What is the day-to-day recovery like after trabeculectomy for reading?

[KyleC]

I’ve been told I need a trabeculectomy to manage my glaucoma, and I’m trying to understand what the recovery is really like day-to-day. My main worry is how long it will actually take before I can comfortably read or use a computer screen again without strain.

[AuroraNM]

I had the procedure last year. The first week was mostly about healing and eye drops. Reading was off and on; by 4 weeks I could read on a screen for short sessions, but I still needed frequent breaks and larger text. By about 6 weeks I was back to longer sessions, but it varied day to day.

[Sophia_M]

For me the biggest blocker was dryness and light sensitivity, not the scar or the stitches. I cut screen time to 10–15 minutes at a stretch for the first week or two, then gradually built up.

[Aaron_J]

I thought a few days would be enough to read comfortably, but it dragged. It took a month or more before reading on a laptop didn't feel strained. I used bigger fonts and a lower brightness; still there were days I got tired quickly.

[Nora_L]

One quick question: are you hoping the surgery will remove the strain entirely, or just reduce it enough to read for a while?

[ThomasR]

I remember I kept re-reading the same page because my eyes felt unfocused; then I remembered to blink and rest. I also tried standing to read for a moment, which helped a bit, and then I sat back down and kept going. It was slow, but I kept going.