Immediately after surgery you may notice that your eye is slightly red and your vision may be a little foggy.
Your eye shouldn’t be painful, but it may feel a bit scratchy, dry and irritated.
You can resume most activities immediately, but you may need several days off work while your vision recovers. This will vary depending on your job.
During recovery, avoid:
- rubbing your eye
- swimming for at least a week (and try to keep water out of your eye while bathing)
- eye makeup and eye creams/moisturisers for a week
- straining, heavy lifting or strenuous activity for several days
- activities that could injure your eye such as contact sports for 6 weeks
- exposing your eye to dust and wind during the first few weeks.
Follow-up
You’ll need to see your ophthalmologist for review after your surgery. This is usually a week and then a month after your operation. Your doctor will check your vision and examine your eye to ensure it's healing well. They'll also tell you whether you need to keep using the eye drops you were prescribed after your surgery.
Once your vision has stabilised, typically about a month after the operation, you may need to see your optometrist to get glasses. This will depend on the type of intraocular lens you have.
Watching out for problems
Complications are unusual after cataract surgery but you should seek immediate medical attention if you experience:
- eye pain that is increasing or severe
- increased blurring of vision
- bright lights becoming uncomfortable
- increasing redness in your eye
- swelling around your eye
- new floaters, flashes of light or changes in your field of vision
- persistent nausea or vomiting.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Information is provided by HCF in good faith for the convenience of members. It is not an endorsement or recommendation of any form of treatment nor is it a substitute for medical advice, and you should rely on the advice of your treating doctors in relation to all matters concerning your health. Every effort has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information, however HCF takes no responsibility for any injury, loss, damage or other consequences of the use of this information.