Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters detached retinas & recoil

I know a fellow that has a detached retina that his doctor attributes to shooting heavy recoiling rifles like a 7STW. Also, I am hearing rumors of other cases of detached retinas here connected to the ultra magnums. Anyone have any real info on recoil and detached retinas??
Thanks.

Royce

I have broke my cheek bone three times. and now the lining that contains the gel in the eye has come loose in a spot and has a water bubble in it. and debree from it is floating around inside and causes a cloud where ever the debree is. about the same as torn retinas but a differant place in the eye. it cannot be repaired. I am going to start shooting left handed that eye is still good.I can easily see that it could cause a torn retina.

Hubert, what in the blazes are you shooting?

I admit that was one factor which made me decide to put my 458 Magnum up for sale. 8.5 lbs is to darn light for a 458.
GWN

Hubert-

Just went to the eye doctor this week due to loose material floating in my eyes. It started about the same time I got my .338 dialed in for elk season last fall. Doctor couldn't say for sure it was connected to recoil, but did say it usually happens later in life, not at age 40. Makes a guy think....

C&B

As the owner of two 7mmstw's,I certainly don't consider them heavy recoiling.




I had the surgery(vitrectomy) to remove very large floaters four years ago at age forty.I talked to several other people that were having the surgery in order to try to find a pattern, and many of them did not shoot or take part in heavy physical activities.

Stubblejumper-

What were the results of your surgery?

I was shooting a cut down 12ga single barrel lightened to 4 lbs with a extra full turkey choke. and using 3 inch mags special loaded for turkey. I could get 12 to 15 pellets in a gobblers head at 60 yds. I decided to sell it before I went blind. If I hadent of sold it I would have kept hunting with it as it was habit forming.when you turkey hunt you have a habit of shooting the tightest shooting shot gun you own.no matter the punishment. the buyer was warned.. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

As I remember, John Wooters wrote of haveing this happen to him just before he retired. He had a artical or two about switching to handguns for his hunting on his doctors advice because of a good chanch of the injury reaccuring with rifle recoil.

Recover is about two months per eye with the pupil fully dilated for the first six weeks which essentially makes you one eyed for that time period.The pupil then takes about two weeks to recover fully to where it dilates properly.My right eye recovered fully with perfect vision but my left eye exibits some glare around lighting as a result of the surgery.Before the surgery My left eye was a total blur due to a large floater that remained in front of the pupil.My right eye was not as bad but was worsening.After four years ,I have no floaters reoccuring in either eye.

It also happened to Bob Brister, who used to be the shooting columnist for FIELD & STREAM. Bob's mostly resulted from zlllions of rounds of shotshells, however. But hard kickers of any sort do not help.

MD

I had a retina detach the last day of April in 1993. I attribute it to shooting many thousands of rounds of shotguns at skeet and trap, plus a few thrown in at quail, pheasants and rabbits. And, a number of bench shots using some big boomers. But, the real damage was done shooting shotguns.
The fix was to have 200 laser shots forming three concentric circles around the tear. The laser shots actually tack weld the retina back in place. That, I won't ever forget. I flinched at every shot, and it took about an hour to do all of them. Each shot hurt! They put you in a dental chair so you can't move your head. There was no way that I could keep from crying. Tears were streaming down my cheeks. That was not fun!
The good news is that I have vision in that eye. If you don't get the tear handled immediately, the entire retina can detach, and then you will never see out of that eye.
Don

This has been the most depressing thread I've read in a long time, because I LOVE to shoot. I thought the cost of reloading components was my only concern! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

I'm certainly not ready to say this can't or doesn't happen but it can't be too common and certainly not with the relatively puny thump of a 7mm Ultra Mag. or we would all have been blind long ago.

My next door neighbor just had about the fourth surgery trying to save his remaining eye--the eyeball is now filled up with oil and he has to stay leaned over and sleep on his stomach for several (more weeks). He is (or was) a big time skeet and trap shooter, and has been told no more shotguns. He's hoping to get the OK for a 28 if the surgery works, but I really doubt if he will.

Worries me a little bit when I'm slinging 400 grains downrange from my double rifle--saw a video of me doing it and it looks like your face kind of slides off the skull and then snaps back into place. Can't be good for your retinas. But it hasn't made me quit shooting boomers. And I think the guys who shoot tens of thousands of rounds in shotgun games are far more at risk than those of us who just shoot a few score rounds from big rifles in a few months time.

Both Bob Brister and John Wootters suffered detached retinas from shooting. Bob described the symptoms as "flashes like white lightning" occurring in his vision, and he said if it happens to you to get to a hospital immediately. If your head is immobilized right away and and the retina is repaired, you can probably go back to shooting, but if you ignore the condition, you'll lose the sight in that eye.

Thanks for that Stubblejumper. I have some problem with them blurring vision (notably dead center right eye <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> ) but my sister is hampered some by floaters. She was under the impression nothing could be done.

The first symptom is the flashing lights going off inside of the eye. They are like a continuous series of flash bulbs going off, and it doesn't stop. Looking from the eye is like looking through a cloud, which is blood inside of the eyeball.
I know I shot many thousands of rounds from a shotgun, mostly 12 gage, from 1960 on.
You must get to the Retina specialist as soon as you see the lights. I was fortunate that the day it happened, our Retina Doc had time to handle it. It's not easy to find someone who can do the repair.
Don

DMB-

The day your retina detached were you shooting, (or some other activity that could cause it), or did it just happen, seemingly on its own? Chilling description of your repair procedure, would like to avoid that if possible. Thanks for sharing.

C&B

I don't doubt that getting detached retinas might result from shock to the head..
1% of the time..

BUT IF you look at the primary cause of detached retinas it is advanced diabetes and other physical maladiesassociated with poor health care and condition.jim