You don't need strict "bed rest," but taking it easy for the first few days (2-3) is crucial, involving minimal strenuous activity, heavy lifting, or bending, with plenty of sleep to help healing. Focus on resting your eyes, using your protective shield, avoiding water/soap in the eye, and limiting driving for at least 24 hours, gradually returning to normal activities as advised by your surgeon, usually over the first week or two.
Don't get irritants in your eye
This is particularly helpful when outside in the first few days after your procedure. Additionally, try not to do any housework or cooking after cataract surgery for the first two weeks. If you cannot avoid this, wear your eye shield to reduce the risk of irritation and infection.
Sleep As Much As You Need To
You will likely notice that you feel exhausted, especially once you get home after having cataract surgery. This is perfectly normal and you shouldn't try to fight it. Sleeping is a vital part of the healing process, but you will need to be careful.
You may need someone to stay with you for a day to help you follow your doctor's instructions. With modern cataract surgery, most patients have fast visual recovery.
The top recommendation from our cataract surgeons is to sleep on your back after cataract surgery. This position ensures that no pressure is inadvertently placed on the healing eye, allowing for optimal airflow and reducing the likelihood of accidentally rubbing or bumping your eye during sleep.
You can discard your eye shield the morning after your cataract surgery, but it's still advisable to sleep on your back for a couple of weeks so your eye doesn't come into contact with your pillow and pick up any particles from it. This will help your eye to heal and reduce the risk of infection.
Allen Eghrari, ophthalmologist with the Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins Medicine outlines five helpful tips to remember each day while recovering from cataract surgery.
Many patients experience better vision within the first 24 hours after surgery. Depending on your condition, you can take one to three days of rest and recovery or longer. You can perform simple activities such as reading, watching the television, and writing within three days of your cataract surgery.
What Are the Most Common Problems After Cataract Surgery?
Typical Driving Recovery Time After Cataract Surgery
Recovery timelines vary, but here are common scenarios: Daytime driving: Many patients can resume within 24–48 hours, provided their surgeon confirms their vision is stable and legal standards are met.
What You Can Do — And When
Washing Your Hair After Cataract Surgery
Washing your hair can be a bit trickier than showering, as there's a higher risk of soap or shampoo getting into your eyes. Here are some tips to safely wash your hair: Wait at least 24 hours after your surgery before washing your hair.
Wear Your Eye Shield While Sleeping
Even if you're careful about your sleeping position, it's easy to rub your eyes or bump them without realizing it while you sleep. The shield serves as an extra layer of protection, ensuring your healing eye stays safe throughout the night.
Your eye surgeon may recommend wearing special glasses when watching TV or engaging in activities that could hurt your eyes. You should always wear sunglasses outside, but you may want to wear them inside in the first hours or days following your LASIK procedure.
Immediately after your cataract surgery, it's a good idea to just put your feet up and rest for the following few days. Try to avoid any heavy lifting, whether weights at the gym or shopping bags. It's advisable even to leave the housework, such as mopping and vacuuming until you're feeling well again.
Exercising After Cataract Surgery
In the first few days of your recovery, it's best to keep exercising very light, giving your eyes time to heal. Gentle walking or meditation could be considered, but it's important to avoid dusty environment and protect your eyes with eye shield, glasses or sunglasses when outside.
Laundry after cataract surgery requires careful consideration of which aspects of the process you can safely manage during your recovery. The good news is that most laundry tasks can be accomplished with minor modifications to your usual routine, though you must avoid strenuous activities.
There is no hard and fast rule for this. While the majority of people will be older than 60, the best time for cataract surgery is when the cataract/s has evolved enough to significantly affect your vision. If this happens to be when you're in your 40s, then so be it.
With multifocal or EDOF lenses, your brain also needs time to adjust, so reading comfort often improves steadily over the first month or two. Some people can read comfortably within the first week, while others need several weeks to feel fully confident with their new vision.
After the first week, you can begin to glide gently back towards some household chores. However, you should still avoid anything that makes you bend down or lift anything too heavy. For example, lugging the vacuum cleaner up the stairs or leaning over to scrub the bath is best left a little longer…
6. Don't use electronic devices for the first 24-48 hours after surgery. Avoid using your smartphone, tablet, or computer and TV. These devices can cause eye strain and dry eye.
Makeup, lotions, and perfumes should be washed off the day before cataract surgery. Do not reapply any makeup until your eye doctor clears it. Particles from your makeup can get into your eyes, no matter how careful you are. In their state of healing, your eyes will be much more likely to become infected.
However, patient noncompliance with prescribed eye drops is a prevalent issue in patients undergoing cataract surgery and may cause a less than optimal end result, with potential complications, such as infection or inflammation, and corneal abrasions from a bottle tip.
Exercises to retrain your eyes
Any Discomfort You Feel Should Go Away After a Day or Two
After you have cataract surgery, you may experience some slight discomfort. Your eyes may be dry, bloodshot, or red, but any visual distortions, as well as any pain or discomfort, should go away on their own after a day or two.