Cataract surgery is a common procedure that can help improve your vision. After the surgery, it's important to take the necessary precautions to ensure a successful recovery. While it's totally okay to do light household chores, you should avoid strenuous physical activity and cooking for at least one week. This is because your eyes may be more sensitive than usual and any strenuous activity could cause them stress.
It's also important to avoid lifting heavy objects and bending down for up to one week after surgery. This is because high intraocular pressure is one of the most common complications in patients undergoing cataract surgery. If you want to have the most successful recovery possible from cataract surgery, you should avoid any strenuous activity and refrain from lifting anything heavier than 10 pounds for the first week. We now offer patients the option of inserting a microstent (iStent injection) at the time of cataract surgery to improve fluid drainage from the eye.
In addition, we can correct or reduce astigmatism (and other refractive errors) at the time of cataract surgery. This helps optimize refractive results (visual results) after cataract surgery using the latest in intraocular lens technology. It's also important to note that there is a small risk of graft rejection following cataract surgery; this can be treated with steroid drops. If you have bacteria in your eye while it's still healing, it could cause an infection because your eye is more sensitive than usual after a procedure such as cataract surgery.
If you love swimming, this is something you shouldn't do for at least a month after cataract surgery. Modern cataract surgery does not routinely require sutures, as this is a keyhole procedure and the main incision is about 2 mm in length. However, if you keep your eyes protected with safety glasses, your recovery will stay on track after cataract surgery.
