Prepping for Cataract Surgery

Prepping for Cataract Surgery

Cataract surgery is a relatively simple outpatient procedure performed on more than a million people over 60 each year in the United States. It helps improve the vision of those who suffer from this ailment, which is characterized by cloudy and blurred vision. During this procedure, the lens of the infected eye is removed and a new, artificial lens is put in this place. However, simple procedure does not mean this is not a surgery and like with all surgery, some pre-op and post-op measures must be taken to help ensure the best possible outcome.

Before your Denver cataract eye surgery, your ophthalmologist will go over your complete medical history, including any medications you may currently be taking. Depending on what those medications are, you may be asked to stop taking them in the days preceding the surgery. The day right before the surgery will have several instructions you must follow. First, do not eat or drink anything after midnight the night before your cataract surgery in Denver. You also should have someone drive you to the surgery location. This can sometimes be your doctor�??s office, but is most often a hospital or ambulatory surgery center. You will not see well immediately following the surgery, so having someone with you who can drive you home is pertinent.

Once you are at your Denver cataract eye surgery center, you will meet with an anesthesiologist. Although you will be awake during the surgery, you may want some sort of sedation and can discuss this with the anesthesiologist. The sedation is usually quite mild, and numbing drops will also be used so you do not feel what is taking place in your eye. The numbing agent may also come in the form of an injection, depending on what your anesthetist uses. The surgery itself should not take more than an hour to complete and afterwards you will be taken to a recovery room to rest before you are permitted to go home. Once home, you should rest your eyes some more for the rest of the day as rested eyes are more healthy eyes. You may experience some eye discomfort for a few days, and painkillers can be prescribed. However, your eyes should not feel severe pain. If they do, it is imperative that you contact your eye doctor immediately to make sure an infection has not developed.

Cataract eye surgery may seem simple, but should not be taken lightly. Your vision is a precious gift, and this procedure can give this modern medical procedure can help ensure this gift is yours for a long time to come.

 

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