Can anyone offer some info for me on vitrectomys? My mother has had one. I was at the doctor's office when they explained that she was going to have a vitrectomy and so forth. I am absolutely positive that the doctor told her that she would be on strict face down position for 2-3 weeks. It has been a week and a half from the surgery and now he is saying she is going to be in the face down position for 6-8 weeks! She is absolutely MISERABLE. Her neck is really sore, her back hurts, she can't sleep and the doctor doesn't seem nearly as helpful now that she has had the surgery. Has anyone heard of having to be in the face down position for nearly 10 weeks? (Just an FYI, I am about 1500 miles away from her, so I am not sitting with her in the doctor's appointments, so I am trying to understand things better and do some research) I would love to call the doctor myself, but with HIPAA, I doubt they will give me any more information. My mom is just in such a depression state, I am not sure I am getting the entire situation correctly. Not that she is lying...just that maybe she is overreacting? I hope!

All I know about this subject is that the face-down position follows retinal reattahment surgery, not a vitrectomy per se. The standard down time is about ten days to two weeks. Why was the operation performed?

It was performed for a macular hole. She did not have any type of retinal detachment problem.

If you do a search for "Vitrectomy" and "Face down" you can read all about it. Basically they put a gas bubble in your eye so that the eye can heal. My mom is so incredibly miserable...does anyone else have any advice?

My only advice is: (1) Get an explanation from the doctor as to why such a long face down time is necessary. (2) Consult another retinal specialist for a second opinion.