Cataracts

What are cataracts?

When you develop a cataract, it affects the area of your eye known as the lens. Your lens works to focus the light entering your eye to create sharp images on your retina. When you have a cataract, your lens grows cloudy and affects your ability to clearly see.

The majority of cataracts are due to age-related changes to the tissue in your eye. Your risk of cataracts increases if you have a history of eye surgery, taking steroid medications, or have medical conditions like diabetes.

You can develop a cataract in both of your eyes, but they usually vary in severity.

What causes cataracts?

Cataracts develop when the lens in your eye loses its transparency and flexibility, and thickens. These changes occur when the tissues within your lens begin to degenerate and cluster together. As these tissues clump in your lens, they create small, cloudy areas.

Over time, a cataract continues to grow, becomes more dense, and affects a larger area of your lens. These changes interfere with the light entering your eye, which impacts your lens’ ability to sharpen images before they reach your retina. This leads to a variety of symptoms, including blurry or cloudy vision.

What are the symptoms of cataracts?

Cataracts cause numerous symptoms, including:

• Difficulty seeing at night
• Sensitivity to glare and light
• Vision that seems dim, blurry, or cloudy
• Frequently changing prescriptions for corrective lenses
• Double vision in one eye

It’s also common to need brighter light to perform certain activities, like reading, and for colors to appear more faded or yellowed.

How are cataracts diagnosed and treated?

Dr. Mayans detects cataracts during a routine eye exam. During your appointment, he checks your vision, looks at the structures of your eye under magnification, and examines your retina.

Based on your diagnosis and the severity of your cataracts, Dr. Mayans might recommend a variety of treatments. In the early stages of cataracts, he can often correct your vision with corrective lenses, and offers premium astigmatism lenses for maximum effectiveness.

When your cataracts interfere with your quality of life and don’t respond to corrective lenses, Dr. Mayans usually recommends cataract surgery. During this procedure, Dr. Mayans removes the cloudy area of your lens and inserts a new, clear intraocular lens. This artificial lens stays in your eye to restore your vision.

Call Jose Mayans, MD, or schedule an appointment online today to learn more about cataract treatment.