Specialists say the intense exercise sessions caused bleeding in the man's eye, temporarily blinded him

Dec 10, 2014 07:55 GMT  ·  By

In a case report published in the British Medical Journal earlier this month, specialists with the Worthing Hospital in West Sussex, England, tell the tale of a man who went blind in one eye after doing one too many handstand push-ups.

Specifically, it is understood that is was just a few hours following the intense exercise session that the man, whose identity is yet to be revealed, noticed that he could no longer see with his right eye and decided to seek medical help.

How intense exercise sessions can affect eyesight

In their paper in the British Medical Journal, the doctors who handled this rather odd case detail that the 32-year-old man went blind in his right eye about 6 hours after a boot camp-like training routine that included one too many handstand push-ups.

As illustrated in one of the images in the gallery below, handstand push-ups, otherwise known as vertical push-ups or inverted push-ups, boil down to positioning the body upside down using just one's hands for support and then flexing one's muscles to move up and down.

Specialists suspect that, while doing handstand push-ups, the man experienced a buildup of pressure in his chest cavity. This translated into an increase in blood pressure in his right eye, which in turn triggered a small bleeding just in front of the retina.

At the time the man sought help at the Worthing Hospital in West Sussex, England, his vision in his right eye was considerably poorer than that of a healthy individual. Thus, the 32-year-old only scored 6/18 on the so-called Snellen visual scale.

What this means is that letters that people with no eye trouble can spot from about 18 meters (roughly 60 feet) away he could only see if brought as close as 6 meters (approximately 20 feet) to him, Live Science explains.

Rather than undergo surgery to have the blood obscuring his retina cleared, the man chose to let his eye heal on itself. Doctors say that, all things considered, the 32-year-old man should get his eyesight back a few months from now.

Other activities can also lead to loss of vision

Specialists say that people can also experience bleeding in their eyes and consequently temporarily lose their eyesight when trying to exhale while keeping their mouth closed and pinching their nose. Interestingly enough, it appears that coughing or just screaming can have the same outcome.

Quite often, patients and doctors choose to let the damaged eye repair itself. However, surgeons sometimes use lasers to break up the accumulation of blood in front of the retina and make it easier for the eye to heal.

Man loses his vision after intense exercise routine (5 Images)

Man goes blind in one eye after intense exercise routine
Doctors say the man lost his vision because of a bleeding in front of his retinaThis is how handstand push-ups work
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