My vision is getting worse after trauma and nerve damage, what is wrong?

Question from a reader:

I had a serious accident to which I had a hit on my head and my optic nerve was damaged. I lost vision in my right eye. After a CT Scan, doctors found that my optic nerve was not damaged but it was pressed (blocked). After surgery, doctors found improvement in my sight and I could see shadows of everything a little bit but no light and colours. After this, the improvement in my eye sight was stopped and now I have the same situation where I can only see the shadows of everything but my vision is very smoky. The left eye is working perfectly. I want to ask you whether there is any medical treatment for unblocking the optic nerve? Any operation or medicine? Please help me out in this matter. Looking forward to have your kind response.

Dr. Doan's response

Dear Patient with a damaged optic nerve:

Thank you for your question.

There is nothing in 2009 to "unblock" or "repair" the nerve once it has already been damaged, unfortunately. Your doctors did the right thing by surgically decompressing the optic nerve. Your vision improved after surgery; however, after trauma, a cataract may form causing the smoky vision. You need to determine if you have a cataract and then find a surgeon who will remove it and replace it with an intraocular lens. You may have too much nerve damage that cataract surgery may not help. It is difficult to assess without an exam.

Very respectfully,

Andrew Doan, MD, PhD