Eye muscle surgery & return to tennis

misdosmundos

New User
I am having strabismus eye muscle surgery in about a month and have been told I cannot play any sport for 10 days after. Has anyone else had eye muscle surgery? How did it affect your game? Were you able to return in 10 days or was your recovery longer? I'm trying to think positive, but am rightfully scared. I just hope it doesn't mess up my ability to play tennis. Any personal accounts, suggestions, etc are welcome.
 

Dartagnan64

G.O.A.T.
I think almost every surgery is at least a 2 week stay of intense exercise. Some are longer, like abdominal surgery. So don't tempt fate.

Do you have amblyopia? In that case, you'll likely only get cosmetic changes from the surgery, unless you are 4 years old. I had strabismus surgery at age 6 and it didn't fix my amblyopia. My depth perception sucks and always has. Still can play tennis but I'm never going to be a star.

If you have double vision then the surgery may correct it and that would be a benefit to your tennis. I don't think there is anything to be afraid of since they aren't fooling around with the optics of the eyeball.
 

misdosmundos

New User
I do not have amblyopia; never have. I have alternating esotropia. Similar to you I've had strabismus all my life, 2 surgeries as a child. This will be the 3rd. I've been told my depth perception may improve, but in all honesty, what I see is all I know. I've been told I've developed my own system of depth perception. If I can get any visual benefits along with cosmetic, I will be happy. I have 50-60% diopter off in my eyes, so here's to hoping for the best. I'm mostly worried it's going to have me out longer than 2 weeks and that makes me cringe.
 

Dartagnan64

G.O.A.T.
I do not have amblyopia; never have. I have alternating esotropia. Similar to you I've had strabismus all my life, 2 surgeries as a child. This will be the 3rd. I've been told my depth perception may improve, but in all honesty, what I see is all I know. I've been told I've developed my own system of depth perception. If I can get any visual benefits along with cosmetic, I will be happy. I have 50-60% diopter off in my eyes, so here's to hoping for the best. I'm mostly worried it's going to have me out longer than 2 weeks and that makes me cringe.

Yes i use parallax and perspective for depth perception. Which is why 3D movies suck for me since they rely on stereoscopy. Hardest balls for me in tennis are the ones coming straight at me since they don't give me parallax of a ball moving across a static background. Fortunately with alternating esotropia you will have developed decent vision in both eyes but will likely still use parallax and perspective for depth perception. This should not be affected by surgery. You likely are too old to teach your brain to develop true stereoscopic vision but that would be a nice bonus.
 
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