Cataract surgery is one of the most common medical procedures done in the United States. An estimated 3 million people undergo it each year. As the surgery takes only about 20 minutes, doctors recommended you avoid driving –that is, until you get the final clearance or until your vision improves enough to safely drive. It may take several weeks after surgery for your eyes to fully adapt. Bright headlights and sun glare may still bother the eyes, even under the best of circumstances.
Charles B. Slonim, MD, is an eye doctor who wrote an article in All About Vision about his own cataract surgery and recovery. While describing his first “visual complication” on the fourth and fifth post-surgery days he stated that every source of light has two sharply defined streaks coming off at 60-degree angles, and opposite at 240-degree angles. Slonim declared the sources of light as street lights, tail lights, oncoming headlights–all hazards that affect both aging eyes and those who’ve undergone cataract surgery.
Tips for Driving After Cataract Surgery: Products That Help
It is best to give dedicated time to recovery and not drive until you are cleared by your physician. It is recommended that even weeks following such surgery, protective eyewear, like polarized sunglasses and polarized visor extenders. can help. Check out our earlier blog on this issue for further information on driving after cataract surgery.