Recovering From Eye Surgery: What You Should Know

When you find that you need to have surgery on one of both of your eyes, whether it is an elective procedure such as corrective laser eye surgery or a necessary procedure to correct an injury or remove cataracts, you may find yourself concerned or nervous not just about the surgical procedure but about the recovery process as well. Recovering from eye surgery can be challenging as you will be more restricted in what you can and should do than you might otherwise expect. Get to know some of the facts about recovering from eye surgery that you might not be familiar with so that you can be prepared for the process and know what to expect following your surgery. 

You Will Need to Wear Sterile Eye Shields to Sleep Afterwards

During your eye surgery, you will be fitted with surgical eye shields that will protect the eye that is not currently being operated on. However, this is not the last experience in the process you will have with eye shields. Depending on the surgery that you have, you might be wearing eye shields as you head home from your surgery.

However, for most cataract surgeries and minor routine operations, you will only need to wear eye shields after surgery to bed. These sterile eye shields are designed to protect your eyes from contact with bed sheets when you sleep as well as to keep you from inadvertently rubbing or scratching your eyes while you are asleep. And, of course, it will keep any dust particles, hair, or other items that may be floating around in your home from getting into your eyes while you sleep.

It is extremely important that you wear these sterile eye shields after your surgery as instructed by your ophthalmologist. This will help to ensure that your recovery goes smoothly and that your eyes do not get needlessly irritated, injured, or infected as you are healing from surgery.

You Will Have Limitations on the Weight You Can Lift and on Bending Down

Your eyes are highly susceptible to pressure and muscle strain in the body. As such, you will have some physical limitations placed on you following your eye surgery. You will have restrictions on how much you can carry or lift for a period of time after your surgery. Oftentimes, these limits will be somewhere between 10 and 20 pounds but may vary depending on the type of eye surgery you have had and if there were any complications. Lifting heavy items puts strain on the whole body, including the facial muscles that support the eyes. This strain could cause stitches to rip and other complications to occur.

In addition to having limits on the amount of weight that you can lift, you will also be limited on bending your body. The reason for the bending limitation is that when your head is below your heart (such as when you bend down to tie your shoe, or get something off of the floor) more blood moves into the head and increases the intraocular pressure (the pressure in the eyes). Too much pressure when the eyes are recovering from surgery can cause shifts and movement as well as tear stitches that could potentially lead to permanent vision damage and blindness.

With these factors in mind, you can better prepare for the recovery process from your eye surgery and know what you can expect in the days and weeks following your procedure.

For more information, talk with eye specialists, such as those at Kolberg Ocular Supplies, INC..

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