Why am I still seeing wavy lines after vitrectomy?
SEP 11, 2023
Question:
I had a vitrectomy a week ago for an epiretinal membrane. I had a pucker and almost a blind spot. I notice that the blind spot or blurriness is gone but I still have wavy vision. Straight lines are very wavy. Can anything be done about that? It is nauseating to try to read. Will it improve with time?
Answer:
One week is way too soon to be judging the success of your vitrectomy. The fact that you already notice improvement in the blind spot and blurriness is remarkable and should be cause for great optimism. The fact that you still have wavy vision is typical. The epiretinal membrane caused distortion of the retina cells, which leads to waviness of vision. Over the next few months, there can be significant realignment of the retinal cells with accompanying improvement in your symptomatic waviness. However, in most cases, there still are some persistent changes in your vision.
This question was originally answered on Sep. 28, 2015.