Dr. Zack advises all cataract surgery patients will likely need different glasses after surgery than they used prior to surgery, and that the optometrist will measure the eyes after the surgery has healed, and will determine what refraction (glasses prescription numbers) will give each eye the clearest vision, and will discuss with each patient what glasses they may want to consider getting and wearing. Each case is different, and in fact in many patients each eye can be different! Sometimes both eyes are similar, but not always! The amount of refraction, or prescription, each eye needs for clear vision for distance, intermediate, and near depends on many factors. One important factor which cannot, prior to surgery, be known with certainty is the exact actual or ‘effective’ position of the lens implant after surgery, and this can be affected by surgical factors and postoperative healing such as scarring.

Yes! Dr. Zack advises that it is fine to shower or bathe right after surgery. Most importantly, take care to avoid falling down after surgery (including while showering or bathing) as falling can lead to severe facial, head, and eye injuries. So don’t close your eyes while getting in or out of, or moving around in, the shower or bath! And, while showering or bathing, do take care not to allow any strong stream of water directly toward your open eye as this may cause problems.

It is much better to use artificial tear drops (which can be purchased off the shelf at pharmacies and elsewhere as these are not medications and do not require a prescription) than to purposely try to flush tap water into the eyes after eye surgery. However, it is probably quite safe if while rinsing/washing one’s face with water if a bit of water gets “into” (really onto the surface of) the eye.

No bending, lifting, or straining for the first week following surgery. We do not recommend swimming until 2 weeks post-surgery.

It is very common for patients to report that one eye feels completely fine after cataract surgery while the other eye does not. Patients often report that one eye feels discomfort, soreness, irritation, dryness, heaviness, tiredness, watery, or Foreign Body Sensation (the feeling that there is sand, an eyelash, or a foreign body) in the eye. Usually the symptoms are mild or minimal, quite tolerable, and that artificial tears for dry eyes help reduce or eliminate the discomfort. These symptoms are thought to occur as a result of postoperative dry eye, which probably is multifactorial and is caused by factors such as dry eye disease, reaction to surgery medication drops and preservatives in the drops, and surgery affecting the corneal nerves.

No. Cataracts do not come back. Once the cloudy natural lens (the cataract) has been removed, it is gone forever. However, in the weeks, months, or years after your initial surgery, your vision may become hazy again. This is not your cataract returning- this is because your natural lens capsule (the part of your eye that holds the IOL in place) has become cloudy. To restore your vision again, Dr Zack will use a laser to open the cloudy capsule. This outpatient procedure is called a Laser Capsulotomy.