“High eye pressure can interfere with the incision before it fully heals,” says Eghrari. “Positions that put your head below your waist, such as bending over, can also increase eye pressure and should be avoided initially after 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.
Immediately after surgery, you shouldn't be bending down or lifting at all. Once you're cleared for light exercise, you should still minimize bending over to a point where blood rushes to your head. You should also avoid lifting anything that weighs more than 5 to 10 pounds.
You can discard your eye shield the morning after your cataract surgery, but it's still advisable to sleep on your back for a couple of weeks so your eye doesn't come into contact with your pillow and pick up any particles from it. This will help your eye to heal and reduce the risk of infection.
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.
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.
With the day of surgery excepted, no bed rest is required. Most patients can return to normal activities the following day. That being said, be sure to avoid the following until the eye doctor gives the okay.
How long does recovery take? Your eye will feel normal again 24 hours after surgery. However, your sensitivity to light may persist for a few more days. It will take four to six weeks for your eye to fully heal.
We recommend that you avoid any exercise for at least one week after cataract surgery. Any discomfort and tenderness from the surgery will settle within a few days and you can begin with some light to moderate exercise such as walking or stretching.
Washing Your Face and Hygiene after Cataract Surgery
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 shouldn't splash water directly on your face and instead, use a washcloth to carefully clean.
Some known risks of cataract surgery include infection, eye floaters, scar tissue formation, inflammation, lens dislocation, glare, halos, droopy eyelid, high eye pressure, retinal tear, or retinal detachment.
In general, you may bend as low as your hips. Avoid bending so low that your head is below your waist, for about one week, unless otherwise advised by your doctor.
You will need to avoid straining your eyes after cataract surgery. Don't bend over right after surgery, and try to avoid sneezing or vomiting. You also should avoid lifting anything heavy for the first few weeks.
Rubbing your eye gently two weeks after cataract surgery is unlikely to cause harm to the eye. Vigorous rubbing, however, could cause a corneal abrasion and even damage the surgical wound. If you have any pain or change in vision, please see your surgeon right away.
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.
It is very common to have blurry or unclear vision in the days and sometimes even weeks after cataract removal. Most of the time, this is caused by normal swelling in the eye which occurs as a part of surgery. Patients with larger, denser and/or firmer cataracts are more likely to experience more inflammation.
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.
Most patients wear it for a day. Wear your eye shield at night or while napping so you don't rub your eye while sleeping. Your doctor will tell you how many nights to do this. For most people it's from 1 to 7 nights.
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.
After your surgery, you may: Bend, stoop over, walk up and down stairs and lift light objects (less than 20-25 pounds). Watch TV, read, sew or do close work as usual. Ride in the car, go to church, dine out.
Wear warm, comfortable, and practical clothing (avoid high heels) on the day of your surgery. Flat shoes with good, non-slip treading are best. You'll be given a gown to wear over your clothes and will not need to get changed for the procedure.
Slow adaptation of eye :
Increased light entering the eye after cataract surgery is the foremost cause of increased light sensitivity after the cataract surgery. The new lens which is implanted inside the eye does not block the light the way cataract lens was doing prior to the surgery.
MonoFocal Lenses – Clear Vision at Distance
A MonoFocal lens is the “standard” lens used in many cataract surgeries. It's designed to remove the cataract clouding your eyes, and give you clear vision at a single distance.