![]() ![]() A tiny probe is inserted through the cut. The eye surgeon makes a tiny cut in the cornea, the clear dome-shaped surface that covers the front of the eye. ![]() The procedure involves removing the cloudy lens and replacing it with a clear, plastic one. Procedure: The surgery itself, which usually takes less than 30 minutes, is generally done on an out-patient basis under local anesthesia that numbs the nerves in and around the eye. If you have cataracts in both eyes, each eye will be treated at a separate time to allow for healing. You may also need to temporarily stop taking certain medications. The information will help the surgeon choose which type of artificial lens - known as an intraocular lens (IOL) - is right for you. Preparations: A week before surgery, your doctor will test your eyes to measure the curve of the cornea and the size and shape of your eye. Certain heart and lung conditions, as well as dementia, may make patients poor candidates for surgery. The only treatment to remove cataracts is surgical.”īefore surgery, your surgeon may have you see your family doctor to have a thorough medical exam to make sure you’re stable enough for surgery, says Ravi Goel, a New Jersey eye surgeon and clinical spokesperson for the American Academy of Ophthalmology. “I’m constantly seeing ads for eye drops that purport to get rid of cataracts. “Don’t get fooled by scams,” says UCLA’s Bartlett. But once the cataract progresses and symptoms are interfering with the activities of daily living - reading, driving, watching TV - then surgery to remove the cataract is the only alternative. When cataracts are in their early stages, patients can find some relief with new eyeglass prescriptions, brighter lighting, antiglare sunglasses or magnifying lenses. Your doctor will then use a slit-lamp microscope to look for signs of cataracts, as well as examine the retina and optic nerve for signs of eye damage and other problems such as glaucoma. You’ll also be given a dilated eye exam, in which drops are used to dilate and widen the pupils, offering the physician a clearer view of the back of your eye. This measures the sharpness and clarity of your vision, and how well you can see at various distances. “You might not even be aware that it is starting to affect their vision.”Ĭataracts are usually identified by a thorough exam that includes a visual acuity test, where you read letters of varying sizes off an eye chart. “If you’re on corticosteroids, you should have regular eye exams,” says Dugan. Experts recommend that people over age 65 get checkups every year or two those younger should have their eyes checked at least once every two years - more if they have certain health issues. If you have a constellation of these symptoms, see a doctor for an eye exam. Cataracts usually take a long time to develop, and can occur in one or both eyes but won't spread like an infection from one eye to the other. But the normal wear and tear of aging causes the proteins to clump together, which clouds the lens, gradually making it harder to see as the cataract grows larger. The lens of the eye works much like a camera's: It focuses light onto the retina at the back of the eye, which then relays nerve signals to the brain, and it adjusts the eye’s focus, enabling us to see things clearly up close and far away. What they areĬataracts usually occur when normal proteins in the lens of the eye break down, causing the lenses to become cloudy. In the end, nearly everyone will develop them.īut the good news is that today’s high-tech procedures restore clear vision in 90 percent of the 3 million Americans who undergo cataract surgery every year. “I liken cataracts to wrinkles and gray hair,” says Anupama Horne, an ophthalmologist and eye surgeon at Duke University in Durham, N.C. The eye lens can begin to cloud in middle age and by 80, more than half of all Americans will either have cataracts or have had cataract surgery. En español | If you live long enough, you’ll probably get cataracts, which are an inevitable consequence of getting older. ![]()
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