Can You Drive After Cataract Surgery? What the Experts Recommend

Driving after cataract surgery is one of the most common pre-op queries—and with good reason. For anyone who uses their car regularly, even a few days loss of the independence driving brings needs careful planning.

If you’re speed reading, the quick takeaway is that you can’t drive straight after your cataract operation. Your eyesight needs to adjust and restore to the minimum standards for you to be legally on the road. For some people, this can be as soon as 24 hours after surgery. For others, it can be days or even weeks, especially if you require new eyeglasses once your vision has settled post-surgery or your eyes take a while to adjust to the new lens.

How Soon Can I Drive After Cataract Surgery? In All Honesty, It Depends…

OK, so that’s not a particularly helpful comment, we know. But the issue is that there is no federal mandate for the level of visual acuity required to drive in the US. Instead, it’s all done at state level. We’re not going to go into every last detail here—you can check out the exact requirements on your state’s DMV website—but a general overview is that you need to have 20/40 vision in at least one eye (with corrective lenses if needed).

Rather than getting bogged down in the technical details, let’s look at the aspects that make it safe (or not) for you to get back behind the wheel.

• First 24 hours after surgery: You will have a dressing over your eye and will still be experiencing the effects of the local anesthetic and surgical drugs. This means you’ll need someone to drive you home, and you won’t be able to drive at all during this time.
• Post 24 hours: If any blurriness or other vision anomalies have completely resolved, such as peripheral vision, AND you’ve been told you’re allowed to remove the protective shield while you’re awake, then potentially you can get back to driving—at least during the day. The reason you might want to refrain from driving at night is that, depending on the type of intraocular lens (IOL) you have fitted, it may take a while for your vision to adjust. You might have a few weeks of seeing halos around lights, getting dazzled, or being overly sensitive to light.
• 72 hours onwards: As long as you feel your vision meets or exceeds your state requirements, then there should be no issues with driving. As your vision settles, you might want to re-introduce night driving, but be sure to wait until you have no problems moving from light to dark conditions and bright lights to ensure safety to you, your passengers, and other road users.

One reason you might want to postpone driving during the hours of darkness is if you’re going to need a new prescription for eyeglasses. This isn’t generally actioned until at least 4 weeks post-surgery. Many people find that waiting until they have their shiny new eyeglasses safely on their face is the best option.

The ultimate cataract surgery recovery driving guidelines come from your surgeon. This is the person who knows a) what your vision was like before the operation, b) if there were any complications during the op that might affect the natural healing process, and c) how your eye has responded during your follow-up appointments.

And talking of follow-ups, many people don’t realize that they shouldn’t drive themselves to these. That’s because you’re likely to have dilating eyedrops to allow the surgeon to get the best view of how your eye is healing. So, once again, you’re going to have to call on the assistance of a family member, friend, or cab driver to chauffeur you to and from the clinic.

At the Modern Cataract Surgery Clinic, we pride ourselves on providing our patients with all the information surrounding the common (and not-so-common) questions you might have about your upcoming cataract operation.

Begin your journey at https://www.moderncataractsurgery.com/ and call us today to book a consultation.