Scleral Buckle Irritation

About two months after surgery during an appointment with the ophthalmologist, he informed me that all restrictions were lifted and that I could finally get back to my normal routine. As he put it "I'm finally letting you out of jail." He told me that I was able to go see my optometrist for contact lenses and that I was good to go back to work.

By this time my left eye was still very red though it didn't bother me too much, but it did seem to concern the optometrist I'd gone to see in May for a new prescription and contact lenses. She along with two other doctors, (since she wasn't familiar with scleral buckle patients she called in an ophthalmologist to look at my eye, then that ophthalmologist called in a Uveitis specialist) suggested that I see my ophthalmologist again to make sure everything was fine before moving forward with contacts. The uveitis specialist explained that she was concerned about my eye still being red and inflamed because it had been almost three months since surgery.

I went back to see my doctor in the middle of June which was the earliest appointment I could get and he too confirmed that I still had a bit of inflammation. He said that I could still move forward with contact lenses but to be on the safe side, I should wait and return to see him again in a couple of weeks.

Two weeks later, (July 5th) the doctor said that everything looked good, and that there was no more inflammation even though my eye was still red. He said unless I was experiencing pain I didn't need to return to the clinic to see him for a couple of months, but if I started having pain to go to the uveitis doctor.

I have to admit that I was starting to become really frustrated. The redness in my eye didn't bother me that much but I did find it annoying to have to go back and forth to the clinic and not get any answers as to why my eye was still red. At this point I decided to search the medical message-boards for some answers.

It turns out that the redness I was experiencing was due to the buckle causing eye irritation. 
 
The "scleral buckle " which is a silicone band that is surgically placed around the eye to repair detachment by pushing the sclera (outer white part of the eye) toward the retinal tear. It also helps to prevent re-detachment.

I read that it can take up to a year for scleral buckle patients to fully heal. Besides redness or "blood shot" eyes, there are other side effects that patients mentioned experiencing such as:

• gray/blue spots in the eye
• misshapen eye
• a noticeable lump in the eye due to the buckle
• the buckle clicking
• double vision
• pain and stiffness when looking too far to the right or left

With all of the other issues that some patients had been experiencing I feel as if I got off lucky with only the red eye.

Example of a scleral buckle wrapped around the eye

I am now 5 months post and my last appointment with the retina clinic was about 20 days ago. I haven't had any serious issues just the redness, occasional double vision, and minor eye aches if I move my eyes too much when they're tired. 

There's also flashes, which I've mentioned at every appointment but have been told by both doctors that the flashes are a normal side effect of the buckle. The visual distortion is about the same but I'm getting use to it.

More information about Scleral buckle surgery can be found here - hopkinsmedicine.org.