Cataract Surgery – Aftercare Tips

Cataract surgery is one of the most common procedures being followed, especially by the elderly, to get rid of the cloudy lens that covers their eyes and hinders clear vision. We say “especially” the elderly because today, there is a good percentage of young age groups having cataracts too! Earlier, cataracts was only associated with older citizens, but now, due to various reasons like eye trauma, heavy eye strain, steroids, certain other medications, or over exposure to the sun’s UV rays, younger age groups can also develop cataracts. However, no matter what age group you belong to, if you have cataracts, you must approach a professional eye care provider like Arohi Eye Hospital to get the best quality cataract surgery in Oshiwara Mumbai done so that you can have the best results. Nevertheless, you will still have to follow certain aftercare procedure to keep the clear vision going better for longer.

What aftercare tips should you follow?

The most basic thing that surgeons will tell you to do after a cataract surgery is to exercise, have a healthy diet, keep your blood pressure and lipid levels under control, and quit tobacco. But, there is a lot more that you need to take care of to constantly keep your eye vision under control.

Which pigments are important to maintain vision quality?

One of the main trigger for the disease of cataracts is cumulative oxidative stress to the eye’s central retina, which is known as the macula. After the cataract surgery, to preserve the quality of vision, you must focus on the health of your macula, and prevent any cases of macular degeneration. The macula has a focal point known as fovea, which is the key to reading, facial recognition, and other important vision tasks. The fovea also helps to see colours. There are three macular pigments present in the fovea, known as lutein, zeaxanthin, and mesozeaxanthin, which are believed to serve the main functions of naturally occurring antioxidants that filter short wavelength blue light.

A dense macular pigment layer protects the retina cells under it, from oxidative stress, which helps to preserve vision. Also, short wavelength blue light scatters to decrease the eye’s contrast sensitivity and increase glare. A dense macular pigment thus blocks this harmful blue light, which improves contrast sensitivity and overall vision quality.

What can you do to maintain the important pigments?

To get the best macular pigments that your retina needs, you must focus on foods that are rich in lutein and zeaxanthin like carrots, citrus fruits, dark green leafy vegetables, and corn. The third macular pigment, mesozeaxanthin, is converted enzymatically from lutein within the body. All these three pigments are necessary to maintain a healthy macular pigment layer and lessen the risk of macular damage. If you aren’t on a good diet that can generate these pigments within your body, you may also opt for supplements rich in these pigments, so that contrast sensitivity can be enhanced and progression of macular degeneration can be slowed down.

Other than that mentioned above, you can get many other aftercare tips and prescriptions to maintain the quality of your vision after a cataract surgery in Mumbai, from your surgeon.