Your Cataract Procedure

Vision Immediately after Surgery

Don't be surprised if your vision fluctuates for several days as the eye heals and the pupil returns to its normal size. Your eyesight might seem to be getting worse, then better, off and on for a few weeks. As mentioned, you'll notice fluctuations in your vision for a few weeks or even longer if you have had an accommodating lens implanted. This is normal and expected.

Inside the eye there will be swelling and inflammation. These symptoms should subside within a week, but each patient is different. Younger patients, in their fifties or sixties, and those with milder cataracts, heal more quickly than patients who are older or whose cataracts were extensive. Be assured, however, that the amount of time it takes your eye to heal won't change the ultimate outcome.

You'll see everything more clearly-including any preexisting floaters, those little objects in the vitreous humor that float across your field of vision.

So if occasionally you notice something that looks like a gnat hovering at the edge of your field of vision, it's nothing to be concerned about.

Results of Cataract Surgery »