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Understanding Cataracts

About Cataracts

Is your vision foggy or blurry? Do colors appear dull or not sharp? Do your eyes hurt when you go out in the sun? If you answered YES to these questions you may have cataracts.

Inside everyone’s eye is a lens. Just like with a camera, the lens of your eye helps you to focus on things whether they are nearby or far away. To work well, the lens must be clear. As you age, the lens of your eye gradually becomes cloudy. We call a cloudy lens a cataract. The word cataract comes from an old Latin word for waterfall. Waterfalls produce heavy mist that can blur your vision. Cataracts have the same effect—blurry vision. Looking through a cloudy lens is like looking through a dirty window—everything is blurred.

Everyone who lives into their 60s develops at least mild cataracts. Early on, the cataract process not only makes your lens cloudy, it also makes your lens swell a little bit. When your lens gets bigger, you become a little more near-sighted. So in the early stages of cataract, simply changing your glasses prescription will usually restore your sight.

But as you continue to get older, the cataract gets more and more cloudy, and eventually not even a change in your glasses prescription will improve your sight. At that point, the only way to restore your vision is to remove the cataract. Cataract surgery is the most common surgical procedure performed on adults in the United States. The procedure is performed on an outpatient basis, generally takes a half-hour or less, and recovery time is usually only a few days.

What causes a cataract?

Cataracts are caused mainly by age, trauma, heredity, and exposure to ultraviolet radiation. Cataracts can also occur as a result of eye disease, after the use of certain medications, or as a result of medical conditions such as diabetes.

• Getting Older - Age is a major cause of developing cataracts.
• Birth defect like abnormal conditions in the eyes of unborn babies
• Environmental factors such as disease, toxic chemicals, medications
• Accidents or Injuries
• Exposure to ultraviolet light
• Cigarette Smoking

Cataract Surgery

Cataract surgery is a two-step procedure—first the cataract eye surgeon removes your cloudy lens, and second, a new lens implant is inserted into your eye. The cloudy lens is removed with a tiny instrument that enters your eye through a small incision—usually one-eighth of an inch or smaller—and gently breaks the cataract into tiny pieces that are then removed from the eye with a miniature vacuum cleaner.

Once the cataract is out, you will need a new lens in order to focus after surgery. Artificial lens implants—made of plastic-like materials—are used to restore your ability to focus after surgery. These implants come in many different strengths, like glasses, and before your cataract operation, your doctor will perform several measurements to determine the appropriate lens implant strength for your eye.

Once your cataract is out and your implant is in, the operation is over. Most people see better within a day or two after cataract surgery, but it is not abnormal or worrisome if your vision seems blurry for a few weeks after surgery as your eye heals. Your eye doctor will prescribe some eye drops for the healing period after surgery. If you need new glasses after surgery, these will be prescribed for you once your eye is completely healed.

Cataracts cannot grow back, but sometimes a thin cloudy membrane grows behind the lens implant, making your vision blurry like the cataract did. This is not uncommon—it happens to roughly 40 percent of patients having cataract surgery. If it happens to you, a quick and simple laser treatment can be performed to make a hole in the membrane for you to see through.

After Cataract Surgery

Typically, after surgery you willl heal fast and your vision will start to improve within a few days. If your surgery requires a larger incision and sutures, full healing can take up to eight weeks.

Avoid rubbing or pressing on your eye. It's normal to feel itching and mild discomfort for a couple of days after surgery. Clean your eyelids with tissue or cotton balls to remove any crusty discharge. Wear an eye patch or protective shield the day of surgery. You may be prescribed medications to prevent infection and control eye pressure. After a couple of days, all discomfort should disappear. Often, complete healing occurs within four to eight weeks.

Contact your doctor immediately if you experience any of the following signs or symptoms after cataract surgery:

• Vision loss
• Pain that persists despite the use of over-the-counter pain medications
• Increased eye redness
• Light flashes or multiple spots (floaters) in front of your eye
• Nausea, vomiting or excessive coughing

If you have cataracts in both eyes, your Kentucky Eye Institute eye doctor will treat one eye at a time.

How will it feel?

Because your eyes will be treated with anesthetic, you should feel little to no discomfort. Surgery is an outpatient procedure and you'll spend just a few hours at the site. Within the next 24 hours, antibiotic drops will be required to guard against infection and help your eyes heal. For a few days, you may need to wear a clear shield, especially at night, to prevent you from rubbing your eye.

Kentucky Eye Institute Cataract Surgery

Our Kentucky cataract surgeons look forward to helping you understand cataracts and the surgical procedures used to treat them. We are happy to discuss the various standard and premium implant options and to recommend which of those options will provide you the best possible postoperative visual outcome. If you are seeking a cataract surgery consultation in Kentucky, please feel free to call us anytime.

This website page discussing cataract surgery is intended to highlight relevant considerations in a summary manner and should not be interpreted as individual medical advice. Contact Kentucky Eye Institute directly if you have specific questions regarding cataract surgery. We hope that you have found our information regarding cataract surgery, cataract eye health, post cataract surgery care and choices regarding Kentucky cataract surgeons useful.