After Ah Ma's cataract operation: how the family can help in the first two weeks
Ah Ma comes home with eye drops, a shield and a list of do-nots. Here is how the grown-up children and grandchildren can help through the first weeks, and when to call the hospital the same day.
- Vision is often blurry at first and improves over several days, and full healing can take about four to six weeks. Her own surgeon's leaflet always comes first.
- Make the eye drops a household routine: the schedule on the fridge, one person in charge each day, clean hands every time, and bottles kept away from small children.
- No rubbing or pressing on the eye, no heavy lifting or sport, and no water, soap or dust in the eye. The family's job is to take over the heavy work and keep small hands away.
- A shield at night and sunglasses outdoors protect the healing eye, and the NHS, AAO and Moorfields guidance gives no list of foods to avoid.
- Call the operating unit the same day if the eye becomes more painful or red, or vision gets worse instead of better. A dark curtain or sudden floaters need urgent care.
The operation itself takes minutes. It is the two weeks afterwards that a family can shape, because Ah Ma comes home with a bag of eye drops, a plastic shield and a list of things she must not do, and she may not be able to read the leaflet. This page is for the grandchildren and grown-up children in the house.
It gathers what the NHS, the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Moorfields Eye Hospital tell patients. Her own surgeon's leaflet always comes first. If it says something different, follow it.
What will Ah Ma see and feel in the first few days?
Expect blurry, uneven sight at first, a gritty or sore feeling, and a picture that improves over several days. The NHS says the eye may be blurred by the dilating drops and that it may take several days for vision to improve. The AAO says most people see better within a few days, and full healing can take about four to six weeks.
A gritty, watery, slightly sore eye is common. The Moorfields leaflet says over-the-counter painkillers can help with soreness and grittiness. Ask her surgeon what she may take, since she may already be on other medicines.
If only one eye has been done, the two eyes can see quite differently for a while. That is a good reason to keep the floor clear and the lights on, and to walk next to her on the stairs.
How can the family help with the eye drops?
By making the drops a household routine and not Ah Ma's private task. The NHS says patients usually use their drops for about four weeks. Moorfields describes drops starting the morning after surgery and continuing until the check-up. Her own leaflet gives the actual schedule, so copy it out and follow it.
Put the schedule on paper in large writing and stick it on the fridge, with a tick box for each dose. Choose one person as the drops captain for each day, so that two people do not both give a dose or both skip one. Wash your hands first, every time, because the leaflet from Moorfields says drops should go into the operated eye with clean hands. If she uses drops for another condition, keep them apart from the new ones and ask the surgeon what to do with them.
Keep the bottles somewhere the small children in the house cannot reach. Our article on eye drops in the house covers safe storage. And if Ah Ma finds it hard to put drops in herself, that is normal, and the tips in getting eye drops into a small human work on a tired adult as well.
What must Ah Ma not do, and what should the house change?
No rubbing and no pressing on the eye, no heavy lifting or sport, and no water, soap or dust in the eye. The NHS lists these, and adds no eye make-up and no driving until her vision is back to normal. Moorfields says to avoid strenuous activity such as housework or exercise for two to three days, to keep water and irritants such as shampoo and soap out of the eye for the first two weeks, and to skip eye make-up for around four weeks. It also says to avoid swimming pools, saunas and hot tubs for four to six weeks.
The family's job is to make these easy to keep. Take over the heavy housework and the carrying. Help with washing her hair so that shampoo and water stay out of her eyes. Tell small children that Ah Ma's eye is healing, so that hugs go on the other side and nobody presses on her face. A sudden hand or elbow near the eye is exactly the kind of pressure the leaflets warn about.
Reading and television are allowed by the Moorfields leaflet, so she does not have to sit in the dark. It is fine to have a quiet, ordinary day.
How do we protect the eye at night, and outdoors?
A shield at night, and sunglasses by day. The NHS says she may need a plastic shield at night while the eye heals. The AAO says her ophthalmologist may ask her to wear glasses or a shield, including when she sleeps. Moorfields advises wearing the shield especially at night, so that she does not rub the eye in her sleep, for at least a week, and wearing sunglasses outdoors.
Check the shield with her each evening. Is it clean and fixed the way she was shown? The shield is there because rubbing an eye in your sleep is easy to do without knowing.
Dust, smoke, wind, pollen and sunlight are the daytime irritants Moorfields names. On smoky or hazy days, keep her indoors if you can, and read haze days and little red eyes, which explains what haze does to the eye surface.
What about food, pantang and prayer?
The NHS, AAO and Moorfields guidance gives no list of foods to avoid. Those pages set out drops, shields, rest and warning signs, and the only alcohol advice is to avoid it for 24 hours if she was sedated. Many families have their own rules for the weeks after an operation. If a relative insists on one, the sensible step is to ask the surgeon's team, and to bring the question to the follow-up visit.
Prayer and other religious questions are for your own religious teacher, and this page does not answer them. What the eye needs is plain: no pressing on the eye, no rubbing, and no water splashed into it, as the sources above say. If a prayer or ritual involves bending down, splashing or washing the face, ask the surgeon's team how she should adjust it for the first weeks, and then ask your teacher about the religious side with that in hand.
When should we call the hospital the same day?
Call the operating unit the same day if the eye becomes more painful, more red, or the vision gets noticeably worse instead of better. That is the Moorfields advice. The AAO adds pain that does not improve with over-the-counter medicine, and blurred vision. The NHS lists a cloudy or blurry view and a red or painful eye, and says to seek urgent help if floaters (dots and lines) suddenly appear or a dark curtain or shadow moves across the vision.
The hospital should tell her who to contact before she leaves. NICE guidance says patients should be told, after the operation, what visual changes to expect, the signs of possible complications, and who to contact about problems and emergencies. Photograph that page of the leaflet on your phone now, so the number is with you and not in a drawer. If you cannot reach anyone, go to the nearest emergency department and take the leaflet.
Serious complications are rare, as the NHS says. Still, the family that notices a change on day two is the family that gets it dealt with early.
When can life go back to normal, and what about glasses and the second eye?
Ordinary life returns in steps, and the surgeon signs off on each one. The AAO puts full healing at about four to six weeks. The NHS says not to drive until her vision is back to normal, and Moorfields says swimming pools, saunas and hot tubs wait four to six weeks.
Glasses come later. NICE says patients should be told at the first appointment after surgery when it is appropriate to get new spectacles and how, and about surgery on the other eye if it also has a cataract. So do not buy new glasses in a hurry. Ask at the follow-up.
The same visits are a good moment to ask what the rest of the household needs. If the children have never had their eyes checked, this page on eye checks for the whole family says where to begin. If you are still deciding on the route, or helping another relative with the choice, read cataract surgery in Malaysia, government or private, and how the family can decide.
- The eye is becoming more painful, or pain does not ease with the medicine her surgeon allowed.
- The eye is becoming more red.
- Her vision is getting noticeably worse instead of better, or has turned cloudy or blurred.
- A dark curtain or shadow is moving across her vision, or floaters (dots and lines) suddenly appear. The NHS advises urgent help for these.
- You cannot reach the unit and any of the above is happening. Go to the nearest emergency department and take the discharge leaflet.
Common questions
How long does it take to recover from cataract surgery?
What can't you do after cataract surgery?
Does Ah Ma have to wear the eye shield to sleep?
Are there foods to avoid after cataract surgery?
How can the family help put in the eye drops?
When should we call the hospital after cataract surgery?
When can she get new glasses or have the second eye done?
- NHS · Cataract surgery · www.nhs.uk
- American Academy of Ophthalmology · Cataract surgery: what to expect · www.aao.org
- Moorfields Eye Hospital · Do's and don'ts after cataract surgery · www.moorfields.nhs.uk
- NICE NG77 · Cataracts in adults: management · www.nice.org.uk