See your world clearly
Cataracts
Cataract Surgery
What are cataracts?
A cataract can be defined as follows:-
a medical condition where the lens of the eye becomes progressively opaque, resulting in blurred vision.
In healthy eyes, your lens acts similarly to a camera lens. It will focus light in the back of the eye onto the retina enabling you to see clearly.
Your lens consist mainly of protein and water. The protein is keeps the lens clear and lets the light pass through on to your retina
As we age your natural lens can become cloudy as the protein degenerates. The build up of this protein type deposits clumping together, this clouding of the lens is called a cataract.
If not treated the cataract (this cloudy area of your lens grows larger and thicker as your lens protein degenerates and clumps further. After a while your lens can appear opaque, making it difficult to see through which can cause blindness if not treated by an eye specialist doctor.
How can I tell if I have Cataracts ?
The only way to know the true reason behind your ailing eye sight is to see an ophthalmologist, after an examination they will advise of the correct treatment
Usually painless, and whilst more commonly found in older generations the cloudyness can form at any age.
Symptoms of cataracts include:
- Slightly blurred vision, similar to looking through a cloudy piece of glass
- Reduced vision at night
- Increasing sensitivity to light at night
- Diminishing brightness of colours.
Will I need Cataract Eye Surgery Straightaway?
Not necessarily, if caught soon enough your vision may be treated with the aid of glasses or contact lenses.
That said however, unfortunately it is a degenerative and progressive condition, and the speed of deterioration also varies from person to person, most likely, if your vision declines to the point where it interferes the quality of your daily life you will require vision restoration surgery at some point.
Everyone is at a different stage and have various contributing factors, you really need to to see your ophthalmologist to assess your condition.
How Common is the cataract eye operation?
Some statistics from United States state that around 50% of 65 year olds and nearly everyone over 75 has at least one .
Cataract operations are very common and experienced eye surgeons will have performed the operation thousands of times. The surgery usually take around 10 mins to perform. The advancement in technology in this surgery has been fantastic with many options available to you that your Brisbane ophthalmologist will advise you of.
Typical Surgery Recovery Times
When a cataract removal operation is required, the complete recovery time usually takes around a month
Immediately afterwards, whilst the eye heals, patients may experience some:
· Redness and /or bloodshot eyes
· Brusing around eye similar to black eye
· Initial vision may be distorted or blurry when eye protection is first removed.
The above should fade after a few days, but it may take a week or so to get your sharpest vision