scratchy feeling after cataract extraction

Posted , 10 users are following.

i was operated for cataract 14days back, with iol implanted, since operation i am having scratchy feeling on eye movement. dr says my operation is ok, but doesnt comment on the scratchy feeling. does it happen with every one, when will it go?

0 likes, 8 replies

8 Replies

  • Posted

    I had cataract surgery about 7 weeks ago now.  I did not experience any scratchy feeling.  I wonder if he scratched or lightly abraded your cornea? But that would heal. That seems odd and I would follow up with the dr and insist on an explanation as it doesn't seem right.
  • Posted

    Would you describe that as dry eyes? I have heard that following a catarct op one can have dry eyes for a while.

    Eyes normally heal quite quickly but you don't say how long ago this was.  See if eye drops will relieve the scratchy feeling, and if the over-the-counter ones don't suit you, ask for the sort without preservatives.

    Your eye doctor should definitely have something to say about this. You must ask him and insist on an answer. If that is hard for you, bring along a friend. It always helps to have another person present to get the difficult answers we need.

    Good luck!

  • Posted

    Probably not everyone but I already had dry eyes and was badly affected. The operation or medication can lead to the tiny glands becoming blocked so that you do not have enough moisture to lubricate the eye.  Warming the eye lids can help, try mske-up pad warmed with water or you can buy a special eye bag that is warmed in the microwave.  Your local pharmacist can advise you on eye drops to lubricate while things return to normal.  
  • Posted

    I had the scratchy feeling too!  My surgery was in October of last year.  It lasted past the time I finished my drops.  My doctor told me to get gel type artificial tears and that the dry eyes caused some abrasions on my cornea.  It was really uncomfortable to the point I was keeping my eye closed so it wasn't moving so much!  I put warm damp wash cloths on it and it seemed to help.  Eventually it will stop.  I think when they remove the clouded lens they break it up and use suction to remove it and my guess is they don't get all of it and that's what is causing the scratchy feeling.  Just my guess.

    hope you have recovered by now.

    • Posted

      Any remaining lens fragments can't be felt because there are no nerves inside the eye. The scratchy feeling is likely dry eye as others have said, which can be a side effect of cataract surgery. The incisions in the surface of the eye may cut nerves which are what let the brain know the eye is dry and to wet it, and it can take time for those to heal. Many people see the dry eye eventually go away, weeks or months later, though some are left with a dry eye issue. There are many treatments available for dry eye (some over the counter, and some requiring a prescription or treatment by a doctor)  and different ones work for different people so people  just need to keep trying until they find one that works for them.
  • Posted

    I was told this can be caused by the eye being dry. The hospital gave me some lubricating drops. I did not really have a problem so i am unable to say if thiswould work. Hope it gets better

     

  • Posted

    Yes, I'm expericing the same problem in my right eye... the first eye the cataract was removed from.... that scratchy feeling is still there... it's been over two years and it's still there... at first the doctor who performed the surgery didn't want to listen, he just say it's old age, so I continue on to pressure him and finally he change my eye drops from night time to morning time with a new eye drop but it's still there.. He says it's a side effect from the medication ( eye drops) but it's was not like this before I had cataract removed... I really need some answers.

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