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Old 01-07-12, 06:14 PM  
Judith L
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Originally Posted by susan p View Post
Note to all: If you are seriously near-sighted, you are at high risk of retinal detachment and should NOT DO INVERSIONS. You will not have warning of a retinal detachment. It's not like you can feel your retina over-stretching. There is no way to be "body aware" of a potential retinal detachment. Just don't do inversions. Period. Because once your retinal detaches, you are up a creek.
At age 32 the retina detached in my left eye. My ophthalmologist told me no diving or bending over. Well, I do bend over in the course of living but when I do yoga I avoid all inversions and don't remain for more than a a couple of seconds in forward bends or downdogs -- which is annoying since downdog is usually held for a while, being considered a resting pose. I also try to avoid any movements which increase the blood pressure to my head such as 'the plow' and more advanced pilates moves.

BTW, I wasn't especially near-sighted when the retina had detached. But I had had tears on my retina -- something which can probably only be detected if one has one's eyes dilated during an eye exam for that.

Over the years I've also noticed that lifting heavy can affect my vision. (And I make sure I'm breathing deeply, not holding my breath.) A couple of weeks ago I felt a change in my eyes during a weight lifting workout (and I no longer lift as heavy as I used to because of that, and because of a RC issue) and now need a new prescription and it isn't even a year since my last trip for a prescription.

So, be careful fellow VFers! Most people probably don't see an ophthalmologist, just an optometrist, but the latter can also examine the retina if you let him dilate your eyes, and I highly recommend getting this done, even if it is a bit more expensive and if you need someone else to help you home. So, if you're lifting weights, doing yoga or pilates, please consider finding out how healthy your retinas actually are. Blood sugar problems and diabetes also can affect the retina and unfortunately damage can be done before one has any eye symptoms.
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Old 01-07-12, 07:04 PM  
in paris
 
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Location: we're not in paris anymore, toto
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Originally Posted by Judith L View Post
At age 32 the retina detached in my left eye. They say a picture is worth a thousand words or whatever, so I've attached a photo below.

My ophthalmologist told me no diving or bending over. Well, I do bend over in the course of living but when I do yoga I avoid all inversions and don't remain for more than a a couple of seconds in forward bends or downdogs -- which is annoying since downdog is usually held for a while, being considered a resting pose. I also try to avoid any movements which increase the blood pressure to my head such as 'the plow' and more advanced pilates moves.

BTW, I wasn't especially near-sighted when the retina had detached. But I had had tears on my retina -- something which can probably only be detected if one has one's eyes dilated during an eye exam for that.

Over the years I've also noticed that lifting heavy can affect my vision. A couple of weeks ago I felt a change in my eyes during a weight lifting workout (and I no longer lift as heavy as I used to because of that, and because of a RC issue) and now need a new prescription and it isn't even a year since my last trip for a prescription.

So, be careful fellow VFers! Most people probably don't see an ophthalmologist but just an optometrist, but they can also examine the retina if you let them dilate your eyes, and I highly recommend getting this done, even if it is a bit more expensive and if you need someone else to help you home.
Thank you so much for sharing that. I truly appreciate it. I also hope you had successful surgery.

I do always see an ophthalmologist (rather than just an optometrist) at least once a year and will have him check for tears when I see him again in March. My eyes are very important to me -- I'm a photographer (who usually uses a rangefinder -- manual lenses).

For the moment, I will continue to do Down Dog (although you've scared me) but stay away from total inversions... And I will definitely discuss this with my doctor! (I shudder to think of all the years I was upside down during my rock climbing days...)
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Old 01-07-12, 07:16 PM  
Judith L
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Unfortunately, surgery wasn't possible for me.

But as regards, downdogs, as I said, I still do them but only hold them momentarily -- I pass through them slowly. The important thing is that you don't want to increase pressure in your head. And I think doing something like a Pilates Jacknife, where one is moving fairly rapidly through an inverted position, can by its very force increase pressure in the head even though it's not held.
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