Tore retina in dominate eye

[69daytona]

A few months ago I started going blind in right eye, a dark spot that just kept getting bigger.
Went in to see eye Dr and they had me in surgery the next day. Put me to sleep for 5 minutes while they prayed eye lids wide open and installed the orthoscopic tools in eye, was awake for rest of surgery.
Took about 35 minutes then a week of looking at the floor while a gas bubble pressed retina back onto eye ball.
I now see double up close and scopes and iron sights are impossible to see, they say 20/180 in right eye.
Anyone here have to switch to weak eye for shooting?

[LUCKYDAWG13]

My son lost most of his vision in his right eye when he was 8 years old yes he is right handed too
So i had to teach him to shoot as a lefty

You can do it just another chapter of your life

[gwpercle]

Watch the other eye .
My retina detached in my right eye and couldn't be successfully repaired in 1985 . No trauma or head injury , it just slowly started detaching from the eye . Three years later the retina in my left eye started to detach. Again no trauma or head injury it just started coming off ! Since it was my only working eye I noticed it quickly and the Dr. was able to surgically repair it .

Had been shooting my whole life right handed . Right handed and right eye dominate . Didn't affect handgun shooting but rifle and shotguns had to be shot left handed . Not really a big deal .
Pulling a trigger is not like writing , going lefty was easy .
If the double vision doesn't clear up in time ...just close the right eye , that makes the left dominate and shoot long guns left handed . I still shoot handguns in my right hand but sight with the left eye...the right one is blind so it poses no problem .
Gary

[tazman]

When I was young, the vision in my dominant eye was very poor. Very nearsighted. Couldn't see target clearly and the sights were fuzzy.
I am normally a righty. I switched to lefty to get the sights and the target sharper.
It worked. My shooting got better immediately. My gun handling got better within a few weeks of practice.
Later on, I got glasses and my vision improved dramatically so I switched back to righty.
I can still shoot lefty but I have to think about it now.
The change isn't difficult, just annoying that you have to do it.

[bgw45]

OP, your story sounds familiar. I was competing in Bullseye, right handed when my right eye experienced detachment. Ended that. Did the hold over to the left till the left detached. Fortunately for me I was able to see through a scope so I switched to Benchrest Competition shooting in the light varmint class. After the eyes deteriorated to the point I could not see the wind flags I was forced to leave that wonderful sport.

Bad eyes and all I now enjoy shooting pistols holding over to my now dominate left eye. I'm still having fun, I'll quit when it stops being fun.

[onelight]

So sorry to hear about your eye I hope you find some successful work arounds.

[Outpost75]

In 2008 I had a retinal detachment in my dominant right eye, caused by a workplace injury. This was repaired the same day by using vitrectomy and internal drainage in which a gas bubble was injected into my eye to hold the retina in place, while its edges were tacked in place with a laser. The prompt retinal repair was completely successful, but the eye developed a cataract, removed a year later.

During the cataract surgery I had an interoccular implant of intermediate focus inserted into my right eye. The specific lens I had implanted is an AcrySof acrylic foldable IOL with UV filter by Alcon Laboratories, Model SN60AT of power 21.5D having a ThetaT length of 13mm and a ThetaB optic of 6mm, which was implanted in 2009. Objects from 20-40 inches away are in sharp focus. I use a slight correction for distance and for precision close work. I can read the Wall Street Journal under good light, or work on my computer without corrective lenses and I no longer have a corrective lens restriction on my driver's license. My vision is 20-20 with progressive lenses having a slight distance correction for the surgery eye and a slight reading correction for close work, such as reading Vernier scales on peep sights or calipers. The sights on my carry gun are sharp without glasses when I extend the gun in 2-handed Isoceles.

Before suffering the detached retina I competed in highpower rifle and indoor bullseye pistol shooting using shooting glasses approximately -0.75 diopter less than my reading prescription. My shooting glasses were optimized for a focal length based upon the measured distance my cheek bone below the eye to the front sight, being approximately 39 inches for me. This gave a sharp sight picture, but the target was fussy if I used only my right eye. The target would sharpen considerably if I also used a Merit adjustable iris with the corrective lenses, but this isn't always practical in dimly light indoor ranges. But it works great outdoors for slow fire conventional pistol shooting in full sun.

Prior to cataract surgery when shooting service rifle outdoors I could read the number boards OK with my left eye, but when down in position looking through the sights it became necessary to count target frames to be sure I was on the right one, so that I wouldn't crossfire. I could hold 6:00 on the bull for standing, 200 and 300 rapid, and would frame the target at 600 yards. Back in the 1980s I shot Master, but these days I'm Expert.

I could use a scope if the eye lens was backed off to put the reticle in sharp focus without corrective lenses, and hunted with no issues. Firing a shotgun or iron sighted rifle I shoot with both eyes open, as I have good distance vision in the left eye. The brain has no trouble merging the target image in the left with the sight image in the right.

I was told by my retinal specialist when the vitrectomy was done to repair the detached retina, that the surgery eye would eventually develop a cataract because while the laser used for the retinal repair was focussed at the back of the eye, putting all that energy through the lens tissue causes a localized opacity. This was not a matter of "if" I would get a cataract in that eye, but rather of how soon it would grow become objectionable. Within 6 months after the retinal repair the focal distance in my right eye shortened to about half of normal and distance vision in that eye eventually deteriorated to 20/200. When I could no longer adjust scopes so that the reticle was sharp, and when using iron sights on a revolver became impossible, all I could do was superimpose a fuzzy gun over a fuzzy silhouette and instinctively point-shoot Applegate style.

I received extensive coaching from a retired FBI academy instructor who made me a true believer in point shooting, but that is another story... For those who want more on this read Applegate's book Bullseye's Don't Shoot back and follow it. It works. While I could have gotten new corrective lenses and lived with my condition for a while longer, my eye doctor advised that the younger I was when I had the surgery, the better the chance for a successful outcome, because the eye is more flexible and resilient that it would be if I waited several years longer. I would enjoy more years of good vision by having the surgery sooner, rather than later. Being active and then still working full time working outdoors, I decided not to wait on cataract surgery. I had it done and my outcome has been wonderful. I function fine without glasses in well lit, indoor office environments, although due to the nature of my outdoor work I wear progressive Transitions lenses most of the time. My vision so equipped is like being 20-years old again.

Six years post-surgery, as was explained by my surgeon, it is normal to developed some scar tissue behind the lens. This was the normal expected outcome. To avoid a corrective lens restriction on my driver’s license, once my vision in the surgery eye was no longer correctable to better than 20-40, I had the scar tissue corrected using a laser preocedure in the doctor's office. The day after the laser procedure my vision in that eye returned to 20-20 uncorrected. Six months post laser the eye again required a slight distance correction and another slight one for very close work, but my glasses obtained 4 years ago, about a year after the lens was implanted, still correct everything to 20-20 and the sights on my Garand and carry gun are sharp.

Then this year, July 2019, the cataract which was slowly developing in my left eye got to the point where "it was time." My eye doctor removed the cataract in my left eye was removed using a Catalys laser-assisted procedure. A AcrySof monofocal toric IOL was implanted, which also corrected a slight astigmatism in that eye. Vision in the left eye was 20-20 the day after surgery and 3-weeks post-op it still is and I see like a 20-year-old again.

Regarding the detached retina, DO NOT DELAY seeing an eye doctor iif you see dark spots, floaters or bubbles in your field of vision. PROMPT diagnosis and treatment is essential to a good outcome. If your eye doctor happens to also be a retinal and cataract specialist, skilled in all the modern laser techniques, you are indeed lucky. If anyone need a referral to a good eye doc in the Washington, DC and Northern VA area PM me.

[TNsailorman]

My Dad lost the vision in his right eye because of infection not long after he returned from WW II. He never complained about it, He just taught himself to shoot left handed. When He was 65 years old he decided to shoot trap with my brother and me. We formed a family team and shot is the local trap league. He got really good at it in a short order. He more than held up his end on a trap line. He did take a ribbing sometimes because my Dad was a rifleman all his life and he refused to change his Army trained off hand position. He shot his last trap when he was 69 because of a heart attacked followed by strokes that left him completely paralyzed on his left side. He lost the sight in both eyes due to the medicines he had to take for his heart 2 years later. He never complained about that either. The last trap he got to shoot was a 50 straight, and it was not his first one either. He passed away in 1998. I would love to be on a trap line with him one more time. Please excuse an old man for his nostalgic moment but this post brought back some really fond memories. james

[JoeJames]

About 22 years ago I looked into having the lasik surgery to improve my vision. Eye doctor discovered retina in my rt. eye had detached and then healed but with scar tissue on the edges. Eye surgery cauterizing the edges in rt. eye, and laser in left. Bubble in rt. eye, etc., then cataract 5 or 6 years later. At the time they asked if I'd been shooting any 300 win mags. I told 'em "no, just 45-70 hot loads".

[murf205]

[QUOTE=JoeJames;4707979]About 22 years ago I looked into having the lasik surgery to improve my vision. Eye doctor discovered retina in my rt. eye had detached and then healed but with scar tissue on the edges. Eye surgery cauterizing the edges in rt. eye, and laser in left. Bubble in rt. eye, etc., then cataract 5 or 6 years later. At the time they asked if I'd been shooting any 300 win mags. I told 'em "no, just 45-70 hot loads".[/

After my detached retina and subsequent surgery, my eye Dr said nothing bigger than a 20 ga. He is a duck hunter so he knows how much a 20 recoils and it has me a bit leery of my 358Norma along with a total reverse shoulder replacement. We are lucky in that we are handloaders and casters so that we can load 'em down to levels that wont hurt. I hope you all have good luck switching shooting sides. This getting old stuff is not for sissies!

[JoeJames]

[QUOTE=JoeJames;4707979]About 22 years ago I looked into having the lasik surgery to improve my vision. Eye doctor discovered retina in my rt. eye had detached and then healed but with scar tissue on the edges. Eye surgery cauterizing the edges in rt. eye, and laser in left. Bubble in rt. eye, etc., then cataract 5 or 6 years later. At the time they asked if I'd been shooting any 300 win mags. I told 'em "no, just 45-70 hot loads".[/

After my detached retina and subsequent surgery, my eye Dr said nothing bigger than a 20 ga. He is a duck hunter so he knows how much a 20 recoils and it has me a bit leery of my 358Norma along with a total reverse shoulder replacement. We are lucky in that we are handloaders and casters so that we can load 'em down to levels that wont hurt. I hope you all have good luck switching shooting sides. This getting old stuff is not for sissies!True - my 240 grain SWC & 7 grains of Unique - 44 magnum loads sure ain't factory - out of my Rossi R92 they are quite docile - @1150 fps, and I have not shot the 45-70 a'tall since the surgery. Thank goodness for handloading for sure!

[tazman]

I have floaters in my eyes and have had for years. The eye doctors don't seem the least concerned about them.
I had my eyes checked again last year and got new glasses. The doctor told me I had cataracts forming but would need to wait until they started causing problems for my vision. He said I still see too well to mess with them.

[JM7.7x58]

Well I'm what you call cross dominant. Right handed left eye dominant. No one ever taught me the right way to shoot. I just figured it out for myself. I'm most likely a firearms instructors worst nightmare. I have decades old bad habits that do not fit into their playbook of "proper form".

I shoot pistols the "wrong way" by crossing over my center-line and lining up the sights with my left eye, both eyes open, while holding right handed, head tilted to the right.
I shoot rifles right handed while blinking my left eye closed. Yes, I do sometimes get a head ache from the squinting. I sometimes tape over the left lens of my glasses.
I shoot compound bows with a string mounted peep sight with a patch over my left eye.
I shoot re-curve bows instinctively with both eyes open.
I shoot spear guns the same as I shoot pistols. Both eyes open, shooting right handed, sighting with my left eye.

Long story short, I use both my eyes to aim.

As to your problem, the firearm instructors think that I should have been taught to shoot rifles and shotguns left handed, when I was a boy. This will be your only good solution for long guns.

With pistols the pros have many different opinions. Many believe that here also the shooter should be taught to shoot left handed. This way your wrist is locked and your control of recoil is much better.

While others believe that my style of right handed/left eye, cross body, head tilt, is the only way to train cross dominant students (like me) who plan on using a handgun for defense. Would you really want to conceal carry on your weak handed side? Note: Col. Jeff Cooper is know to have been a cross dominant pistol shooter.

I train apprentice pipe welders to use mirrors to weld pipes in restricted and cramped spaces. It is very hard at first for them. They often tell me that they can't do it, it's too hard. But if they practice long enough, they will learn. Years later many of them tell me that their welds look better on the mirror-welded side of the pipe, than the side in front of them.

You will learn. You will curse and stomp. You will tape over your glasses and look goofy. But you will learn. Good Luck!

JM

[Sailormilan2]

About 4 years ago I developed a black spot in the bottom right corner of my left eye. Turns out I had a retinal tear in the upper left quadrant of my eye. After surgery I was warned that I would get a cataract in that eye, which would then lead to one in my right(dominant) eye.
Cataract developed within two years, and at the time of surgery it was a 3+ on a scale of 1-4(4 being the worst).
Eye surgeon said that more than likely I would not get a cataract in my right eye.
Vision is back to almost normal, very close to 20/20. How, due to retinal repair there is a slight ripple that shows up in certain conditions.

[murf205]

About 4 years ago I developed a black spot in the bottom right corner of my left eye. Turns out I had a retinal tear in the upper left quadrant of my eye. After surgery I was warned that I would get a cataract in that eye, which would then lead to one in my right(dominant) eye.
Cataract developed within two years, and at the time of surgery it was a 3+ on a scale of 1-4(4 being the worst).
Eye surgeon said that more than likely I would not get a cataract in my right eye.
Vision is back to almost normal, very close to 20/20. How, due to retinal repair there is a slight ripple that shows up in certain conditions.

I got the black spot, much like yours on a hunting trip. I appeared to be the size and shape of a roach but it went away after 3 hrs or so. It caused me some concern so I packed up and on the 3hr drive home, it went away. Back home and after the 2nd day, I noticed the vision in my left eye was heading south so I called my dr. and he said to get my *** to his office asap. He diagnosed the detached retina and the next morning at 5:00am I was strapped to a gurney and in surgery. Went home with the gas bubble and sleeping with my head down(try that with a cpap). It is attached now but the ocular nerve damage is permanent. I got the usual cataract and had it removed but it is a long way from normal.
The point of this is--if it doesn't look right--it probably is NOT. Get to the dr asap, 'cause we have a lotsa' lead to pour and grand kids to see.

[Bent Ramrod]

I had replacement-lens cataract surgery in both eyes, and for three years was an eagle-eyed iron sight shooter. Then I got a shadow in my right eye that crossed my center of vision by the time I was diagnosed with a detached retina. The doctor tacked it back in place, and my vision is 20/70 in that eye, but there is a “crinkle” across the center of vision where the limit of loosening was. Sort of like straightening out a bent piece of sheet metal; you never quite get the folded part flat again. It distorts the view of what I look at, wavy like running water.

I read somewhere that there is a 5-10% chance of retinal detachment in patients who have had the replacement-lens surgery, for reasons that nobody can discover. Bad luck I was in the group, but my eyes are still better than they would have been by now with the cataracts.

So I had to switch to left-handed, and use what used to be my “bad” eye, for most shooting. I can shoot right-eyed for short-range stuff like notch-and-bead sight muzzleloaders, Patridge-sighted pistols, and scoped rifles, but I mostly shoot everything left-handed anyway, just to keep the muscle memory in practice.

I think the switch may have helped things in a way, since I had to concentrate on what I was doing more, and review the basics in a way that I had been rather neglecting with right-handed shooting.

I asked the doctor about recoil, and he said he’d fixed a bunch of trapshooters’ and skeetshooters’ eyes, and the reattached retinas were stronger than the original attachment, like a broken bone that, once healed, is more likely to break in another place than the healed place.