A 21-year-old member asked:

What is the common recovery time after retinal detachment surgery?

3 doctor answers8 doctors weighed in
Dr. David Kira
Ophthalmology 23 years experience
Weeks: Generally retinal repairs can range from a 3-4 weeks to months for completed repair and completely unrestricted activity dependent upon the extent of the detachment and repair method employed. Please ask your retinal surgeon.
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Dr. Robert Chang
Specializes in Ophthalmology
Weeks to months: Depends on the type of surgery, how complicated the detachment was, gas bubble or oil in the eye, etc. This can affect vision, flying, face down positioning, etc.
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Dr. Colin McCannel
Retinal Surgery 32 years experience
Depends!: The exact recovery time depends, and different physicians have different restrictions to facilitate the recovery. Many patients can go back to work in 1-4 weeks. Near full recovery following repair of primary detachment is usually achieved by 3 months. Complex re-operations may take longer.
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Similar questions

A member asked:

Recovery time after retinal detachment surgery? Procedure: vitrectomy

3 doctor answers4 doctors weighed in
Dr. Yale Kanter
Ophthalmology 63 years experience
Detachment recovery: This may take up to 6 - 8 weeks or longer depending on the extent of the surgery. Your surgeon can be more specific with the answer.
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A 39-year-old member asked:

How long is recovery for retinal detachment surgery?

2 doctor answers3 doctors weighed in
Dr. Yale Kanter
Ophthalmology 63 years experience
Retinal detachment: This is individual and depends on how much of the retina was detached, and the time interval of the duration of the detachment, and the type of surgical repair. The retinal surgeon who did the repair can best answer your question.
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A 42-year-old member asked:

What is retinal detachment surgery like?

1 doctor answer2 doctors weighed in
Dr. Harit Bhatt
Ophthalmology 19 years experience
Several options: A detached retina can be treated in several ways. --laser treatment --pneumatic retinopexy --scleral buckle --vitrectomy the above are usually the mainstays of treatment. It depends on surgeon/patient/type of detachment on which method is chosen.
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A 41-year-old member asked:

How risky is a retinal detachment surgery?

2 doctor answers3 doctors weighed in
Dr. Richard Bensinger
Ophthalmology 54 years experience
Not very: The techniques have been well worked out for retinal re-attachment. But recovery depends upon the extent of the detachment, the cause of the detachment and whether the central vision is involved. It also matters whether you have had previous surgery on that eye. Discuss with the retinal surgeon prior to the surgery.
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A 48-year-old member asked:

What's involved with a retinal detachment surgery?

2 doctor answers5 doctors weighed in
Dr. Ray Oyakawa
Ophthalmology 47 years experience
Depends on type: A simple retinal detach can be fixed in the office with a procedure called a pnuematic retinopexy. A gas bubble is injected in the eye followed by cryo treatment or laser. Face down positioning is required. More complex retinal detachment will require surgery in a hospital or surgery center. This usually requires a pars plana vitrectomy, buckle (not always), endolaser and gas.
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Last updated Nov 22, 2022

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