Cataract Surgery and Eyeglass Prescription

Question: I have a question about cataract surgery and eyeglass prescriptions. My 74 year old dad just had cataract surgery 3 days ago. He has not yet seen any improvement with his vision. Should he be wearing his prescription glasses? He says he needs to wear them so he can see and be able to get around.
Answer: Depending on what prescription your father's Cataract Surgeon was aiming to achieve it is possible that your father may not actually need to wear the preoperative eyeglass prescription for that eye at all. It is possible but not likely that the preoperative eyeglass prescription is correct after having a lens implant. If your father is not observing any improvement in his distance vision it would be worthwhile call the surgeon and asking what level of vision he should be achieving at this time. Without knowing more about the preoperative vision and the health of the retina we cannot speculate about what his level of vision should be at this time although it is not at all unusual for patients to see pretty well after 2-3 days of their Cataract operation.

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