All procedures
Each guide covers the typical day-by-day timeline, what symptoms are normal at each stage, when you can get back to everyday activities, and the warning signs that mean you should call your surgeon instead of reading further.
Cataract Surgery
Typical full recovery: 4-8 weeks
Cataract surgery removes the eye's clouded natural lens and replaces it with a clear artificial lens, called an intraocular lens or IOL. It ...
32 recovery guides
LASIK
Typical full recovery: 3-6 months for vision to stabilize
LASIK is a laser procedure that reshapes the cornea, the clear front window of the eye, so light focuses more sharply on the retina. The sur...
24 recovery guides
Blepharoplasty (Eyelid Surgery)
Typical full recovery: Most swelling gone in 2 to 3 weeks, final result over several months
Blepharoplasty is surgery on the eyelids to remove or reshape extra skin, muscle, and fat. The American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Re...
24 recovery guides
Eye Injections (Intravitreal Injections)
Typical full recovery: 24-48 hours for most irritation
An intravitreal injection is a shot of medicine placed into the gel inside the eye. It is the standard treatment for wet age-related macular...
18 recovery guides
PRK (Photorefractive Keratectomy)
Typical full recovery: Vision usually stabilizes over 1-3 months, sometimes up to 6
PRK is laser vision correction that works on the front surface of the eye. Your cornea is the clear dome at the front of the eye, and its ou...
23 recovery guides
Retinal Detachment Surgery
Typical full recovery: Vision often starts improving around 4 to 6 weeks, with months to settle
Retinal detachment happens when the retina, the light-sensing layer at the back of the eye, pulls away from the wall of the eye. NEI calls i...
16 recovery guides
Vitrectomy
Typical full recovery: 6 weeks to several months, depending on the bubble
A vitrectomy is surgery on the back of the eye. The surgeon removes the clear gel that fills the middle of the eye, called the vitreous, so ...
20 recovery guides
YAG Laser Capsulotomy
Typical full recovery: About 1-2 days
During cataract surgery, the surgeon removes the cloudy natural lens but leaves the thin, clear membrane that held it in place. That membran...
16 recovery guides
Corneal Transplant
Typical full recovery: Weeks to a few months for DMEK/DSAEK, up to a year or longer for a full thickness (PK) graft
A corneal transplant, also called keratoplasty, replaces damaged corneal tissue with healthy donor tissue. The National Eye Institute notes ...
19 recovery guides
SLT Laser (Selective Laser Trabeculoplasty)
Typical full recovery: 1-2 days of comfort recovery; 6-8 weeks for the pressure effect
Selective laser trabeculoplasty, usually just called SLT, is a quick outpatient laser treatment for open-angle glaucoma and high eye pressur...
13 recovery guides
Trabeculectomy
Typical full recovery: 6-8 weeks for vision, longer for pressure
Trabeculectomy is glaucoma surgery that creates a small guarded opening in the sclera, the white wall of the eye, so fluid can leave through...
17 recovery guides
Tube Shunt Surgery (Glaucoma Drainage Device)
Typical full recovery: 4-8 weeks, longer for pressure to settle
Tube shunt surgery, also called a glaucoma drainage device or aqueous shunt, places a small soft tube in the front of the eye that carries f...
16 recovery guides