

The material contained on this site is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health care provider.Trouble translating your glasses prescription? Unsolicited emails and messages may not be answered.

Always seek the advice of your qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical concern or condition. The information on this website should not be considered a substitute for a comprehensive evaluation, diagnosis or treatment from a qualified eye care professional. While the information found on this website is generally true, specific conditions as they may relate to you may be different including the diagnosis and potential treatments. If you are using a screen reader and are having problems using this website, please call (650) 948-9123 *This site does not provide medical advice. ©2022 Cataract Specialist Website Design by Glacial Multimedia, Inc. Because the prescription may not be stable until then, doing this too soon may result in having to change your eyeglasses a second time.Īll Rights Reserved. It is usually advisable to wait for closer to a month following surgery before getting any new prescription eyeglasses. Whatever eyeglass strategy you try, it may take a few days for your brain to adapt to the new approach. If you are eventually going to have cataract surgery on your second eye, these reading glasses should work much better after the second operation. Instead, pick a pair that works with the operated eye. You shouldn’t expect store-bought reading glasses to work for both eyes in this case. Depending on how strong the unoperated eye’s prescription lens is, this still may not be that comfortable, but there is no harm in trying this.Īnother option is to not wear your old eyeglasses, and to use the “new” eye without glasses for as many tasks as possible. If the old prescription lens is way off or bothersome, it can be removed from that side of your eyeglass frame. In this case, your old prescription glasses won’t match the newly operated eye however, there is no harm wearing them if they help the opposite eye. This sometimes happens after only one eye has had cataract surgery, and the opposite eye has a very different prescription. What if my two eyes have very different prescriptions? It is best to wait a few days after surgery to get temporary reading glasses to allow for some initial recovery of vision. Like with sizing a hat, trial and error should help you to find a power that works adequately for your preferred reading distance. For certain tasks that are further away than your normal reading distance (e.g., desktop computer), a lower power should work better. If two different powers both seem to work, then select the lower of the two. The higher the power, the closer the focus will be set. They are made and labeled in 10 different powers that increase in 0.25 increments from +1.00 up to +3.50. They are sold at optical shops, and at most drug, grocery, and department stores. These temporary OTC readers may not be perfect, but they are harmless to wear and often provide good reading vision.

At this point, inexpensive “Over-the-Counter” reading glasses can be used to help you read. How do I obtain temporary reading glasses?ĭepending on what was planned, most (but not all) eyes will regain better distance vision during the first week. Using your operated eye will neither harm nor delay its recovery. Typically, the vision is clear and more stable by 1 week following surgery. There are normal differences between different individuals, and even between eyes of the same individual, so try not to compare your recovery to other friends or family members. Immediately after cataract surgery, the vision will be temporarily blurry. Using Temporary Reading Glasses After Cataract Surgery
