Surgery Aftercare and Potential Complications
After your surgery, avoid touching or rubbing your eye. Your ophthalmologist may give you a protective shield to wear over your eye as it heals. You may be instructed to wear the covering while sleeping for several days after.
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Within the first two days after surgery, it’s important not to bend down with your head below your waist. This can cause an increase in eye pressure and hinder healing. Avoid strenuous activity for 7 to 10 days after the procedure. Most people can resume regular activities like reading and watching television within several hours of surgery. Your doctor will let you know when you can resume driving.
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Your ophthalmologist will also prescribe eyedrops to reduce your risk of infection and ease inflammation. It’s important to take these as directed.
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Like many types of surgery, cataract surgery involves a risk of infection and bleeding. It also slightly raises your risk of retinal detachment, a medical emergency that can result in permanent vision loss.
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Signs of retinal detachment include specks, or “floaters,” in your field of vision, as well as flashes of light in one or both eyes, blurred vision, or shadowed vision. With emergency treatment, it’s often possible to avoid permanent vision loss.
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If you experience signs of a retinal detachment or other symptoms like severe eye pain, vision loss, increased redness, or eyelid swelling, contact your ophthalmologist right away or go to the emergency room.
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But keep in mind, cataract surgery is one of the safest and most common operations in the United States, with around 3.8 million procedures performed each year.
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Less than 1 percent of these cases result in serious complications.
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Cataract surgery also has a very high success rate. About 97 percent of people who have had the procedure experience improvement in their vision. After surgery, you can expect to have vision that’s sharper and clearer, see colors more vividly, and be less bothered by glare.
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