Cataracts

What are cataracts?

A cataract is a clouding of the clear lens in your eye. The lenses in your eyes are normally clear, but cataracts make it seem like you’re looking through a steamed-up window where everything looks fuzzy. Cataracts may be inherited, the result of an eye injury or the natural aging process. 

Cataracts form when lens tissue breaks down and clumps together forming small cloudy areas on your eye’s lens. As the cataract gets bigger, it covers more of your lens and distorts your vision. The different types of cataracts include:

• Nuclear cataracts in the center of your lens
• Cortical cataracts that affect the edges of your lens
• Posterior subcapsular cataracts that form near the back of your lens
• Congenital cataracts that are present from birth

You can develop cataracts as a child or later in life when you’re older, which is quite common. 

What are the risk factors for developing cataracts?

You increase your risk of developing cataracts with any of the following:

• The normal aging process
• High blood pressure
• Diabetes
• Smoking
• Drinking excessive amounts of alcohol 
• Eye surgery
• Eye injury
• Obesity
• Prolonged use of corticosteroids 

You also put yourself at risk if you spend a lot of time in the sun without sunglasses to protect your eyes from ultraviolet rays. 

What are the symptoms of cataracts?

Cloudy or blurred vision is common when you have cataracts, and other signs include:

• Sensitivity to light
• Fading colors
• Dim vision
• Difficulty focusing at night
• Frequent changes in vision prescriptions 
• Double vision in one eye
• Halos around bright lights

Since cataracts usually develop gradually, you may not notice a difference in changes in your vision until the cataract gets larger. 

What treatments are available for cataracts?

At first, stronger glasses or contacts may help you see better with cataracts. When cataracts affect your vision and make daily tasks difficult, cataract surgery to replace the lens in your eye can help you see clearly again. During surgery, your doctor removes the clouded lens from your eye and replaces it with a permanent, clear intraocular lens (IOL). 

Cataract surgery is a relatively simple, painless procedure, thanks to lasers. And your new IOL can correct your vision, so you may not even need to rely on glasses all the time. As an optometrist with more than 30 years of experience, Dr. Frank specializes in cataract surgical co-management. He helps you prepare for surgery, works closely with your surgeon, and provides your postoperative care and follow-up eye exams. 

If you suspect you have cataracts, don’t wait to seek treatment. Contact Vision and Ortho-K Center by phone or through the online booking tool.