Cataract Eye Surgery

A cataract is an eye condition that is believed to cause fifty percent of blindness around the globe. A cataract is actually an opaque material that is impenetrable to light; it covers the lens of the eye and makes it look cloudy.

Cataracts are more common in the older generation and many people do not know they have this condition because the loss of vision gradually builds up over time. Many people associate the loss of vision with the fact that they are moving on in years, this does stop them from visiting an optician.

Some people may notice that their eyes become more sensitive to glare and light or see halos around lights, these are symptoms that may push people to visit a professional as they are not common forms of sight loss through age.

Causes of cataracts

Although aging is the major cause for cataracts you can also gain this condition through certain diseases and some types of medication, steroids and eye injuries. Eye injuries, such as flying debris can cause cataracts by puncturing a hole in the lens.

Diagnosis

An optician can make diagnosis easily. The optician will use special ophthalmic instruments like an ophthalmoscope, which is a special type of microscope that has a light on the end.

Treatment

Most cataract eye surgery is completed with the patient being under local anesthetic and is generally a very safe surgical procedure.

The surgery involves breaking down the lens of the eye and removing it before being replaced by an artificial, synthetic lens.

Cataract eye surgery takes between fifteen and thirty minutes and after the surgery is completed the patient will be left for a few hours to recover before being allowed home.

Post surgery the medical consultant will give the patient antibiotics to protect the eye and eye drops containing steroids for inflammation reduction.

Complications

Like most eye surgeries, the treatment for cataract surgery is a relatively safe process.

The biggest complications that can occur are bleeding from the eye and corneal damage or damage to other parts of the eye.

Lesser complications that may occur are infection and inflammation, which can be found in any surgical procedure.

Cataract prevention

There are not many ways to prevent cataracts but the two ways of reducing the chances of getting cataracts are not smoking and wearing UVA protection sunglasses.

Another form of cataract prevention is taking regular antioxidants, as it is believed oxidative stress plays a huge part in the development of cataracts.

Other cataract conditions

There is one type of cataract condition that is quite rare, this is called congenital cataracts and is present in a child at birth. The problem with congenital cataracts is that a child does not recognize objects and would not know that their vision is impaired but if they condition is not found early enough it can cause blindness.

Because a newborn child grows dramatically within the first 12 months further problems are caused because cataracts stop the child’s eye lens from changing shape and developing properly.