Cataract surgery corrects vision problems by replacing a cloudy lens with a transparent one. The lens of the eye must be clear in order to focus light properly onto the retina.Â
A clouded lens (called a cataract) can make your vision blurry or seem out of focus, or create halos around lights. This can make seeing at night especially difficult. Cataracts tend to be age-related and generally develop in both eyes, though not always evenly. The position and density of the cloudy area in the lens determine the amount and quality of vision impairment you have.
During cataract removal surgery, your natural lens is removed and an artificial lens is implanted. The eyes are treated separately, usually within a few weeks of each other. âIf only one eye is truly affected, then the opposite eye can wait until such time that a clinically significant cataract develops,â says Dr. Emilio Justo, an ophthalmologist in Sun City West, Arizona.Â
Beyond restoring vision youâve lost to cataracts, the new lens can correct nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism (with a toric lens implant) and even provide both distance and near vision simultaneously (with a multifocal or trifocal lens implant), so you may not need to wear reading glasses afterward.
âCataract surgery is an opportunity to dramatically improve your vision, given all the new technology available. Many people experience vision far better than they can even rememberâespecially those who wore strong prescriptions,â says Dr. Justo.
That was the case with Baoqin Zhang, a RealSelf member whose cataracts got so bad, she became legally blind. âThe second day after the surgery, my sight was restored to 20/25. I could see everythingâmy husbandâs smile and the colorful expressions on my grandchildrenâs faces. It was magic!âÂ
More than 3 million cataract surgeries are performed each year in the U.S., making it one of the most common types of eye surgery.
If you had to âpickâ an eye problem to have, a cataract is your best choice. Treatment is quick, safe, painless, andâwith the addition of numerous implantable lens optionsâthe visual results are typically awesome⊠and, yes, permanent!ââDr. Anthony Kameen, a retired Baltimore ophthalmologist, in a RealSelf Q&A