The most common cause is growing older. Other common causes include:
Usually a regular eye exam by your eye doctor is all that is needed to detect a cataract. Sometimes other eye tests may be used to provide your doctor with more details about your eyesight. Some common signs and symptoms of cataract include:
No surgery is ever risk-free. Although serious complications are rare with modern cataract surgery, the very rare possibility of loss of vision should be considered before proceeding with surgery. If you have a cataract in both eyes, most surgeons would do one at a time, and wait for your first eye to heal before operating on the second eye, except in a few circumstances. If the eye that has a cataract is your only working eye, you and your doctor should weigh very carefully the risks and benefits of cataract surgery. Some of the risks of cataract surgery include the following:
A cataract cannot return because all or part of the lens has been removed. In less than one-quarter of the people who have surgery, the lens capsule will become cloudy within 2 years after surgery. This is called Posterior Capsular Opacification (PCO) or ‘after-cataract’ by some. It causes the similar visual problems as a cataract. Your doctor may recommend a simple procedure to correct this problem.
Before you have your cataract surgery your general health, your vision and your eye will be checked very carefully. A biometry is done to measure the length of your eye ball and the shape of your cornea. This test help the ophthalmologist decide which lens to implant during surgery to make sure your vision is as clear as possible after the surgery.
Your sight may not be as good as you expect for the first week after the operation, as the eye is still recovering from the surgery and will probably be a little swollen. Immediately after the surgery you will be given eye drops and it is very important to follow the instructions and to complete the course. Most people have some irritation or redness after the surgery but if your eye is very painful or your vision suddenly gets worse, you should seek treatment immediately.
After surgery, you can usually go back to your everyday activities as soon as you feel able. There are no dietary restrictions and you can read and watch TV as normal. In addition to taking eye drops, you may need to follow the following instructions for the first 1 to 2 weeks:
You also need to take extra care when it is windy or dusty outdoors, in case something blows in your eye, but you don’t need to stay indoors. Wear a pair of wrap-around sunglasses for extra protection outdoors.
The lens that is implanted in your eye is usually designed to give you clear distance vision without needing glasses. Sometimes this is not quite achieved and you will need a pair of distance glasses to fine tune the focus and get the best possible distance vision. Because the lens implant is not always able to provide in-focus near vision, many people will need to wear reading glasses after the operation and usually this will be a different pair than you had before the operation. In most cases an eye test called a refraction, will be done 4 to 6 weeks after the operation. This may be done by an optometrist in the hospital or you can see your own usual optometrist. If you had a multi-focal lens implanted, you may not require glasses as this can provide clear vision in the distance and up close most of the time.
Please contact your doctor if you have any problems or concerns. It is important to do so URGENTLY if you have any of the following:
