How Soon Can I Wear Eye Makeup After Cataract Surgery?

Cataracts in its early development can cause blurred vision, nearsightedness or color blindness. If it goes without treatment and the cataract advances to covering up the lens of the eye, the person can go blind and cannot recover his or her vision unless subjected to cataract surgery. Generally, cataract surgeries are done on outpatient basis, meaning, the person with a cataract can get operated by an eye surgeon and in just few minutes cataract extraction is completed. The patient can rest for a couple of hours in the doctor’s office and can go home after.

There are things that must be done in order for the operated eye to heal faster and heal successfully. Medicated eye drops, taking antibiotics and regular check-up with the doctor would be necessary. On the other hand, there are people who are asking how soon women can wear eye makeup after cataract surgery. Well the answer to this depends on the condition of the eye after surgery. Generally, the eye needs to be covered with sterile gauze after the surgery to prevent contamination and during this time no eye makeup should be used around the eye. After a day or two, the gauze can be removed but for a week the eye cover should be worn at night for assured protection.

Ask For Doctor’s Advise

Some doctors agree that eye makeup should not be used until the eye has completely healed though putting on face makeup like face foundation or lipstick is not restricted. Also, with medicated eye drops that must be regularly applied, wearing eye makeup must be taken with precautions. However, women should still consult their eye surgeons prior to using eye makeup few days after their cataract surgeries because complications could still possibly happen. A call to the doctor’s office won’t hurt. The doctor may want to know the ingredients of the eye makeup if it is safe or can possibly cause allergic reactions to the healing iris of the eye.

On the one hand, we have known doctors to give consent to their women patients about putting on eye makeup two weeks after cataract surgeries while some doctors advise it must be after a month for a total makeup. Cataract removal can be done in two different methods. Either by ultrasound process in which a small machine “sonically” breaks the cataract’s material or by mechanically breaking up the cloudy lens bit by bit until completely removed. Both processes can only take 10 to 15 minutes to complete.

Your Eye Makeup After Cataract Surgery

The sonic method which in technical term is known as “phacoemulsification” can cost more than the mechanical method but the healing process is much faster. Incision or the mechanical method, on the other hand is known as the “phacofracture” and with this method, there is the need for suturing the eye lens after an artificial lens is placed over the iris. This method is the old method, cheaper but healing may take longer.

So the question on how soon women can wear eye makeup after their eye surgeries depends on the condition of the eye after the surgical removal of the cataract. If the eye is completely healed, then there will be no problem whatsoever. If not, women must be careful because some eye makeup can contain ingredients that can irritate the eye so it is suggested that a consultation to the doctor is the best thing a woman can do before using eye makeup again.