Among the many eye-related diseases, conditions, and injuries we treat and care for in our industry, cataract surgery is often the most common reason people find themselves in the ophthalmologist’s office.
Despite this, it’s easy for the technological advances in cataract surgery to go unrecognized, and oftentimes the idea of the procedure itself may seem daunting to some patients. Considering over half of Americans over the age of 80 have had cataracts or have had surgery to get rid of them, it’s a process worthy of providing clarity over.
Cataracts form from a buildup of protein within the lens of your eye making it cloudy and often resulting in a loss of vision. These buildups usually happen slowly, sometimes even going unnoticed until they start to block light passing through the eye. Common symptoms include cloudy or blurry vision, trouble seeing at night, and changes in the way you see color. Typically, cataract formation is age-related, most often affecting older populations. But there are many reasons unrelated to age that could cause cataracts, such as excessive smoking and drinking, eye injury, family history, and certain health problems like diabetes.
In the early stages of cataract development, only minor adjustments would have to be made to accommodate the symptoms like using brighter lights, using magnifying lenses for reading, or maybe getting a new prescription. Eventually, cataracts may cause too much of a nuisance on everyday tasks and your doctor may suggest cataract surgery. This is a very safe and common procedure where the doctor removes the affected lens and replaces it with an artificial intraocular lens (IOL).
For more information about cataracts or to schedule an appointment with an ophthalmologist, please contact us.