What can I expect from cataract surgery?

What can I expect from cataract surgery?

Robert K. Maloney (Ophthalmologist) gives expert video advice on: Are cataracts preventable?; Will I get a cataract? and more...

Cataract surgery is actually an easy operation nowadays. In the old days, people used to lie in bed for three weeks with sand bags on either side of their heads so they couldn't move, but all of that is gone. Cataract surgery is an outpatient procedure. You go to a surgery centre, you get an IV, and you change into a hospital gown. About 45 minutes later you're taken into the operating room. You're sedated during the operation so you're not aware of very much. The procedure takes typically about ten minutes nowadays. You're awake during the cataract surgery, but very relaxed. There are no needles or injections. After ten minutes you're rolled back out, and about 45 minutes later you go home. The next day you see very well. So, cataract surgery nowadays is really a modern miracle.