Eye issue: what would you do?
Discussion
Just curious if anyone here has some wise words!
Had a minor sporting moment (ball in face!) on Friday night
Carried on with game, no big issue.....or so I thought.....
Saturday: was driving away for long weekend - off early - noticed some swirls & spots ("floaters' - no, not that sort!) in right eye (the one that took the brunt of the force).
Swirly enough for me to let MrsMikeIOW take over the driving.....
Was a bit blurry: if I looked at the sky, almost like there were small bubbles giving the effect of looking through a dirty window.
Anyway, left it a day to see if it improved overnight.
Today was the same, so called NHS111. They took details & suggested going to A&E.
Went along. 2.5hours later was told "there is no damage to the eye". Fairly basic tests ( shone the torch and looked) - I've had more thorough eye tests over the years!
Anyway....left A&E, & since then, the faint swirls are now more like fairly heavy oily swirls, & the slight blurriness is rather more blurry
I'll leave it overnight & see....but we return back home later tomorrow, & I am wondering whether to:
Any eye experts here with words of wisdom?
thx for reading!
Had a minor sporting moment (ball in face!) on Friday night
Carried on with game, no big issue.....or so I thought.....Saturday: was driving away for long weekend - off early - noticed some swirls & spots ("floaters' - no, not that sort!) in right eye (the one that took the brunt of the force).
Swirly enough for me to let MrsMikeIOW take over the driving.....
Was a bit blurry: if I looked at the sky, almost like there were small bubbles giving the effect of looking through a dirty window.
Anyway, left it a day to see if it improved overnight.
Today was the same, so called NHS111. They took details & suggested going to A&E.
Went along. 2.5hours later was told "there is no damage to the eye". Fairly basic tests ( shone the torch and looked) - I've had more thorough eye tests over the years!
Anyway....left A&E, & since then, the faint swirls are now more like fairly heavy oily swirls, & the slight blurriness is rather more blurry
I'll leave it overnight & see....but we return back home later tomorrow, & I am wondering whether to:
- head for a local A&E on Tuesday
- see if my optician has an appointment free Tuesday
- book the surgery (with a view to perhaps getting a BUPA referral)
Any eye experts here with words of wisdom?
thx for reading!
Go to a proper eye clinic and not just accident and emergency.
A heavy strike to the face could detach your retina. You want that fixed as soon as possible.
If you rely on someone that isn't a specialist you could end up like me. My retina was detached for weeks and caused serious damage to my eye. The eye clinic spotted the error in seconds and were furious that the previous call had been made to say my eye was ok.
They need to look through your eye with light and a magnifying glass, not a torch on the surface of the eye.
A heavy strike to the face could detach your retina. You want that fixed as soon as possible.
If you rely on someone that isn't a specialist you could end up like me. My retina was detached for weeks and caused serious damage to my eye. The eye clinic spotted the error in seconds and were furious that the previous call had been made to say my eye was ok.
They need to look through your eye with light and a magnifying glass, not a torch on the surface of the eye.
Edited by Driver101 on Sunday 10th February 21:38
Often hospital eye departments, certainly all the ones in our area are acute referral rather than A+E , so often you will have to go to normal A+E first then they will decide if they need to send you to the eye department.
Many areas have local agreements with opticians who will dilate your pupil and if there is a retinal tear/detachment refer you straight into the local eye department at a booked time (this maybe called MECS,PEARS or WEHE depending on where you live)
But get it checked tomorrow, just because there was not wrong on Friday doesn't mean that there isn't today (although there might not be sometimes you get lots of floaters but the retina is ok).
Sensible advice here https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/floaters-and-flashes...
Many areas have local agreements with opticians who will dilate your pupil and if there is a retinal tear/detachment refer you straight into the local eye department at a booked time (this maybe called MECS,PEARS or WEHE depending on where you live)
But get it checked tomorrow, just because there was not wrong on Friday doesn't mean that there isn't today (although there might not be sometimes you get lots of floaters but the retina is ok).
Sensible advice here https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/floaters-and-flashes...
Thanks for all the suggestions....a specialist eye hospital sounds a good idea....but I note out local one tells me "Eye Casualty is not a "walk-in" clinic. If your eye problem is NOT an emergency you should see your optician or GP who will refer you to one of our specialist clinics if necessary."
So I perhaps need to see our GP first...or maybe my optician.
Tomorrow is a travelling day, so won't be then.
So I perhaps need to see our GP first...or maybe my optician.
Tomorrow is a travelling day, so won't be then.
essayer said:
Why would you not put everything else on hold to deal with this today?
Not sure why you thought I wasn’t dealing with it. Went to one A&E, as I lay out originally: just trying to figure out the best, fastest and correct way to deal with it. Today, if possible.Thanks for all the rat of the advice, appreciated.
I went to the local eye hospital today...spent several hours there, ending in the doctor declaring it was a torn retina and needed immediate laser surgery.
Now done, and hopeful that is that: back for a checkup in a week or two. Clearly very glad I went (& I sensed they, like me, were less than chuffed with the first A&E I went to on Sunday).
Hopefully future damage is alleviated, and the swirls will fade away.
mikeiow said:
Not sure why you thought I wasn’t dealing with it. Went to one A&E, as I lay out originally: just trying to figure out the best, fastest and correct way to deal with it. Today, if possible.
Sorry, must have misunderstood your comment about travelling as not seeing docs today, given the seriousness of it all.Great news that they were able to diagnose and treat so quickly. Worrying that the first visit sent you away though - good you persisted
Driver101 said:
It is that quick to have a retina fixed these days? A simple laser and all is done?
I had air inserted behind my eye and had to stay face down for a full week. It was over 20 years ago though.
I was signed off work for 6 weeks.
Not so sure about the “simple laser and all is done”: I chose to visit the Eye Hospital here, so the staff (I believe!) are focussed (see what I did there?!) on specific eye skills...I had air inserted behind my eye and had to stay face down for a full week. It was over 20 years ago though.
I was signed off work for 6 weeks.
But yes, given the right person in the right place, argon laser retinopexy is a pretty quick procedure
The “lasering” took perhaps 10 minutes....several bouts of prolonged “stitching”, where I felt I was the target in a video game.
Not particularly uncomfortable, although a very mild smell of burning at one point made my mind have to focus on trusting the man with the “gun”. I very much appreciated the time he took to inspect the eye (both eyes!) before heading for the consent form: I could tell he was double checking himself, but appeared very competent....very much a contrast to the experience I had in the other A&E on Sunday.
For bonus points, given decent eyesight in the other eye, I am fine to drive today (but will leave that until tomorrow....)
essayer said:
Sorry, must have misunderstood your comment about travelling as not seeing docs today, given the seriousness of it all.
Great news that they were able to diagnose and treat so quickly. Worrying that the first visit sent you away though - good you persisted
No problem: yes, my “travelling day” comment did imply I was ignoring things....really was trying to figure out where to head back here at home. I called the eye hospital first thing and they said I could just walk in, so it was action stations (with 4 hours to drive first....with my wife at the wheel!) Great news that they were able to diagnose and treat so quickly. Worrying that the first visit sent you away though - good you persisted
Came here to just get the wisdom of the PH collective to help me pick the right path to get it sorted by the fastest and best route: glad I did too!
I still have some wavy lines in vision in the eye: hopefully these will clear soon.
Edited by mikeiow on Tuesday 12th February 07:29
Now write to the A&E hospital, via the PALS department, to explain to them the deficiency in the original treating doctor.
It is (very partly) your responsibility to make sure the next man doesn't get fobbed off by that A&E doctor.
You were sensible enough to ask for more help, and PH and the second hospital rescued your eyesight.
Just describe the facts to them, don't threaten anything unless you are interested seriously in that route. Be helpful.
It is (very partly) your responsibility to make sure the next man doesn't get fobbed off by that A&E doctor.
You were sensible enough to ask for more help, and PH and the second hospital rescued your eyesight.
Just describe the facts to them, don't threaten anything unless you are interested seriously in that route. Be helpful.
Edited by The_Doc on Tuesday 12th February 15:05
The_Doc said:
Now write to the A&E hospital, via the PALS department, to explain to them the deficiency in the original treating doctor.
It is (vary partly) your responsibility to make sure the next man doesn't get fobbed off by that A&E doctor.
You were sensible enough to ask for more help, and PH and the second hospital rescued your eyesight.
Just describe the facts to them, don't threaten anything unless you are interested seriously in that route. Be helpful.
Not aware of the PALS thing, but yes, I have (politely!) tweeted them this morning, with that very much in mind. It is (vary partly) your responsibility to make sure the next man doesn't get fobbed off by that A&E doctor.
You were sensible enough to ask for more help, and PH and the second hospital rescued your eyesight.
Just describe the facts to them, don't threaten anything unless you are interested seriously in that route. Be helpful.
No desire to 'threaten' them - ultimately it was not life threatening, and (in his defence!) he did say "if it is bad/worse, feel free to come back tomorrow" - maybe even if I had gone back there yesterday morning they *might* have done the same as I got up here at the Eye Hospital - I chose to return partly so follow-ups will be easier.
But yes, it would be good for them to improve on the care so someone else doesn't get the same *cough* less than thorough inspection than I got!
cheers
The_Doc said:
Now write to the A&E hospital, via the PALS department, to explain to them the deficiency in the original treating doctor.
It is (very partly) your responsibility to make sure the next man doesn't get fobbed off by that A&E doctor.
You were sensible enough to ask for more help, and PH and the second hospital rescued your eyesight.
Just describe the facts to them, don't threaten anything unless you are interested seriously in that route. Be helpful.
So here we are, 6 months on....my eye is much recovered (still the odd aberration, but fine really).....& after much communication with the NHS Trust, including them sending me some information that was clearly not sanitised for patients (!)....I ended up getting a bit cross with them: they simply would not accept that they really should have dilated pupils and done a proper check. It is (very partly) your responsibility to make sure the next man doesn't get fobbed off by that A&E doctor.
You were sensible enough to ask for more help, and PH and the second hospital rescued your eyesight.
Just describe the facts to them, don't threaten anything unless you are interested seriously in that route. Be helpful.
I made it VERY clear I simply want to know they have learned from it so some other poor sap doesn't suffer the poor care I did - as The_Doc mentioned above.
So now my reason for posting: this week I received their findings, where they 'upheld' my complaint....firstly because the complaints process was badly managed (which I don't generally care much about), but secondly because "it is good practice to dilate the pupil".
What they do NOT say is that they will ensure in the future that proper checks are done.
No idea why they have danced so carefully, but I have to say this boils my p***!!
Maybe this is some nuance to the wording, but I feel I will have to battle on to get them to explicitly state that they will ensure people with eye issues will get examined properly.
- sigh*
My detached retina was over 20 years ago. I had all the excuses it was a one off and lessons would be learned.
Sadly you are far from the first I've read that has been failed since.
My eye will never be right and the damage was done due to my GP taking authority for something he knew nothing about.
Sadly you are far from the first I've read that has been failed since.
My eye will never be right and the damage was done due to my GP taking authority for something he knew nothing about.
mikeiow said:
So here we are, 6 months on....my eye is much recovered (still the odd aberration, but fine really).....& after much communication with the NHS Trust, including them sending me some information that was clearly not sanitised for patients (!)....I ended up getting a bit cross with them: they simply would not accept that they really should have dilated pupils and done a proper check.
I made it VERY clear I simply want to know they have learned from it so some other poor sap doesn't suffer the poor care I did - as The_Doc mentioned above.
So now my reason for posting: this week I received their findings, where they 'upheld' my complaint....firstly because the complaints process was badly managed (which I don't generally care much about), but secondly because "it is good practice to dilate the pupil".
What they do NOT say is that they will ensure in the future that proper checks are done.
No idea why they have danced so carefully, but I have to say this boils my p***!!
Maybe this is some nuance to the wording, but I feel I will have to battle on to get them to explicitly state that they will ensure people with eye issues will get examined properly.
Good job. Persistent. I made it VERY clear I simply want to know they have learned from it so some other poor sap doesn't suffer the poor care I did - as The_Doc mentioned above.
So now my reason for posting: this week I received their findings, where they 'upheld' my complaint....firstly because the complaints process was badly managed (which I don't generally care much about), but secondly because "it is good practice to dilate the pupil".
What they do NOT say is that they will ensure in the future that proper checks are done.
No idea why they have danced so carefully, but I have to say this boils my p***!!
Maybe this is some nuance to the wording, but I feel I will have to battle on to get them to explicitly state that they will ensure people with eye issues will get examined properly.
- sigh*
W
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