Is it safe to have cataracts removed if you have dry eyes ?

Dear Anon,

Thank you for sharing your question with the EmpowHER community.

It is a very important question when considering cataract surgery!

It’s estimated that 20 percent of Americans, women more often than men, suffer from dry eyes, which can cause a range of uncomfortable symptoms. Dry eyes are characterized by a scratchy, gritty, or burning feeling, redness, stringy mucus, and increased sensitivity to light. Wind, dry air, and other environmental factors are but a few of the causes.

Surprisingly, dry eye syndrome can also cause excessive watering eyes due to the tears lacking the proper balance of mucous, water, and oil to coat the eyes properly. Chronic dry eyes can lead to damage of the eye’s surface, an increased risk of eye infections, and eventually, the inability to produce tears. Left untreated, severe forms of dry eyes can even damage your vision.

Surgical removal of cataracts is one of the most refined and most successful surgical procedures in existence. Most commonly, cataracts are removed in a procedure called phacoemulsification, or phaco for short. In this procedure, the cataract surgeon makes a small, self-sealing incision at the edge of the cornea and uses an ultrasonic probe to break up the cloudy lens. The fragments are suctioned away, commonly followed with the implantation of an intraocular lens (IOL). Because cataract surgery is a small-incision, no-stitch procedure, recovery is easy and discomfort is minimal.

If you are considering cataract surgery, your physician should address your dry eye issues before having any type of surgery. Cataract surgery has been known to make eyes dry post-op so, in order not to make your dry eyes worse, you will need to discuss it with your doctor and see if you are a candidate and if they can treat the dry eye first and foremost.

Here is some detailed information you should read dry eye and cataract surgery

Anon, did this answer your question?

Best,

Kristin