What Can I Expect Right After Cataract Surgery?

Cataract surgery is a quite advanced operation! Not only do you go home right after the procedure, but the recovery isn’t very difficult either! Incredible recovery happens just within the first few days.

Initially after cataract surgery, you will notice two things. Your vision may still be a little blurry. The eyes may feel scratchy and uncomfortable. Prior to the cataract surgery, lots of eye drops are used! These eye drops are important to dilate the eye prior to the procedure and are also important to prevent infection. These eye drops, however, aren’t exactly gentle on the corneal surface. As a result, the cornea gets a little “beat up” in the process. Don’t worry though, over the course of the first day and especially overnight as you are sleeping, the cornea heals right up. Before that, however, this causes blurry vision (almost like you are looking through a thick ointment) and that scratchy feeling. And taking preservative free artificial tears throughout the day helps the cornea heal just a little bit quicker.

Right after cataract surgery, your eyes will be dilated. This dilation causes everything to be super bright and can cause blurry vision. This lasts for the first day and frequently there is still some dilation the following day. Additionally, one eye may even be more dilated than the other!

The next day after cataract surgery is when the amazement starts to set in! While in most cases some additional healing or adjustment is required, vision still starts to look pretty sharp! Colors are vibrant, bright and vivid. It’s a very nice contrast to the dull dim cataract.

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