Cataracts form when time or trauma cause changes within your eye’s lens. That makes your vision cloudy. Without treatment, cataracts can lead to blindness.
Cataract surgery is a common and safe procedure that removes a cloudy lens and replaces it with a prosthetic lens. The procedure restores clear vision, removing the haze that cataracts cause.
At Advanced Lasik in New York City and Long Beach, California, Randa Garrana, MD and our team specialize in cataract care. Today, we’ll focus on what to expect after cataract surgery, so you can anticipate the steps and stages of healing and recovery.
Cataract surgery itself is a short outpatient procedure that takes less than 30 minutes to complete. You can expect to receive a local anesthetic to effectively numb the eye area during the surgery, but you’ll be awake — not under general anesthesia.
The cloudy part of a lens with the cataract is inside the lens capsule. Dr. Garrana removes the compromised tissue and leaves the rear portion of the lens capsule in place to support the artificial lens.
There are several approaches to the surgical procedure for cataracts, and depending on your original eyesight, you may have various artificial lens options.
Your vision won’t be clear immediately after surgery; instead, it may take a few days through the initial adjustments and healing. Depending on how advanced your cataracts were, you’ll start to notice that things look brighter and more colorful soon.
Your initial follow-up appointment with Dr. Garrana will be scheduled for a day or two after the procedure. You’ll also check in at about the one-week and one-month stages to ensure your eye healing and vision recovery is on track.
Some discomfort and itchiness is normal during the first few days after your surgery. It’s important that you avoid rubbing, pushing, or touching your eye during this initial healing.
To help, we may recommend a device to protect your eye, like an eye patch or shield. It also aids healing to wear this device while you sleep throughout your recovery.
Typically, we’ll prescribe eye drops or other medications to guard against infection and control inflammation and pressure levels within your eye. Some of these medications may be injected at the time of your procedure.
General eye discomfort usually passes within a few days of surgery. Complete healing occurs within about eight weeks.
Cataracts often develop in both eyes, though one may progress ahead of the other. If you require cataract surgery in both eyes, Dr. Garrana typically treats the second eye after the first is fully healed.
Contact our office immediately if, during your recovery, you experience any of the following symptoms:
If you require corrective lenses after cataract surgery, Dr. Garrana will advise you when your vision has stabilized into a final prescription, usually within three months of your surgery.
Learn more about cataract surgery and what else you can expect by meeting with our teams in either Long Beach California or the Midtown East section of New York City. Schedule a visit with your best location, by phone or through our online links, to plan your consultation today.
