Post Surgery Care & Advice

After surgery, your vision may still be slightly blurry in the first few days - the eye will be inflamed and needs time to settle before the full vision is returned. A change in glasses may be needed after the operation before the full benefits are realised. Old glasses may be worn after the operation if this helps the sight and they will not do the eye any harm. Sunglasses may be useful if lights are found to be very dazzling - do what keeps you comfortable and allows you to see best.

Eye drops will be needed after the operation, usually for 4 weeks. These are important to minimise the risk of infection and to help the eye inflammation settle quickly - please use them regularly as instructed. In some cases they may need to be continued longer, but Mr Srikantha will provide instructions to this effect. At night, you may be given a plastic eye shield to wear which will prevent you from accidentally rubbing the eye during sleep.

The eye might be mildly uncomfortable after the operation - a scratchy feeling or a mild ache is quite usual and should settle with painkillers such as paracetamol. Should the eye become very painful, and especially if the vision from the eye worsens then you should contact the practice immediately.

There are very few restrictions required after this type of operation because the wound is so small. Please do not rub the eye as this will be painful and may do damage although this is highly unlikely. Try to avoid anything too strenuous for 2 weeks after the operation and avoid swimming whilst using the drops. Reading and television are not a problem and neither is bending but it is advisable to not over do it. If you have a particular worry about a particular activity, please ask your consultant.

Theoretically, vision should be better following surgery and so driving can commence within 48 hours if you feel comfortable to do so.

Spectacles after cataract surgery

The aim of cataract surgery is improve vision and also to reduce spectacle dependence. Your vision after surgery may still be a bit fuzzy until new glasses are prescribed if needed.

For monofocal lenses, the usual target is for good distance vision however it is likely that some form of glasses will be required for fine-tuning at distance and also for reading. For multifocal lenses, the aim is to reduce spectacle dependence for distance vision and a combination of intermediate (e.g. tablet use) and / or near vision. However some form of spectacle may still be required for fine-tuning.