“How soon can you get water in your eye after cataract surgery?”
I had cataract surgery 10 days ago. I want to know how soon can you get water in your eye after cataract surgery?
4 Answers
Generally a week, but your surgeon will counsel you. Most often showering is fine with gentle eye closure and a gentle pat dry but we usually prohibit pool - swimming and hot tub for a week. It depends on how the eye heals.
I assume you are asking about whether you can swim and are there a risk of water into the eyes. Generally it is felt that healing after cataract surgery takes about 3 weeks so any time after that should be OK. I do recommend that you wear goggles for that. The small amount of water entering the eye when washing your face should not be a problem even earlier after surgery.
Water is not sterile and represents an infection risk so we usually recommend no swimming for a month. Showering is generally acceptable if water is neck down or the operative eye can be covered. Frank Cao
There is no specific time frame, but most surgeons would agree that you may get water in your eye about a week after surgery.
