Cataracts
Insight EYE SPECIALISTS
What is a Cataract?
Cataracts are an inevitable part of aging and most people older than 55 begin developing cataracts. By age 80, half of all Americans have cataracts or have had surgery to have them removed. A cataract is a clouding of the eye’s naturally clear lens. The lens focuses light rays on the retina—the layer of light-sensing cells lining the back of the eye—to produce a sharp image of what we see. When the lens becomes cloudy, light rays cannot pass through it easily, and vision is blurred. It is like looking through a foggy or dusty car windshield. Things look blurry, hazy or less colorful with a cataract.
A cataract may not need to be treated if your vision is only slightly blurry. Simply changing your eyeglass prescription may help to improve your vision for a while.
Surgery is the only way to remove a cataract. You should talk to your ophthalmologist about cataract surgery when you are no longer able to see well enough to do everyday activities.
The success rate of cataract surgery is excellent. Improved vision is achieved in the vast majority of patients if the eye is healthy otherwise.
In cataract surgery, the cloudy lens is removed from the eye through a surgical incision.
SYMPTOMS OF A CATARACT
- Having blurry vision
- Seeing double
- Being extra sensitive to light
- Having trouble seeing well at night, or needing more light when you read
- Seeing bright colors as faded or yellow instead
Cataract Surgery
Your surgeon will perform a preliminary eye exam and will measure your eye to determine the correct power for your intraocular lens. You will be prescribed eye drop medicines to start before surgery and continue afterward. These medicines help prevent infection and reduce swelling during and after surgery.
Cataract surgery is done in an outpatient surgery center with surgery time lasting 30 minutes or less. During cataract surgery, your eye surgeon will remove your eye’s cloudy natural lens through a tiny incision usually not requiring stitches to close. The cloudy lens will then be replaced with a clear artificial intraocular lens. A monofocal lens implant may be used to help correct vision for one distance. Premium lens options are available to lessen your need for glasses or contact lenses after surgery.
Premium Lenses
At the time of surgery, premium lenses can be used to correct for astigmatism or aid in seeing both at distance and near. These premium lenses greatly decrease dependency on glasses or contact lenses after cataract surgery.
TORIC LENS IMPLANTS
Toric Lens Implants are types of lenses that are used to correct astigmatism. A normal cornea has a circular shape whereas a cornea with astigmatism has a longer oval shape. Astigmatism can occur along with nearsightedness and farsightedness. Astigmatism causes images to become blurred or shadowed if not corrected. If there is enough astigmatism in your prescription, you may be a candidate for a toric lens. The lens comes in a wide variety of powers to eliminate astigmatism.
While a toric lens implant is an excellent method of correcting astigmatism, there are other procedure options to correct astigmatism. This can be discussed at your pre-operative visit with the doctor.
Toric Lens Implants provide:
- Improved distance or near vision
- Reduced dependency on glasses and contacts
MULTIFOCAL LENS IMPLANTS
Multifocal Lens Implants enable patients to see at near, far, and intermediate distances after surgery, helping to decrease dependency on glasses or contacts. Multifocal lenses have concentric circles that allow the eye to focus at different distances. Depending on where incoming light focuses through the circles, the person may be able to see both near and distant objects more clearly.
Multifocal Lens Implants provide:
- Improved distance vision without prescription glasses
- Improved reading vision without reading glasses in a well-lit environment
- The ability for many patients to work at their computer without corrective lenses
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