Interview transcription

How soon can I return to work after cataract surgery?

We interviewed Robert Morris to learn how soon you can return to work after cataract surgery. 

Robert Morris: Patients can return to work within a week after cataract surgery. And one of the determining features is whether both eyes or one eye have been done.

What would delay a return to work?

What would delay a return to work, is if a patient has quite thick spectacles, and one eye has been corrected, so they don’t need a spectacle lens for distance for that eye, but the other hasn’t. Because at that point, a patient will be unbalanced. But once both eyes have been done, a patient can be returning to work within a week, could be playing golf within a week. They need to be careful in the wind and with sand and things. But with modern-day cataract surgery, because we’re just using tiny little micro-incision and nicks in the eye, keyhole surgery with no stitches.

Myths Debunked

“Days of restricted activity for weeks on end” – that is still a common myth, and still commonly spoken about – are gone. Patients still say to me, “when can I bend down after surgery? My friend told me it was 6-8 weeks”, that’s all gone, you can be bending down a day or two later. I mean, I wouldn’t advocate shifting heavy furniture a day or two later, but you could be going for a walk the next day and taking some gentle exercise. Essentially, you can get back to pretty normal activities in a week.