shooting after retinal detachment

Have you had surgery to repair the damage, and what did your doctor advise?

I'd go with what the eye surgeon says.

Blindness isn't something I'd screw around with.

BSW

ouch, you've really been through the wringer.

Just had a tear so a quick fix, maybe a 5 minute procedure.
On my own instincts I gave up the weekly Trap meet and went down 2 rifle caliber sizes for hunting. I don't want to risk another tear, end up detached and going through what you did. Meanwhile I am still hunting and shooting.

This may be an overabundance of caution on my part and maybe you'll be good to go back as you were.

Here's to a fast recovery.

I think calling and asking your Doc who went to medical school for 7 years and knows the intimate details of your case is better than asking a sampling of random strangers, some of whom may never have even finished high school.

Absolutely talk to your doctor!

That being said when I had mine reattached my doctor ( Tennessee Retina in Nashville) wouldnt allow me to even lift anything over 5 lbs for 4 weeks after my initial 6 week post op recovery period. 6 months later he gave me permission to return to the gym with a 50 lb weight limit. He also allowed me to return to the range limited to under 3 lbs felt recoil. ( He was a shooter too so he understood recoil ) That limited me to pretty much rimfire only even one of my air rifles was off limits

Yours sounds more serious than mine. I did not require the buckle. I simply had the nitrogen bubble placedinside my eye after the re attachment surgery. It took nearly three months for the bubble to dissipate.

It was 18 months after my surgery before he gave me the full green light for both the range and the gym.

I hope that you have a full recovery. I truly understand.

Tentwing

Everything I've ever read has said to stay with mild-recoil rifles. Maybeso nothing more than a .243 or equivalent.

abandonedmongoose said:

feild tester, i agree that following the doctors advice is the way to go. also i never finished highschool. i'm not basing my actions or using this as an excuse to go AMA. I was inquiring to the mostly well meaning members of this community if they had any experiences to share

Click to expand...

Gotcha.
There actually have been a few threads of people actually receiving Retinal Detachment as a result of shotgunning. If you use the search feature you should be able to find them. It's a pretty specific term, so it should weed out most threads that don't belong.

Follow your doctors orders, looseing your sight is the last thing you want to happen. But if your doctor says in time you can take some mild recoil and you still want to shoot the bigger calibers then look at getting a Suppressor if your state allows them.

Avoid shooting indoors at all costs, stick to 22LR, & stay away from the concussion generated by others shooting large calibers.

I've had a detachment in BOTH eyes.. I don't know the name of the surgery, but at a hospital, removed eye fluid, sat in a massage chair face down for 3 weeks after, on both eyes.. touch up laser welding also on both eyes.. that's a bit overwhelming.. having a Dr shine a laser in your eye. I've since had both cataracts replaced. I waited to shoot until after getting cleared from the Dr... even then, I went and purchased shooting glasses with the foam gasket for around the eye socket. They sell them mostly for dusty environments, but I wanted to reduce any shock waves reaching my eyes directly. I have a shot gun but have not shot it much, I expect not to much after either. I do not see me shooting large bore rifles either. But that's just caution on my side and partly not wanting to hurt a shoulder much either. Good luck

I had a slight detachment and cataract surgery for both eyes. For the partial detachment was 1 month. For the cats was 2 weeks. The biggest concern was scope eye. I laid off my M1 and Moisin. Shot the AR and rimfires.
Good luck OP and follow the doc's instruction to the letter.

Yeah, a nice stable of high end or tricked-out 22s would be very nice to have, and fun too: bolts, levers, pumps, semis, tacticool stocks and classic wood stocks, irons, peeps, high end target scopes..... Lots of eye candy.

Steelchickens.com is a great website about all things rimfire.
http://www.steelchickens.com

Sounds like a great reason to build a rail gun.

FWIW, I would do nothing without recommendation and consultation with ophthalmologic surgeon. I had cataract surgery and posterior vitreous detachments in both eyes, no retinal detachments. I discussed all issues and shooting with surgeon before and after procedures. Follow advice given by doc. Seeing eye dog/white cane are difficult to achieve possibles with.

Your Mileage won't Vary,

Harry