Hi. I’m new to this forum, and new to yoga.
I’ve been doing a headstand daily for the past week or so, but a thought struck me. A few years ago I got a stick in my eye, and it severed my iris from my eyeball. The split is only a millimeter or so wide, and my vision is hardly affected by it. However, the doctors told me to be careful, because a sudden fall, a sudden shock to my body could cause the eye to go blind.
Can I continue doing headstands safely?
There are some great therapists on this board who will likely give information following me, but definitely speak to your eye doctor about this as well, since they have the full records and years of intimate knowledge about your eyes. Increased ocular pressure caused by inverting can be harmful to people with a large range of eye problems and its better to be safe :).
And welcome to the forum too!
Questions like this should be directed to the teacher who you’ve chosen to train you. Hopefully that is not the internet, a DVD, or book.
If you have asked your teacher and the answer is not sound and complete then consider whether the current teacher best serves your particular practice.
If you do not have a teacher, seek out one that is highly skilled and well-versed in therapeutics. I prefer one over 30 with more than 5 years of teaching, and 1,000 hours of teacher training or more within a lineage that includes meditation, pranayama, applied philosophy, and asana.
If you were my student and all I had was the tidbit you provide - that an M.D. feels any impact might damage your vision irreparably - then I would NOT do Sirsasana at all and likely would find some other, gentle way(s) of doing a mild inversion practice so that you are as safe as possible in the practice.
Thanks for the replies.
InnerAthlete, that’s exactly the reason for my doubt. It’s not like any impact will damage my vision irreparably. The doctor asked if I did any extreme sports. I said I was a skateboarder, and she told me to be extremely careful with that because an unexpected fall would cause damage. She compared my eye to an egg: if you’re careful you can put quite some force on the egg without breaking it. For example, a spoon can rest quite easily on the egg without any damage, but hitting the egg with the spoon will cause the shell to break. That’s why I wonder if the headstand is really that strenuous to be harmful to someone with my condition.
Again, thank you. I will surely seek professional help.
P.S.: What’s wrong with being self-taught? I’ve learnt most of what I know by myself. Although I have to admit I managed managed to tackle Spanish. :rolleyes:
It is not a matter of “right” or “wrong”. There simply is no room for such things (right and wrong) in a yoga context.
If the self-learning is serving your life then that is beautiful (for you). If your self teaching, over time, has and is bringing you closer to the capital S self then you are right on target with your self-teaching. Only your process of svadhyaya would reveal such a thing.
My personal understand of the practice, both in my own experience in my body and in what I’ve seen over the past decade is that a teacher who is on the path of yoga and doing “the work” provides a necessary external look at you that is not clouded by the veil of ignorance we all tote.
I consider yoga to be both very vast and very powerful. And just as I would not teach myself nuclear physics neither would I teach myself yoga - without sound guidance. In fact I play guitar, which I also think is vast and powerful. And I’ve learned many things on my own. However, working with my guitar teacher I have learned things I would likely have never come across in three lifetimes.
But that is me, not everyone 
I would like to add that even if you find a good teacher, you are taking their advice at your own risk because they are not mind readers and most are not doctors. If you feel stable in Headstand, then you should be okay. If you don’t, do it against a wall until you are stable to the point you most likely will not fall out of it.
I think one advise that has not yet been added is that it is also important to ask the doctor directly. If he/she advised you not to take risks, than ask if this would be considered a risk. Another thing to think about is that head stand increases blood flow to the head, and it is said that those who suffer from any problems within the eye should take extra precaution because of this. I would start, though, by asking the doctor. If you every feel uncomfortable in headstand you can always use the wall for support, minimalizing the likely hood of falling hard.
with so many other poses available, why risk it?
Even with all precautions Head stand is still dangerous for one who is practicing yoga without a trainer. I would however like you to continue with shoulder stand , which is less dangerous but equally benefitial.