hole in eye

[jlr1971]

i still have gas bubble on the eye done the face down  now am told can't lay on back or pick any thing up or bend down till the gas bubble is gone did any one elec have to do this may i ask oh oh i can lay on my sided & how do u do it  how much trouble can one be in if they don't do it all does any one know

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

=

[flossy93]

Best of luck with your recovery.  The face-down positioning is very hard for most patients to cope with.  Don't feel like you were alone in having difficulty with it!  

As Dr. Hagan says, please do take good care of your eyes.  Use eye protection when you are using power tools or doing anything dangerous that could cause eye damage.  And since you live in FL, wear UV-blocking sunglasses at all times when you are outside; UV light is not good for your eyes.  You can get inexpensive sunglasses that block UV at most drugstores like Walgreens or CVS.   Good luck.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

Best of luck and remember to take good care of your other "good" eye.

JCH MD

[jlr1971]

thank u

[jlr1971]

thank u

[flossy93]

Please follow your doctor's advice about your face-down positioning.  Don't mess around with this - you may get a better result from your procedure if you follow the instructions.

The gas bubble was probably put there to help press your retina back into place to try to make the hole smaller.  If you don't hold your head in the right position, the bubble may not push against the right area of your retina and it won't work as well as it should.

If you don't remember for how long you are supposed to maintain the face-down position, or need to ask whether a certain activity or position is allowed, CALL YOUR DOCTOR's OFFICE.  If you want to lay on your side, call them first.  Call them to ask how long you have to keep it up.  

Your eye may heal even if you don't follow the instructions, but maybe not as well as if you follow the instructions.  As Dr. Hagan states, it's very specific to the patient and their exact surgery.  That's why you should call your doctor.

There have been several studies examining whether face-down positioning after macular hole surgery is beneficial, and for how long it's needed.  The results vary a lot, depending on the size of the hole, the amount of gas used, the type of gas used, etc.

Here is a link to one such study comparing the results of various positioning regimens:  http://www.retinalphysician.com/articleviewer.aspx?articleID=105551

Basically, it depends on your specific retina problem and the exact surgical procedures you had.  Call your surgeon and ask him/her what is best.  Good luck.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

You can access the many discussions about gas in the eye and retinal detachment or macular hole repair using the search feature and archives. These procedures are very unique and the person best able to tell you what to do is your surgeon so follow his/her advice.
JCH MD