Expert Eye Surgery You Can Trust

Cataract surgery is carried out as daycare so you will not need to stay overnight in hospital. It is usually carried out under a local anaesthetic so you will be awake during the surgery. If you are very anxious then you can opt for sedation or a general anaesthetic during surgery. The actual operation takes around 10-20 minutes.

In 98% of all cases the surgery will go as planned. The risk of losing any sight after cataract surgery is very low 0.05%

You must avoid bending over, straining and lifting weights during the first 4 weeks. You can shower but should avoid getting soapy water in the operated eye in the first 1-2 weeks. You can clean around the eye using clean cotton balls and boiled water that has cooled down. You must be careful not to press on the eyeball. Exercise, gym sessions and swimming can be started again after 4 weeks. Driving is allowed if you have legal driving vision in either eye.

It will take at least 4 weeks and often up to 3 months for the eye to fully recover from cataract surgery. You could notice an improvement in your eyesight as early as day 2. Recovery is dependent on how advanced your cataract is and whether or not you have any pre-existing conditions such as dry eyes, blepharitis, macular degeneration, diabetic-eye-disease etc. Irrespective of the recovery time almost all patients have good surgical outcomes.

Post-op dry eye syndrome is very common after cataract surgery. It easily treated with lubricating eyedrops and regular eyelid heat compress.

After cataract surgery you may find it difficult to adapt during the first few weeks while the eye recovers. Getting the operated and the non-operated eyes to work together can also be slightly challenging. Depending on individual circumstances and preferences the following solutions may help during the initial 4 week post-op period: stop using your existing glasses or remove the lens from your existing glasses on the side of the surgery or buy a pair of cheap readers to help with fine print. After 4 weeks you can see an optician to update your existing glasses.

While you can request same day cataract surgery to both eyes I prefer to maintain at least a 1 week gap between the two operations. There are two key advantages to this: it will give one eye some time to recover before attempting surgery on the other eye and it provides an opportunity to check the lens implant size.