall.
However, if the retina itself is of poor quality, such as high myopia, there is a degeneration area on the retina. Or there is an external force, for example, people with traumatic eyes are more likely to have retinal holes, and then the neuroepithelium of the retina is separated from the pigment epithelium, which is what we usually call retinal detachment.
This is probably the case with the programmer above, which is also the most common type in clinic.
2. How do I know retinal detachment?
Once retinal detachment occurs, at first you may feel as if something is floating in front of you, or flash suddenly, or some people may feel that there is a dark shadow.
With the gradual expansion of the scope of retinal detachment and the aggravation of the disease, obvious symptoms such as vision decline, inability to see clearly or deformation of seeing things may occur.
The programmer first discovered that what was floating in front of him was the [floaters] that many people had heard of. There were small black shadows fluttering in front of him, with different shapes, which might be a little, linear, mosquito-like, spider web-like, etc., especially when looking at the white and bright background.
This is actually a transparent structure called [vitreous body] in the eye. Myopic people and the elderly are more common, but other diseases, such as inflammation in the eye, vitreous degeneration, fundus hemorrhage, parasites, even tumors, etc., can also be caused.
Therefore, once [floaters] occur, it is recommended to go to the hospital for examination, examination of fundus and B-ultrasound, etc. If the doctor feels that no special treatment is needed after examination, the best advice is to ignore its existence. However, if there is an increase in black shadows, vision decline, black shadows become fixed in position instead of floating, etc., it is necessary to see a doctor in time.
The feeling of flashing is the same. Check as soon as possible to see if there are retinal holes and other conditions, and take timely treatment.
3. Is retinal detachment bound to occur when holes occur?
It’s not.
Some researchers have examined the eyes of corpses. About 5% ~ 10% of the eyes have retinal holes without any retinal detachment. Because there are some other influencing factors.
4. How can retinal detachment be prevented when there is a tear?
The most important way to prevent retinal detachment is to use laser, which is equivalent to patching the retina and building several dams beside the hiatus. Let the retina stick to the structure behind it, and generally it will not drift out of its original position.
5. If retinal holes are found in the examination, do you need surgery immediately?
Not necessarily, this has something to do with the patient’s condition and the basic condition of the eyes.
Most patients come to the hospital for treatment because of floaters or flash sensation, and preventive treatment is generally recommended.
For other patients who have no symptoms, but have myopia, lattice degeneration of retina (because this condition is prone to atrophic holes), aphakia and intraocular lens eyes, previous eye trauma, or the other eye has not suffered trauma but retinal detachment, etc., doctors will generally recommend preventive laser treatment.
6. In case of retinal detachment, how to treat it?
Once retinal detachment occurs, surgical treatment is usually required.
Surgical methods include scleral encircling and external compression, vitrectomy and vitrectomy. Doctors will decide the surgical methods according to the time of retinal detachment, the location, size and shape of the hiatus, the age of the patient and the history of eye-related operations.
Generally speaking, there is no need to be too nervous when retinal detachment occurs. Now the operation is becoming more and more mature. Usually the success rate of the first operation can reach more than 90%. Moreover, in general, early treatment will have a better relative prognosis.
With the development of minimally invasive vitrectomy technology, the success rate of retinal detachment surgery is continuously improving, with less surgical trauma and better prognosis.