Exercise – Can you do exercise after cataract surgery?

After your cataract surgery is complete, you’ll need to take it easy for a little while to allow your eye to heal fully and correctly, without any complications. This means avoiding any strenuous activities, sports, or exercises that could increase the pressure in your eye. It’s also important to keep dust, bacteria or any other foreign bodies away from your eye as they can make you more vulnerable to infection.  

We’ve included some examples of common exercises and activities below, along with recommended timeframes for resuming them.  

Light exercise can be resumed one week after cataract surgery. You should be fine to go for short walks before then, as long as you avoid dusty or smoky environments. 

Contact sports or sports with a high risk of eye injury e.g. football, squash, martial arts – you’ll need to wait for 2-4 weeks before resuming these activities 

Activities that involve bending down e.g. yoga, Pilates – these should be avoided for at least one week after surgery to avoid increasing the pressure in your eye while it’s still healing. It’s OK to bend down for short intervals e.g. to tie your shoelaces, but otherwise it should be avoided where possible. 

Swimming and other water-based activities – swimming should be avoided for two weeks after surgery. You may wish to wear goggles to help protect your eye while it’s healing. 

Following the advice that you’re given after your cataract surgery will help to ensure you have the best possible results from the procedure. 

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