Silicone oil

[Issi]

Has anybody ever had silicone oil put into their eye to save a detached retina,and if so can you tell me what the vision is like after having it put in. I've been told that your vision becomes very blurry and this is permanent, but how blurry do they mean?

[PhilDR]

sounds too risky to me. Eyesight at stake. Free on the NHS

[Mosaic]

Do you mean oil eye drops, or somehow having oil injected into the eyeball?
If eyedrops, you might as well paint your back fence green.
Oil into the eyeball? I'm thinking bye-bye seeing eye, hello world of braille.

[woofgang]

seriously its used if some of the the vitreous humour (eyeball jelly) needs to be removed.
there's a good pdf from Moorfields here that explains it
https://www.google.co...6820&biw=1440&bih=780
you need to pick the moorfields pdf link I cant post the direct link as it downloads and opens to your computer.
There is no mention of permanent blurring. i would be talking further to the surgeon.

[ChillDoubt]

I'd forget the oil, the best treatment is surgery, ASAP.

[LazyGun]

The use of silicone oil is a legitimate treatment- part of a well recognised procedure, obtainable through the NHS or privately, that can be used to repair a detached retina.The operation itself is called a Vitrectomy,in the situation where they are re-attaching a retina, the vitreous jelly within the eye is either partially or totally removed, and a gas or silicone oil bubble introduced into the vitreous. This bubble sits against the retina, helping it to re-attach smoothly (tamponade). You will have to spend a significant proportion of each day with your head down for several weeks, to allow the bubble to exert gentle pressure against the back of the eye and to hold the retina in place - this is called "posturing"

Post-operatively,if gas is used, the gas bubble gradually dissipates over time, and your vision will improve with that dissipation. With Silicone oil, vision is blurred/blocked for anything up to 3 months, at which time another procedure is usually required to remove the silicone oil.

It is difficult to comment about blurring/distortion that you might experience, because that will depend on the extent of any damage to the retina, any scarring that might be there.It will gradually improve, and your eyesight will adapt to some extent.

The best person to ask about post op recovery and implications for your eyesight going forward is someone from your eye specialists team.

The link Woofgang offered to the Moorfields Hospital explanation is very good, and well worth a read.

http://www.retinaeyed...etinal-detachments-2/