Do’s & Don’ts After Cataract Surgery in Colorado

Congratulations! Your cataract surgery in Denver with our leading eye surgeons was a success. You waited a short amount of time in post-op recovery and now you’re already at home, recovering, and you know that soon you’ll see better than you have in quite a while. What do you need to do now during this part of your cataract surgery recovery?

Things You Should Do During Recovery

• Do take your medication as prescribed so healing can progress as planned. You’ll get antibiotic drops and anti-inflammatory ones as well. Follow the schedule exactly, frequently at first and until the time is up.
• Do go ahead and take a basic shower or bath, watch limited TV, or use the computer a little
• Do let us know if your vision is still somewhat blurry after recovery. A small number of patients get excessive scar tissue growing around the replacement lens, which a simple procedure called a YAG laser capsulotomy can resolve.
• Do enjoy some downtime so your eye can heal, even if you have a busy lifestyle. The only measure of when it’s time to get back into your activities, slowly at first, is when your doctor examines your eye and says it’s okay.

Things You Shouldn’t Do During Recovery

• First, try not to bend over or sneeze immediately after surgery. These activities put pressure on the eye when it’s starting to heal. Don’t do any heavy lifting or perform strenuous activities or exercise either.
• Don’t drive the day after surgery; let things settle a bit first.
• Stay out of dusty areas and keep indoors when pollen is heavy in the air.
• Don’t rub your eye: Healing often involves itching, and that’s the case with cataract surgery recovery. It may feel dry as well, which can be annoying, more so if you have tended to experience dry eyes in the past. It will pass, day by day. Still, don’t rub.
• Stay out of hot tubs and swimming pools, and any kind of immersion. A little rain won’t hurt, but underwater is another matter.

How Long Does Cataract Surgery Recovery Take?

Cataract surgery is straightforward, but your eye does take time to heal. The more it gets a chance to heal right away, the better your results are likely to be. Typically, plan on about four weeks for full recovery after cataract surgery.

When is it Time to Do the Other Eye?

If you’re having cataract surgery in the Denver metro area on both eyes, your doctor will check the recovery progress of your first eye before scheduling the second.

Visit Our Eye Doctors at ICON Eyecare for Your Vision Needs

You’ll be glad to discover how friendly and helpful our world-class team is during any eye care visit, especially for procedures like cataract and LASIK surgery. Make an appointment today at ICON Eyecare to discuss cataract surgery.