Retinal detachment threatens boxers and the near-sighted

MANILA, Philippines - Boxers risk their life and limb — and their vision too — whenever they go up the ring to fight. Vision loss resulting from retinal detachment or RD is always a sword of Damocles hanging over their heads.

But even non-boxers may also be at risk for RD. Boxers share the risk of RD with myopes or near-sighted individuals especially those with refraction errors greater than -6.0 diopters.

Retinal detachment is an eye condition where the retina — a delicate film-like structure of the eyes that produces the “picture” that we see — is stripped from its underlying tissue. This is caused by the leaking of the liquid vitreous or gel-like supporting structure into the retina via tiny holes and tears.

Every direct trauma or impact to the eye may cause boxers to suffer retinal dialysis — an eye tear, which if not repaired immediately, may cause retinal detachment.

Near-sighted myopes on the other hand, are also at risk because their retinas are stretched out over their larger than normal eyeballs and therefore are thinned out at its edges. These thinned peripheral areas may have retinal holes.

One of the symptoms of retinal detachment is seeing flashes of light or photopsia, which is often represented by the comical stars seen by the boxer suffering from a tough punch to the eye. This is accompanied by a shower of floaters or black spots that float in the field of vision and follow wherever the eye moves.

Another symptom is a curtain-like closing of the visual field where a person gradually loses vision from the upper part of his sight, like a curtain closing from the top part of his visual field going down. The closing curtain on a person’s field of vision is the result of losing retinal function leading to blindness.

Punches sustained by boxers may cause a specific type of retinal in upper and inner retina while in myopes the location of retinal detachment is more commonly in the upper outer area of the retina.

The way curtains close on these patients is crucial to the eye specialist/retina surgeon because it gives the doctor the clue he needs to locate the retinal break and repair the RD.

Repair may sound technical and easy, but surgery for retinal detachment is not easy at all. Results are highly dependent on early surgical intervention.

An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. A simple retinal screening to look for possible retinal tears may be done in the clinic for patients who are at high risk for RD.

Any holes, tears or dialyses may then be sealed off from a possible detachment by the retina specialist using laser photocoagulation. The laser creates scar tissue around the retinal break to prevent liquid vitreous from seeping under and detaching the retina.

To find a reputable and qualified ophthalmologist for the job, contact the Philippine Academy of Ophthalmology (PAO) at (02) 8135318 for accredited members of the PAO, or for a retina specialist, members of the Vitreo-Retinal Society of the Philippines.

E-mail PAO at [email protected]. Its office is located at Unit 815, Medical Plaza Makati Condominium, Amorsolo corner De la Rosa Sts., Legaspi Village 1229, Makati City.