Savannah Guthrie’s Vision Problems a Common Story: They’re Not All Age-Related

Some of the most common eye issues facing Americans, like macular degeneration, cataracts, and glaucoma, are diseases most common among the elderly. But vision problems can happen to anyone at any time. For 48-year-old NBC Today anchor Savannah Guthrie, her ongoing vision problems and need for eye surgery is the result of being struck in the eye. Credit: NBC/NBCU Photo Bank Guthrie still had vision problems four months after having extensive surgery to treat a tear in her retina, reports People. She suffered the injury after her 3-year-old son accidentally hit her in the eye with a toy. Her doctors intended to try to fix her problems with laser surgery. But they decided that retinal surgery, which includes a long recovery period, would be needed. The night before the surgery in December, her vision in the injured eye went from blurry to dark. The retinal tear worsened quickly and her vision was lost vision temporarily. “And that’s what happens if you don’t fix this: You lose your sight,” she told the magazine. She stated she will need a couple of follow-up surgeries, which were postponed due to the impact of COVID-19. She noted the first retinal surgery restored her temporary vision loss, but her eyesight didn’t fully recover, and it may be getting worse. Guthrie expects she will need cataract surgery in the future. It’s not uncommon for those with retinal tears to need cataract surgery in the future. But since about half of those 75 and older have cataract problems, Guthrie may have needed that surgery anyway. It just might come sooner than expected. Though she’ll need more surgery, Guthrie is grateful for the first one. “It saved my eye,” People quoted her as saying. “If I hadn’t been able to have that surgery, I think I would have probably lost my vision in that eye.” If you have an eye injury, you may not realize it’s serious. A doctor’s examination is needed to diagnose a detached retina. An injury may raise your eye pressure or cause slow bleeding. While we can normally spot those issues, you might notice them only after the problem becomes severe. Eye injuries are commonly caused by:

• Punches
• Being struck by balls or sports equipment
• Pieces of material flung from explosions or industrial work
• Bullets, darts, fireworks, bungee cords, and BBs
• Chemical splashes

If you suffer an eye injury, contact our office, even if your injury seems minor at first, so we can examine you. A serious eye injury is not something you can treat yourself. If you or a loved one have any of these symptoms, contact us immediately, because they may be signs of a serious eye injury:

• Continuing pain in the eye
• Difficulty seeing
• Cut or torn eyelid
• One eye can’t move as well as the other
• One eye appears to be out of the eye socket farther than the other
• An unusual pupil size or shape
• Blood appears in the clear part of the eye
• There is something in the eye, or under the eyelid, that tears or blinking can’t remove

If you suffered an eye injury, it’s much better to be safe than sorry. Contact the Lehigh Valley Center for Sight at 610-437-4988, so we can examine you, tell you about the harm done, and what treatment should come next. It may be a minor injury or something that could cause severe vision problems. We won’t know until we see you. Houman Ahdieh, MD Lehigh Valley Center for Sight https://www.lvcenter4sight.com eyedoc@lvcenter4sight.com

https://www.lvcenter4sight.com/savannah-guthries-vision-problems-a-common-story-theyre-not-all-age-related/