CATARACTS SPECIALISTS

The lenses of your eyes normally are clear, permitting you to see clearly without obstruction. Cataracts typically develop slowly, clouding the lens until it seems like you’re looking through a foggy window. In the early stages, brighter light and stronger eyeglasses can help you, but eventually, you may need surgery if you can no longer perform your usual activities.

Age or injury are the most common causes of cataracts, though genetic factors also play a role. Other eye conditions can trigger cataracts, as do eye surgery and diseases, such as diabetes. Using steroid medications over a long term may also cause cataracts.

While cataracts usually develop in both eyes, it’s normal for each to have its own pace, so your eyesight may be different between eyes, as one cataract develops ahead of the other.

Developing slowly, cataracts may, at first, only affect a portion of your lens and so its effects may not be noticeable. As they grow, more of your lens becomes cloudy, affecting the amount of light that enters your eye as well as changing the way light bends as it passes through. As symptoms become noticeable, these might include:

• Cloudiness
• Blurred vision
• Dimmed vision in what was once adequate light
• Sensitivity to light
• Sensitivity to glare
• Colors seem faded
• Double vision in one eye, which may resolve itself with time
• Rapid changes in the effectiveness of an eyeglass prescription

Not all cataracts need to be removed. It depends mostly on how you feel that cataracts affect your life, along with your desire to see better. Once you decide you want to treat your cataracts, surgery is the only treatment alternative. Fortunately, cataract surgery is commonplace and safe. The procedure removes the clouded lens, and your eyesight may then be corrected with eyeglasses or contacts, or an artificial lens, called an intraocular lens, or IOL.

The doctors of the Witlin Center for Advanced Eye Care use the most up-to-date surgical methods, including laser and no-stitch surgical techniques, to provide you with minimally invasive procedures that heal quickly with minimal pain.