A 32-year-old Briton suffered partial vision loss after doing a series of handstand push-ups. Doctors diagnosed him with reversible eye disease.
Abs, push-ups, dumbbells. If you are a fan of this type of exercise, be careful not to exceed certain limits. For example, avoid doing push-ups in the pear tree position. It came at a cost to a 32-year-old British man, who lost the use of his right eye after a session.
The man waited 6 hours for symptoms to appear
Let bodybuilders be reassured right away. Strength training for hours does not always lead to vision loss. But cutting your breath during intense physical exercise can be dangerous. And that is precisely what happened to this Briton whose identity we do not know. According to the medical journal British Journal Case Reports, the latter practiced push-ups “backwards” in a gymnasium. Six hours later, his right visual field began to darken. The man therefore went to the emergency room, where doctors were quick to detect a macular hemorrhage caused by a rare eye pathology that mainly affects athletes.
A little-known disease
As the British Journal Case Reports, this disease called “Valsalva retinopathy”, corresponds to a rupture of retinal vessels during physical exertion performed with closed glottis (cut off breathing). It is linked to a sudden increase in intra thoracic or intra abdominal pressure. Under this pressure, the blood vessels in the eye do not resist and burst, resulting in loss of vision. Although this disease remains little known, we know that its effects are not irreversible. While laser sessions or surgery are sometimes necessary to combat the disease, vision can recover on its own, provided medical attention is provided. This is also what should happen for the young British athlete.
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