A cataract occur when the lens inside the eye, which sits right behind the pupil, becomes cloudy. Cataracts prevent clear images from appearing on the eye’s retina; causing mild, moderate, even severe blurred vision.
Typically an eye disorder associated with aging (over half of the people in America over age 80 have either had a cataract or cataract surgery), cataracts generally begin to be seen in those over 50 as metabolic changes, long term exposure to UV and certain medications may take their toll.
During the evaluation of your eye health we will carefully examine your lens for signs of cataract formation. If a cataract is noticed and the clouding is causing visual disturbance which cannot be satisfactorily corrected optically, Dr. Jacobs will refer you to a trusted and respected surgeon for a consultation regarding cataract extraction and intra-ocular lens implanation. Dr. Steve Jacobs Eye Care Practice will answer all your questions and provide comprehansive pre and post cataract surgery care.
Cataract Surgery
Cataract surgery is the removal of the natural lens of the eye (also called “crystalline lens”) that has developed an opacification, which is referred to as a cataract. Metabolic changes of the crystalline lens fibers over the time lead to the development of the cataract and loss of transparency, causing impairment or loss of vision. During cataract surgery, a patient’s cloudy natural lens is removed and replaced with a synthetic lens to restore the lens’s transparency.
Following surgical removal of the natural lens, an artificial intraocular lens implant is inserted (eye surgeons say that the lens is “implanted”). Cataract surgery is generally performed by an ophthalmologist (eye surgeon) in an ambulatory (rather than inpatient) setting, in a surgical center or hospital, using local anesthesia (either topical, peribulbar, or retrobulbar), usually causing little or no discomfort to the patient. Well over 90% of operations are successful in restoring useful vision, with a low complication rate. Day care, high volume, minimally invasive, small incision phacoemulsification with quick post-op recovery has become the standard of care in cataract surgery all over the world.
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The more you know about cataracts, the better prepared you will be to deal with them – or help prevent them in the first place!
