take it easy for the first 2 to 3 days. use your eye shield at night for at least a week.
While home, you may be allowed to remove your eye shield, but you should wear it when sleeping for at least a week to prevent eye injury. Full recovery from cataract surgery should be complete in about a month, although it can take up to three months for your eye to be completely healed.
Complete healing usually takes around 8 weeks. Here are some precautions to follow in the first week after surgery to avoid infection or eye injury: Don't drive on the first day of recovery. Avoid heavy lifting or vigorous activities.
In addition to wearing your eye shield at night, you will also want to avoid sleeping on the side that has been operated on. By reducing irritation, you can decrease your risk of infection and speed your recovery process. This is why your doctor tells you not to sleep on your side after cataract surgery.
Sleep on your back or on the opposite side of the eye that was operated on to decrease your risk of infection and irritation after surgery. If you turn over in your sleep, your eye shield should help protect your eye from significant damage.
What Happens if You Bend Over After Cataract Surgery? You should not bend over after cataract surgery for at least 2 weeks. Bending over will place pressure on the eye and this may cause unnecessary complications to your eye. The main complication will be a delay in the healing process.
Washing Your Face and Hygiene after Cataract Surgery
Your surgery doesn't come at the expense of your hygiene, but you need to be careful about exposing the eye to direct water for a week. You can resume activities such as washing your face the day after surgery, as long as you are careful to not touch the eye.
You will likely notice that you feel exhausted, especially once you get home after having cataract surgery. This is perfectly normal and you shouldn't try to fight it. Sleeping is a vital part of the healing process, but you will need to be careful.
You will not harm your eyes by wearing your old glasses. However, you may prefer not wearing them since, in most cases, your vision will have improved after surgery, in particular your distance vision.
After cataract surgery, a person should focus on eating a nutritious diet that promotes healing. Foods to avoid include refined carbohydrates, sugar, salt, and processed foods. People should also avoid tobacco and alcohol, which can slow healing and increase inflammation.
At the completion of your cataract surgery, a lightweight protective shield will be placed over your eye, held in place with surgical tape. This shield will decrease the risk of injury from inadvertently rubbing or accidentally bumping your eye.
You should wear sunglasses after cataract surgery. Make sure the sunglasses you are wearing help to provide you with adequate protection from the sun's harmful UV rays. We recommend choosing a pair of sunglasses that are 100% UV protected.
Patients with a dislocated IOL may experience a decrease or change in vision, diplopia, and/or glare. Additionally, they may report ocular pain or headaches from intermittent angle-closure and/or inflammation. Some patients also report seeing the edge of the IOL.
Exposure to water can put your eyes at risk of infection or irritation until your eye has healed from surgery. “Give yourself at least one night of sleep before showering, and prevent the stream of water from hitting your eyes directly,” says Eghrari.
Additionally, try not to do any housework or cooking after cataract surgery for the first two weeks. If you cannot avoid this, wear your eye shield to reduce the risk of irritation and infection.
People should avoid bending over for up to 48 hours after their cataract surgery, but sometimes this is unavoidable. For example, tying up shoes or putting on pants.
You may be up and about, bend over to pick up objects or put on shoes. Using reasonable care, you may bathe or shower, wash hair, shave, brush teeth, read, write, watch TV, ride in care, climb stairs or go for a walk. Driving is permitted, following your first post-op visit, if the other eye sees well enough.
Don't: Eat or Drink Right Before the Surgery
While under sedation, there is a chance of stomach acid going into your lungs, which can cause damage. You will need to fast for about 12 hours before surgery to ensure you are safe from this effect.
If you do get anything in your eye, whether it's shampoo or any other foreign body, it can impede the healing process and potentially cause infection and other post-operative complications.
Strenuous activity and exercise after cataract surgery
Most people can do very light exercise the day after surgery, including walking. For activities like biking, running, tennis, golf and sex, wait one week after your procedure.
You will most likely have three follow-up appointments after your cataract surgery. Your first follow-up appointment is the day after your surgery. We also recommend that you have a driver for this visit. This is not an absolute requirement but is probably safer for you because of possible blurred vision.
Basically, the amount of light that enters the eye progressively gets reduced due to increasing opaqueness of the lens. Our brain and eye adapt to that to a certain extent. Due to this adaptation many people after cataract surgery notice increased brightness around them and in some cases it may be uncomfortable.
Water Directly in the Eye
Wait at least a day before taking a shower or washing the face. Be sure to avoid swimming pools or hot tubs for at least a few weeks per the surgeon's digression.
Endophthalmitis is a serious complication of cataract surgery involving microorganisms that gain entry into the eye. Risk factors for the development of endophthalmitis include rupture of the posterior capsule or the need for anterior vitrectomy during the procedure, age greater than 85 years, and male sex.