What is a Cataract?
A cataract is the slow, progressive clouding of your eye’s natural lens. It typically happens with aging, and is therefore very common, much like getting gray hair. As your natural lens becomes cloudy and hazy, we call it a “cataract.” The cataract interferes with light passing through the eye, giving you blurry or fuzzy vision.
Can Cataracts be prevented?
Research has shown that avoiding excess UV light and tobacco may be associated with cataract formation. Avoiding UV light and tobacco may decrease the risk of cataract formation.
Other specific conditions can also lead to cataract formation, including diabetes, predisone/cortisone use, as well as radiation and other toxic chemicals.
How do I know if I have a Cataract?
People with “ripe” cataracts often describe their vision as “foggy” or “blurry.” A cataract may make nighttime driving difficult due to glare from oncoming car headlights. In addition, cataracts can make reading more difficult, cause double vision in one eye, and make colors seem dull. You are basically looking through a cloudy and hazy lens, and in general you may feel that your vision isn’t what it used to be.
What can be done to treat a Cataract?
Cataract surgery removes the “God-given” lens that has become cloudy over time and replaces it with a “man-made” lens.
Cataract surgery is truly a miracle of modern technology with amazing improvements in the speed of visual recovery after the procedure. It is the most common surgery in the US, and probably one of the most successful. Many patients remark that their vision after surgery is better than it had ever been.
Dr. Parekh uses the latest in lens removal technology. He prefers the smallest incision size to encourage rapid healing and return of vision. This surgery is an out-patient surgery and takes just a few minutes in the operating room. It is done in the setting of local anesthesia and intravenous sedation, so the patient is typically calm and comfortable throughout the procedure. Patients often forget the entire experience due to the medications given during surgery.
Patients return home after surgery and are seen in the office the next day. Most activities can be resumed soon after surgery.