Is a watery eye normal after cataract surgery?

What's normal

Watering right after surgery goes with the territory. The National Eye Institute says the eye may feel itchy or uncomfortable and sensitive to light and touch, and irritation like that makes the eye produce more tears. It usually eases as the surface heals over the first week.

The bigger cause later is dryness, which sounds backwards but is not. The American Academy of Ophthalmology lists excessive tearing among dry eye symptoms and explains that your eyes make more tears when they are irritated by dry eye. Since the AAO says almost all cataract surgery patients experience some level of dryness while the corneal nerves heal over about three months, on-and-off watering through that period is common.

Heaviest in the first few days, then intermittent alongside dryness for weeks to about three months.

When it stops being normal

Clear watering is different from discharge. The American Society of Retina Specialists lists white or yellow discharge on or inside the eyelid among endophthalmitis symptoms, and says acute endophthalmitis is an emergency needing treatment as soon as possible. Thick, colored, or crusting discharge is a call to your surgeon, not a wait-and-see.

Watering that comes with increasing pain, a very red eye, or a drop in vision also needs prompt attention. The National Eye Institute lists vision loss, bad pain that will not go away even with medicine, and very red eyes as reasons to contact your doctor.