One of the Safest & Most Successful Procedures Performed Today
Great advances have been made in cataract surgery. Millions of people undergo this vision improving procedure every year, and they experience excellent results.
Dr. Ansari has performed over 3,000 successful cataract surgeries. Call Frankfort Eye Center today to schedule an appointment with Dr. Ansari for a cataract evaluation. Don’t let poor and cloudy vision from cataract prevent you from enjoying the vision that you deserve.
What is a cataract?
The word “cataract” is an ancient Greek word meaning waterfall. People with cataracts see the world as if they were looking through a waterfall. A cataract is clouding of the lens of the eye that interferes with vision. In a normal eye, light enters through an outer layer called the cornea and passes through a transparent lens that focuses the light on a layer of nerves at the back of the eye called the retina.
As long as the lens is clear, a sharp image is formed. When the lens becomes clouded with a cataract, light cannot pass through as easily, and the image you see becomes faint and hazy.
A cataract may be so slight that you see as though you had a smudge on your glasses. It may worsen to the point where driving, close work and reading are impossible. Or, a cataract may be so severe that you can only tell light from dark. It may take ten years for a cataract to develop completely, or it may take only a few months.
How does it occur?
No one knows for sure what causes cataracts. Suspected factors include heredity, ultraviolet light, reaction to drugs, and chemical changes associated with aging. Also, people with diabetes are three to four times as likely to develop cataracts as non-diabetics. Anyone can develop a cataract, regardless of age, race, or sex. Cataracts usually develop over several years and may cause few problems at first. But as the cloudiness spreads over the lens, you begin to have trouble seeing and doing things that use to be easy.
How is it diagnosed?
Your doctor at the Frankfort Eye Center will test your vision to determine the size of your cataract. Because a standard eye chart may not always give a true picture of how the cataract is affecting your vision, you may be given a test called a contrast sensitivity test/or brightness acuity test to evaluate your vision.
How is it treated?
Surgical treatment of cataracts have become routine, with over a million surgeries performed each year in the United States alone. Cataract surgery has more than a 95% success rate, and is one of the most successful surgeries performing in medicine today. Years ago, when cataract surgery was risky and difficult, surgery was usually delayed as long as possible (usually until the cataract was “ripe” and the person could no longer see at all. Today that is no longer necessary. Cataract surgery can be done at any point. Generally, the time to have surgery is when you can no longer see well enough to do the things you want to and need to do.
What happens during cataract surgery?
- Cataract surgery is a very delicate operation done by a surgeon looking through a special operating microscope. The surgery is usually done on an outpatient basis, and it takes 10 to 20 minutes.
- The exact method of surgery may vary, but the basic idea is to make the smallest incision possible and remove the cloudy lens as a whole or by fragmenting the lens with ultrasound vibration.
- The natural lens is usually replaced by an artificial lens implant called an intraocular lens implant, or IOL. The power of this lens is determined in a test called an Ascan, done before the surgery.
- As in any surgical procedure, the possibility of complications during and after surgery exists. But complications are very rare, and can usually be dealt with at the time of surgery. Potential complications include loss of vision, loss of the eye, hemorrhage, infection, cystoid macular edema, retinal detachment, IOL removal, corneal clouding, chronic infection, and astigmatism. If you want more information on the risk of cataract surgery, be sure to ask your doctor.
What happens after surgery?
In the past, thick and distorting cataract glasses or cumbersome contact lenses were used to correct vision after surgery. With intraocular lens implants, these are no longer necessary. But even with an intraocular lens, you will probably need to have a regular pair of glasses to finetune your vision after surgery.
It usually takes one to three months for your eye to heal completely, so you can expect some blurred vision at first. But as long as you follow your doctor’s instructions for care of your eye as it heals, you will have fewer restrictions on your activities. With modern surgical techniques and your full cooperation, your vision should be significantly improved after cataract surgery.