Imagine this scenario. You wake up one morning, splash some water across your face, and look in the mirror. What is normally a crystal clear image of yourself looking back at you is blurry in some areas. You rub your eyes and wash the mirror, because surely there must be something temporarily awry; but, alas, the image doesn’t get any clearer. Your eyes are blurry; you need cataract eye surgery to make them better.
This scenario is sadly not uncommon in today’s society. The number of patients who need cataract eye surgery is increasing each year, though not for any particularly nefarious reason. It is a reality of life that at some point, we all may need to undergo cataract eye surgery to get rid of the cloudiness in our eyes. After all, the main reason for needing cataract eye surgery is the cloudiness in our eye’s lens that is brought on by aging.
If the above scenario has happened to you, then perhaps it’s time to consider visiting an ophthalmologist and getting a consultation about whether or not you need cataract eye surgery to improve the clarity of your vision. Don’t worry, it’s a totally normal procedure that does not reflect poorly on your overall health.
What is Cataract Eye Surgery
When you get cataract eye surgery, you are undergoing a procedure to take away the blurriness and cloudiness on your lenses. Your eye’s natural lenses are clear films that are the top layers of your eye. When you get cataract eye surgery, your doctor will remove your lenses and replace them with a new one called an intraocular lens (IOL).
Cataract eye surgery is generally painless and is a swift and safe procedure. Millions of cataract surgeries are performed each year with over 95% having no complications. Because of the ubiquity of this condition and the frequency at which patients suffer from cloudiness, it is understandable why the surgical procedure is so streamlined and effective.
Upon removal of the damaged lens, your doctor will replace it with an IOL. Most IOLs are simply just replacement lenses that do nothing more than your original lens did. One other option for an IOL is a multifocal lens. Multifocal lenses act similar to how bifocal glasses work. In essence, getting multifocal lenses is like getting bifocals installed into your eyes. They can prevent the need to get glasses later in life.
What Causes Cataracts?
As mentioned above, cataracts are a naturally occurring issue in the eye that can happen to just about everyone. One of the primary causes of cataracts is aging, which sadly no one can prevent. Sometimes, it can happen to the healthiest of people. Other causes are trauma to the eye area, infections in the eye, and other things like stress and tension.
If you find yourself in a position where you have cataracts and need cataract eye surgery, don’t worry! You’ll be in good hands with a doctor and will be seeing clearly in no time.