It’s important to ask questions about your eye surgery

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Questions about cataract surgery

There is minimal out of pocket expense if your health insurance covers the procedure. For those patients who are uninsured, there are various affordable options.

After normal cataract surgery, 4–5 days off work is generally enough. If you work in a dusty environment, you might need more time off.

The aim of cataract surgery is to reduce your dependence on glasses. All patients with standard monofocal intraocular lenses will need glasses for reading with only 10–15% needing minimal power glasses for distance. Using multifocal intraocular lenses reduces the need for glasses, but occasionally glasses may be required for fine print.

Most patients can drive within a day or two of surgery.

Questions about laser and refractive surgery

The majority of patients will be free of glasses after laser refractive treatment (laser eye surgery). However, occasionally patients feel they may require part-time spectacles for critical vision or occasional wear. Dr Gupta will discuss expectations and likely outcomes during your initial consultation. Final outcome will also depend on the severity of short sightedness, long sightedness and astigmatism.

Sadly, laser refractive surgery doesn’t address the need for reading glasses which is a natural process of ageing called Presbyopia. However, a monovision treatment strategy can be planned leaving your non-dominant eye for reading, thus removing or reducing need for any spectacles.

4–5 days off work is recommended for adequate healing to occur after laser eye surgery.

Addressing and managing the underlying cause of dry eye prior to surgery can ensure that you are suitable for laser surgery.

Questions about collagen cross-linking for keratoconus

Cross-linking reduces or halts the rate of progression of keratoconus.

The purpose of treatment is to stabilise the cornea rather than improve your vision and help you avoid major surgery like corneal transplantation in the future.

Laser treatment used to be inadvisable in keratoconus. However, research studies have proven the safety and benefits of modified laser treatment used in combination with crosslinking in early to moderate cases.

Questions about corneal transplant surgery

There are various techniques of corneal transplantation. These range from selective replacement of the diseased layers to replacement of the full thickness of the cornea. The surgical technique used will depend on the underlying pathology and condition of the cornea.

It takes around 2–4 weeks in partial thickness transplants and around 6–8 weeks in full thickness transplants for vision to recover.

We generally recommend up to 2–4 weeks off work but this can vary depending on your work environment.

The aim of corneal transplantation surgery is not to make you free of glasses but to improve your vision. Most patients will still need some glasses. Some patients might need rigid gas permeable lenses after the procedure, particularly if the indication was keratoconus.

In cases of a full thickness corneal transplant, contact sports and lifting heavy weights should be avoided for the long-term.

Questions about pterygium surgery

While use of autograft reduces the chances of recurrence, there is a 10–15% chance of it returning.

Depending on your work environment, 4–5 days is usually enough.

Recurrent pterygia can be surgically removed. Mitomycin C (an antimetabolite drug) is used during the surgery to reduce the chances of a second recurrence.

Have a question for a consultant cataract, cornea and laser eye surgeon or ready to book your consultation? Get in touch