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What is a Cataract?
With a clear normal lens, the images are focused clearly on the retina and vision is sharp. With a cataract, the lens is cloudy, causing the image to become blurred and yellowed. Vision is hazy and colors become faded.

A cataract is a clouding of the eye's natural lens.

Cataracts affect vision by scattering incoming light.

Cataract Treatment
When symptoms begin to appear, you may be able to improve your vision for a while using new glasses, strong bifocals, magnification, appropriate lighting or other visual aids.
Think about surgery when your cataracts have progressed enough to seriously impair your vision and affect your daily life. Many people consider poor vision an inevitable fact of aging, but cataract surgery is a simple, relatively painless procedure to regain vision.

Plastic IOL

Cataract surgery is very successful in restoring vision. In fact, it is the most frequently performed surgery in the United States, with over 1.5 million cataract surgeries done each year. Nine out of 10 people who have cataract surgery regain very good vision, somewhere between 20/20 and 20/40. During surgery, the surgeon will remove your clouded lens, and in most cases replace it with a clear, plastic intraocular lens (IOL).

The Result

Before cataract surgery, the lens is cloudy, causing images to be blurred and yellowed. Vision is hazy and colors are faded. After surgery, the new replacement lens (place cursor over image) provides a clear and focused image on the retina. Vision is sharp.

About fifty percent of people over the age of 60, and quite a few younger then that, suffer from cataracts. A cataract is a progressive clouding of the eye's natural lens that interferes with light passing through to the retina. Sufferers usually describe the condition as being similar to looking through a waterfall, or a piece of wax paper, with a gradual blurring or dimming of vision. Reading may become more difficult and driving a car can actually become dangerous. Cataract sufferers may also be troubled by a bothersome glare, halos around lights, or even double vision. Currently, there is no treatment to reverse or prevent the development of cataracts. Once they form, the only way to achieve clear vision again is to physically remove the cataract from the eye.

Today, cataract surgery is performed on an out-patient basis, uses a local anesthetic, and takes only a few minutes. In most cases, the cataract is broken into microscopic particles using high-energy sound waves and then gently suctioned from the eye using an advanced technique called phacoemulsification. This surgery is performed through a very small incision which is usually self-sealing, requiring no sutures. To compensate for the removal of the eye's natural lens, an intra-ocular lens (IOL) is implanted into the eye.

Everyone heals somewhat differently, but many cataract patients report an improvement in their vision right away. Most patients return to their normal work and lifestyle routines within a few days.

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