What treatment options are available for a cataract?
A cataract is a normal aging change in the human eye and almost everyone will develop a cataract at some point in their life. An early cataract generally doesn’t cause the vision to become cloudy, but may slowly change the power of glasses needed to fully correct your vision. Most people have a tendency to become more near-sighted when a cataract begins to develop. During an eye examination your doctor will check to see whether a change in your glasses prescription can restore your sight back to a normal level (20/20).
No eye drops, nutritional supplements, or oral medications have been developed that can reverse the aging changes in the lens and improve vision once a significant cataract has begun to develop. A healthy lifestyle with good nutrition, no smoking, and the regular use of sunglasses may slow the development of a cataract, but once a cataract starts to form these things cannot reverse the cloudiness of the lens inside your eye.
If a change in the power of your glasses cannot improve your vision then the only option for enhancing the quality of your vision is with a cataract surgery. Cataract surgery is an outpatient surgery designed to remove your natural cloudy lens and replace it with a clear artificial lens implant (IOL or intra-ocular lens). It is one of the most common surgeries done in the United States with over one-million procedures done annually. The surgery is done by an Ophthalmologist, a medical doctor trained to care for medical and surgical eye conditions. Many misconceptions exist about cataract surgery and the technology behind the surgery continues to improve. This website is designed to help you better understand what cataract surgery is and how it can change your life by bringing back clearer, sharper vision. It will also educate you on artificial lens (IOL) options available to you when you have your cataract removed.
Basic eye anatomy
To understand how cataract surgery works, it is beneficial to understand some basic eye anatomy. The eye works much like a camera to focus incoming light into an image that can be sent to the brain via electrical impulses along the optic nerve. The clear front window of the eye is called the cornea. Behind the cornea is the iris, the colored part of the eye. The black circle in the center of the iris is the pupil. This is the small opening that allows light rays into the inner part of the eye. Behind the iris is the lens. A healthy lens is perfectly clear and functions as one of the main focusing structures in the eye. As you age the proteins that make up the lens deteriorate and cause the lens to become yellow and cloudy. The cloudy lens is known as a cataract. The inner layer of the eye is covered with a special membrane called the retina. The retina acts like the film in your camera, or using the analogy of today’s digital
cameras the retina is like the CCD sensor. The image is formed on the retina and special nerve cells transmit the image as electrical signals to the brain. For you to see clearly the cornea and lens need to be perfectly clear and the retina needs to be healthy. When the lens becomes cloudy cataract surgery is done to remove the cloudy lens and replace it with a new artificial lens.
Steps in cataract surgery
The concept behind cataract surgery is very simple. The goal is to remove the cloudy lens inside of your eye and replace it with a new clear artificial lens.
- A small incision is made in the cornea
- An opening is created in the membrane that holds the lens in place inside the eye
- The lens material is removed by a small ultrasound tip that breaks the lens into very small fragments and aspirates them out of the eye
- The new lens is placed inside the eye
Modern cataract surgery is amazing. The incision is so small, less than 1/8th of an inch, that it seals without any sutures. Anesthesia typically is done with just a few drops on the surface of the eye – shots are rarely used with modern techniques. There is no patch, minimal pain, and the vision clears very quickly after the surgery. Within a few days most people notice a significant improvement, and by 2-3 weeks the eye has completely healed.
Summary
- A change in glasses may be able to make your vision better during the early stages of cataract development
- No eye drop, nutritional supplement, or oral medication can reverse a significant cataract
- Cataract surgery is the only option for improving vision once a significant cataract has formed
- Modern cataract surgery is highly effective and very safe with minimal discomfort and quick healing in most cases
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