Seveal months ago I suffered what's called a detached vitreous in my right eye. I noticed it the day after a session where I was shooting my 9,3X62 from the bench. At the time, I thought the two events might be related. My doctor kept an eye on it, watching for a detached retina. Well, about three weeks ago I had to go in for emergency surgery for a detached retina. It was not after a shooting session. I just woke up with it.

My retina doctor tells me it is not from shooting. Apparently, you only get a detached retina as a result of age or perhaps "a direct blow to the eye." However, I don't think my doctor really understands what it's like to trip the trigger on a .416 Rigby, .505 Gibbs, .500 Jeffery or a .500 NE. He is thinking in terms of his 12 guage autoloader.

Anyway, a friend told me this morning that gunwriter John Wooters actually went blind in his right eye as a result of a detached retina and that it was indeed casued by shooting. There are lots of guys here shooting some pretty big boomers. Have any of you guys had this problem or perhaps had it happen to a friend?

Dave

The largest thing I've fired is a 600NE, and it did indeed blurr my vision for a second or two, and gave me a headache, but I shoot a 470NE regularly, and I have no vision problems. I'm 71 yrs old, and have been shooting heavy hitters all my life from the age of six yrs. At seven yrs I was shooting a 10 ga single barrel Stevens shotgun, that couldn't have weighed more than 6 or 7 lbs, with no recoil pad, and I only weighed about 70 lbs.

Of course all of are individuals, and react differently to recoil!

I suffered a detached vitreous in my left eye. I had a laser procedure to stop the tearing and now have the obligatory feathery wiper blade floater in my left eye!

I was worried about being able to shoot my big bores, however my doctor said that after a precautionary period I could go for it. He stated that the detachment was not a result of my shooting. He chalked it up to "Too Many Birthdays"!

I have a warning here. If you see flashes of white light at the edge of your vision, get yourself to a doctor. Don’t let it go untreated. The repair is not painful, annoying and can be done in the Dr.’s office. If you let it go it will only get worse.

As soon as the weather cools here, I'm back to the range!

quote:

Originally posted by Rusty:
I suffered a detached vitreous in my left eye. I had a laser procedure to stop the tearing and now have the obligatory feathery wiper blade floater in my left eye!

I was worried about being able to shoot my big bores, however my doctor said that after a precautionary period I could go for it. He stated that the detachment was not a result of my shooting. He chalked it up to "Too Many Birthdays"!

I have a warning here. If you see flashes of white light at the edge of your vision, get yourself to a doctor. Don’t let it go untreated. The repair is not painful, annoying and can be done in the Dr.’s office. If you let it go it will only get worse.

As soon as the weather cools here, I'm back to the range!

Rusty, it was the flashes of light and the "cloud" moving over my vision that sent me to the hospital emergency room. Like you, I also had that big "floater" in my eye for several months. My regular eye doctor thought that since the retina had not detached for four months or so we were home free but alas, that was not the case. Out of an abundance of caution, I am going to wait until at least November before I pull another trigger. I have taken up fine scotch whiskey in lieu of shooting

Dave

Ok, been there & done that. It was one reason I sold my Lott. There are several things that can cause the detached retina. Pin holes or detached vitreous are the starting points for a detached retina. It is more likely as you get older but can happen at just about any age if other factors are at play.
Severe stigmatism, blows to the head (even something simplistic like diving in the water head first) even a sneeze can cause the detachment. If you have no pin holes, you are less likely to have the detachment start. I had a partial retinal detachment @ age 44 & was lucky to be in town near a retinal specialist. An exam of my other eye showed a small tear which was laser repaired. I still shoot quite abit, with my 338-06 as a primary hunting rig & 100 or so rounds a year from the 404jeff. I have a retinal exam ever year, just to look for those small holes, still good today. Shooting heavy kicking rifles is going to jarr your head, more than a sneeze, so you be the judge. If you are over 40, I would have a retinal exam & make sure you are good to go before moving to the heavy kicking rifles.

I just got finished shooting 120 rds of .50BMg from a 25lb rifle off the bench over two days. I can't see anymore or feel my fingers!-Rob

Rob,

That could be considered Masochistic. Perhaps you should ask Dave for some of that fine Scotch Whiskey

there is one other thing that might have caused that RGB...are you sure of what it was..."


Rich
DRSS