The only known treatment for cataract is none other than undergoing a cataract surgery procedure. Until know, doctor and medical research have not actually found a viable way other than has it removed through a surgical procedure. During the surgery, the cloudy lens is removed and replaced with an artificial lens known as intraocular lens.
Basically when cataracts happen to develop, the natural lens of the eye will need to be replaced, especially when the cataract has reached the ripen stage (a condition where it interferes the patient daily activities very much. It might also lead to blindness if nothing is done to it). The implant lens will restore the eye’s normal focusing ability, just as how a natural lens does its job. Sometimes, the capsule that supports the lens can become cloudy too and which the patients would have to undergo a second laser surgery to open the cloudy capsule to restore the vision to normal again. This is known as secondary cataract, which is not risky and much safer to remove.
With continuous scientific research and technology breakthrough particular in the medical field, new inventions are constantly introduced into eye cataract surgery. One of the latest and could be considered as the significant development in cataract surgery is the use of topical anesthesia and the introductions of Multifocal IOLs and Toric IOLs.
Topical anesthesia is very helpful as it eliminates the need to bear painful injection by the patient. In the past, surgery was done by getting an injection directly into the eye, which of course caused a lot of pain and risk. With topical anesthesia, the whole operation which usually lasts for around 15 minutes is performed without the need of an injection but instead using only eye drops. The great benefit of topical anesthesia is that the patient does not need to bear the risk and pain which involved in normal surgical procedure. Moreover, the results from using this technique are much faster and satisfying. The patient can even go home after resting for some times at the hospital and without a patch.
Below is a set of frequently asked questions about cataract removal surgery. Go through this FAQs to have your most asked questions answered.
When should I undergo the cataract removal surgery?
There are many people believe that cataracts only can be removed when it has reached certain stage which usually a highly advanced stage where blindness could happen anytime. This is actually not true. You do not need to wait until the situation becomes worse that it might pose a potential threat to your vision. A cataract removal surgery could be performed as soon as your doctor feels that your vision interferes with the quality of your life. You could, however, have it removed anytime that you feel uncomfortable with it.
An intraocular lens is an artificial lens that either made of plastic, silicone or acrylic that performs that same function as of the eye’s natural lens. In other words, it replaces the natural lens entirely when it ceases to function. Normally, a person that needs to undergo an eye cataract surgery would have to have his natural lens replaced with an intraocular lens. Most of the IOLs that used in the surgery today are around a quarter of an inch in diameter and soft enough to be folded without causing any damages. The softness is very important so that the lens could be placed into the eye through a very small incision.
The primary symptom that shows that you are having an eye cataract is your vision becomes hazy and blurry, which makes seeing things clearly impossible. Besides, it might also make you feel dizzy when seeing through the lenses of your eyes. Eye cataract will definitely make your life suffer as it blocks your vision, making you hard to look at things. This condition will worsen as time goes by. However, different kinds of cataracts will show different kinds of symptom.
