Q: My mother has been told she needs cataract surgery, but with her eyes often feeling dry and scratchy, I am wondering about potential complications? Any advice?
A: The vast majority of cataract procedures are completed without any serious complications. Yes, people often find out afterwards that they still need glasses for reading, and most would have sharper vision for driving with glasses too. But in terms of disease or infections…..very rarely is either a concern.
However, because most all of us get drier eyes as we age, what is called “Dry Eye Disease” can slow healing and make vision less sharp afterwards. In our clinic, we very commonly treat the dryness before surgery to prevent those issues, and to enhance healing. While there are eye drops to relieve dryness, they do not solve the underlying cause, and require applications several times a day. After cataract surgery, your mom will need eye drop medications to prevent inflammation and infection for several weeks…..and those may need to be instilled up to four times a day. So adding moisture drops on top of the medications is difficult achieve and can lessen the medication results.
The very best treatment pre-operatively is having your regular eye doctor ( not your cataract surgeon ) insert Lacrimal Plugs into her lower eyelids to increase her natural tear layer! This creates more of her natural tears….and is better than anything sold in a bottle. Each eyelid has tiny opening near your nose that drains away your normal tear fluid with each blink. Lacrimal plugs, painlessly placed in those lower eyelid openings ,called puncta, simply slow the drainage and hold your natural tears on the eye surface much longer. This simple procedure is typically covered by your medical insurance, not a vision plan.
The simple truth is the everything heals better when it is moist! Better healing reduces the risk of infection and increases the ability of the eye surface to regrow after the incisions are made. The lacrimal plugs currently are available is types to last a week, a month, 3 months and 6 months. Frankly, many patients ask us to replace the plugs after the initial pair dissolves because their eyes felt so much better, and vision was sharper, with the tear saver plugs in place.
I recommend asking your regular family eye doc who likely referred you to a cataract surgeon IF they do this procedure. Not all eye doctors are trained or choose to insert these lacrimal plugs. Generally, we use the 6 month type before surgery, knowing our patient will have better eye moisture right after the procedure and for several months afterward. Your mom will love her sharper, brighter vision afterwards!