What is a Cataract?

A cataract is a clouding of the natural crystalline lens within the eye. The lens within the eye is what focuses light onto the back of the retina. When this lens becomes cloudy from a cataract, vision becomes blurry and decreased. Often patients are first informed that they have a cataract when going in for a routine eye exam. Blurry vision is a very common way to first discover a cataract.

A cataract usually develops slowly over time as we age. In our later years, almost everyone will one day develop a cataract. Most will require cataract surgery in order to remove the cataract and to restore youthful vision. Cataract surgery is one of the most common surgeries worldwide, and cataract surgery is the most common eye surgery as well.

It is still unknown what causes a cataract to develop. There are many theories, but no definitive proof yet. Some feel that ultraviolet light may be associated with cataract development while others feel smoking could do the same. While it is not fully understood exactly why we develop cataracts, it is very well known that most people will. Currently there are approximately 3 million cataract surgeries a year in the U.S.

Surgery to remove a cataract is now preformed on an outpatient basis. There has been a dramatic shift in cataract surgery over the past 5 years shifting care to cataract surgery centers rather than traditional hospitals. Most cataract surgery centers perform hundreds of cataract surgeries a week and specialize in customer service.

Cataract surgery usually takes less than 20 minuets and patients return home within hours. Cataract surgery usually leaves the patient able to see through the operated eye within hours of removing the cataract. Most often patients are able to resume normal actions days after cataract surgery with minimal restrictions. (Always follow your doctors advice, this is not to be considered medical advice.)

After cataract surgery, it is very common that patients develop what is called a Secondary Cataract. A secondary cataract is a cataract in name only. Unlike the first cataract, a secondary cataract is a clouding of the capsule that the lens is held in. When the natural lens is removed during cataract surgery, it is removed from a capsule, or bag, that it sits in. This capsule is then used to hold the new implant put in during cataract surgery. Often this capsule becomes cloudy and hardened after the first cataract surgery. To treat this doctors typically use a laser to break up the cloudy material. A secondary cataract is very common and the procedure to remove a secondary cataract is even quicker than the cataract surgery it self.