The first hours after surgery

You leave Clinique Sainte-Geneviève 30 to 60 minutes after the procedure, with a transparent protective shield over the operated eye, accompanied by a relative. The pupillary dilation lasts for 4 to 6 hours : during this period, vision is deliberately blurred by the effect of the eye drops.

Once you are back home, the instructions are simple :

• Keep the protective shield during the day if needed (involuntary rubbing, travelling) and compulsorily at night for 7 days to prevent unconscious rubbing of the eye.
• Begin the postoperative eye drops as soon as you return home, following the prescription (antibiotic + steroidal anti-inflammatory + topical NSAID).
• Have a light meal and stay normally hydrated.
• Avoid any physical effort, swimming, and direct showering on the face.
• Do not rub your eye.
• Sleep preferably on the side opposite to the operated eye, or on your back.

It is normal to feel a sensation of a foreign body, mild itching or conjunctival redness in the first few days. A step-1 analgesic (paracetamol) is more than enough to ease the rare instances of pain : no aspirin or oral anti-inflammatory.

The eye-drop protocol

Postoperative treatment classically relies on a combination of three eye drops for about 3 to 4 weeks :

• Topical antibiotic for 7 to 10 days to prevent postoperative infection ;
• Steroidal anti-inflammatory (corticosteroid) in tapering doses for 3 to 4 weeks to control inflammation ;
• Topical non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID), useful to prevent postoperative macular oedema.

The usual schedule is four instillations per day for each eye drop during the first week, then a gradual tapering. The detailed prescription is handed over on the day of discharge and explained to the person accompanying you.

According to a recent international review (Huang et al., 2025), so-called « dropless » strategies (dropless : intracameral injection or extended-release implant) show promising results for simplifying postoperative treatment, particularly in patients with poor adherence. To date, they are not yet standard in France.

How to instil an eye drop properly

• Wash your hands before each instillation.
• Tilt your head back and gently pull down the lower eyelid.
• Place a single drop into the lower conjunctival fornix, without touching the eye or the eyelashes with the tip of the bottle.
• Close the eye for 30 seconds ; gently press the inner corner to limit systemic passage.
• Between two different eye drops, allow an interval of 3 to 5 minutes.
• Store your bottles at room temperature (unless otherwise indicated).

The recovery timeline

Day 1 : postoperative check-up

First visit to the office (Cachan or Paris). Temporary removal of the shield, slit-lamp examination, measurement of visual acuity, check of intraocular pressure. Vision is usually already better than the day before, even if a sensation of blur or haloes persists. Green light or not to drive, depending on the examination.

Between day 2 and day 7

Gradual visual improvement. Colours return to normal : many patients rediscover a vivid white and bright blues that they could no longer perceive. A faint foreign-body sensation may persist (this is normal). The eye may be slightly red. Reading becomes comfortable with a temporary correction if needed.

Visit at day 8

Second check-up visit at one week. Healing is well under way, ocular pressure is controlled, visual acuity is almost final. The tapering of the eye drops is adjusted. The activities forbidden in the first days gradually become possible again.

Between day 8 and day 30

Refractive stabilisation. Between 3 and 6 weeks, the eye heals completely and vision becomes stable. Any glasses that may be needed (often a slight near correction) can be prescribed after the one-month visit.

Visit at 1 month

Final check-up consultation : acuity, refraction, fundus examination, corneal examination. End of the eye drops. Possible prescription of the final glasses. Scheduling of the second eye if needed, usually 2 to 4 weeks after the first.

What is allowed, what to avoid

Allowed from the next day

• Walking, household activities without effort ;
• Reading, screens, television : no contraindication ;
• Shower : yes, avoiding letting water hit the face directly ;
• Washing your hair : yes, preferably with the head tilted back.

To avoid during the first week

• Lifting heavy loads (more than 5 kg) ;
• Bathing the eye or immersing it (swimming pool, sea, sauna, steam room) ;
• Wearing eye make-up ;
• Rubbing the eye (even lightly) ;
• Gardening, exposing the eye to dust.

To avoid for 3 to 4 weeks

• Contact sports, heavy weight-training, yoga with the head down ;
• Swimming (chlorinated pool, sea, thalassotherapy) ;
• Diving ;
• Prolonged night driving if haloes persist.

Returning to work

For office work, a return is possible as early as day 2 or day 3. For physical, manual or dusty-environment work, a work leave of 7 to 10 days is generally prescribed. The leave certificate is issued by the surgeon or your general practitioner.

Warning signs — that should prompt a consultation

Complications are exceptional but must be identified quickly. Contact the secretariat or the ophthalmological emergency service if any of the following signs appears in the days or weeks following the procedure :

• Intense pain not relieved by paracetamol ;
• Sudden drop in vision in the operated eye ;
• Very red eye with purulent discharge (suspected endophthalmitis) ;
• Appearance of a dark veil, light flashes or a large number of floaters (suspected retinal tear) ;
• Sudden double vision ;
• Very swollen eyelid some time after the procedure (after day 3).

Apart from these emergencies, mild discomfort, watering or moderate redness in the first few days are usual and not worrying.

Frequently asked questions

A question about your postoperative course ?

Dr Tourabaly’s secretariat is at your disposal in Cachan and in Paris.

Getting back to your activities: our detailed guides

• Sun and holidays after cataract surgery — exposure, beach, swimming and flying.
• What not to do after the surgery — the things to avoid in order to protect your outcome.
• When you can drive after the surgery — criteria for getting back behind the wheel and night driving.
• Sport, swimming pool and sea after the surgery — return times by activity.

Scientific sources

• Huang AY, Rao N, Armenti ST. Dropless Cataract Surgery: A Review of the Literature. Int Ophthalmol Clin. 2025 ;65(2):44-54. DOI : 10.1097/IIO.0000000000000560
• Bobot N et al. Effect of Femtosecond Laser-Assisted Versus Conventional Clear Corneal Incisions on Endothelial Cell Density and Surgical Efficiency. J Clin Med. 2026 ;15(2):626. DOI : 10.3390/jcm15020626

Page written by Dr Moïse Tourabaly, ophthalmic surgeon, for informational purposes. It in no way replaces a medical consultation.

Your postoperative prescription in detail

On leaving Clinique Sainte-Geneviève, you go home with a postoperative prescription prepared in advance by my assistant. It includes three families of eye drops, complementary to one another, to be instilled on a tapering schedule over about 4 weeks:

• Topical antibiotic — prevention of postoperative infection (endophthalmitis). Instilled 4 to 6 times a day during the first week, then stopped.
• Topical anti-inflammatory (steroidal or non-steroidal depending on the profile) — control of the local inflammatory response and prevention of cystoid macular oedema. Instilled several times a day on a tapering schedule over 4 weeks.
• Lubricating artificial tears — prescribed if you feel a sensation of dryness or grittiness, whether linked to the procedure itself or to the asepsis carried out beforehand in the operating room. No fixed duration: to be used according to your comfort, sometimes for a few weeks, rarely beyond.

The precise instillation schedule is given to you in writing and explained at discharge. It is important to respect the minimum interval of 5 minutes between two different eye drops so that each one has time to penetrate before the next.

Your supporting documents: work leave and transport voucher

Because cataract surgery is a medically necessary procedure — and not elective surgery like LASIK —, it entitles you to administrative documents that my assistant prepares in the surgical file:

• Work leave — I can issue you a leave certificate for the duration of convalescence, adapted to your professional activity. The typical duration is 3 to 7 days for sedentary work, and may be extended in case of exposure to dust, vibration or sustained physical effort. The duration is discussed during the consultation and adapted on a case-by-case basis.
• Transport voucher — issued for the surgery day only: the round trip between your home and the clinic on the day of the procedure. It does not cover the postoperative consultations (day 1 at the office, day 7, month 1) or the anaesthesia consultation beforehand at the clinic: you get there by your own means (car, public transport, taxi at your own expense).

Getting back to daily life

• Driving — not on the day of the procedure. Vision is blurred for a few hours and the pupil may remain dilated. Resumption usually from 48 to 72 hours, as soon as your vision has become comfortable again. If in doubt, wait.
• Office work — possible from the next day (day 1) after the check-up consultation. Screens are not contraindicated; remember to take breaks and to use artificial tears in case of dryness.
• Physical or outdoor work — wait until the end of the prescribed work leave (3 to 7 days) before a full return. Avoid dust, vibration and lifting heavy loads in the first days.
• Light sport (walking, stationary cycling) — from 48 to 72 hours post-op.
• Intense sport, contact sports, open-water swimming — wait 3 to 4 weeks.
• Chlorinated pool, jacuzzi, sauna — 4 weeks minimum to avoid any risk of infection or irritation.
• Air travel and altitude — no contraindication for cataract surgery (unlike vitrectomy with gas tamponade).
• Reading and prolonged screen use — allowed from day 1, while meeting your need for artificial tears if you feel dryness.

Operating on the second eye

In the vast majority of cases, the cataract affects both eyes, with a time gap. Once the first eye has been operated on and recovery confirmed, surgery on the second eye is scheduled 1 to 4 weeks later. This interval allows:

• The good visual recovery of the first eye to be confirmed.
• The implant choice for the second eye to be adjusted, if useful, based on the refractive result observed (micro-adjustment).
• The pathway to be made safer: operational vision on one side while the other recovers, which makes your daily life easier.

Bilateral surgery on the same day remains exceptional and reserved for specific indications (major logistical constraint, fear of the operating room, reason validated on a case-by-case basis).

Please note: the appearance, sometimes several months to years after a successful surgery, of a secondary cataract (opacification of the posterior capsule) is a separate phenomenon, treated simply with the YAG laser in a few minutes at the office.

Sources

• Chu CJ, Johnston RL, Buscombe C, et al. Risk factors and incidence of macular edema after cataract surgery: a database study of 81 984 eyes. Ophthalmology. 2016;123(2):316-323. PMID 26681390. Incidence and risk factors of cystoid macular oedema after phacoemulsification.
• Pershing S, Lum F, Hsu S, et al. Endophthalmitis after cataract surgery in the United States: a report from the Intelligent Research in Sight Registry, 2013-2017. Ophthalmology. 2020;127(2):151-158. PMID 31611015. Incidence of endophthalmitis after phacoemulsification in routine practice.
• Haute Autorité de Santé. Chirurgie de la cataracte chez l’adulte — recommandations de bonne pratique. HAS, 2018 (updated 2024).

This content describes the usual postoperative course. Any doubt or unusual symptom (pain, drop in vision, redness) should prompt a consultation without delay. Contact the office.