A Cataract is a medical condition that slowly clouds the eyes lens, which causes blurred vision. This can ether severely reduce your vision or just cause some blurriness. An example would be looking through a fogged up windshield. This can make it hard to do daily activities like driving, playing sports and reading. Most of the time cataracts will develop slowly and you won’t notice it right away. As time goes on you might notice your vision getting weaker/blurry. You might even get some cheater glasses (readers) and this will help for a little bit. But, again time will not be on your side with cataracts.
Once your vision affects daily life, it might be time to go see an eye doctor. The good news is cataracts can be treated by a medical professional! The bad news is it won’t go away on its own and you will need surgery. This is generally a safe and effective procedure.
Cataract surgery consists of removing the clouded cataract and replacing it with a clear lens, called an intraocular lens (IOL). The IOL stays permanently in your eye. About 95% of all patients get an IOL, the other 5% will need to wear glasses or contacts. Overall this is a short and painless procedure that usually takes around an hour. You do not need to stay at the hospital when this is done, but you would want someone to drive you home. If both eyes have a cataract, it is recommended to wait at least one month between surgeries.
As we get older this increases our risk for cataracts, here are some other risk including:
- Diabetes
- Excessive sunlight
- Smoking
- Obesity
- High blood pressure
- Prolonged use of corticosteroid medications
- Drinking excessive amounts of alcohol
If you are looking to reduce or even get rid of your eye glasses and/or contacts let us at Rohr Eye & Laser Center help you! We offer several types of LASIK eye surgery including PRK, AK, CK, Cataracts surgery and more. We perform all these eye laser treatments with state of the art equipment. We are a leader in laser vision correction, and our goal is to help you achieve superior vision. Contact us today or view our website http://www.michiganlasik.com/ to schedule an appointment.