Cataract Surgery

What is a cataract?

A cataract is the clouding of the lens of your eye which causes blurred vision. They are part of the natural aging process and usually affect people over age 60. As you age, the lenses in your eyes grow less flexible, less transparent and thicker. Certain drugs, trauma and diseases like diabetes can also lead to cataracts. In rare cases, people are born with them. This process affects your ability to see clearly and, in some cases, to distinguish true colors such as blacks and blues.

Symptoms/Diagnosis

When you have cataracts, you may experience extreme glare on sunny days and/or halos around lights at night. Diagnosis includes measurement of visual acuity and, following dilation of the eyes, a look into your lenses. If a lens is hazy, shows milky or cloudy areas, and has increased in thickness, you have a cataract.

Treatment/After Care

Surgery to remove the clouded lens is the only effective treatment for a cataract. Your lens is removed ultrasonically and replaced with a man-made transparent lens. When both your eyes are affected, surgeries are performed separately. “We don’t operate on every cataract case we see,” says Dr. Mark Hollingsworth, a cataract surgeon at Scott & White Eye Institute. “If cataracts are not limiting your activities we’ll take a watchful waiting approach. However, if cataracts are adversely affecting your work and/or lifestyle, we operate.”

Patients can return home following surgery and resume normal activities the following day. Eye drops are prescribed to control inflammation. Physician follow up is typically the day after surgery, a week later, and again in three or four weeks.

“A lot of places perform cataract surgery,” says Dr. Hollingsworth. “Scott & White Eye Institute’s patients like to come here because we offer friendly, efficient care in a very patient-convenient way. Our outcomes are good, and our patients tell us they appreciate our care.”

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Learn more » American Academy of Ophthalmology

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