How Do You Know When It's Time for Cataract Surgery?
April 18, 2024
If you have been diagnosed with cataracts, you may be wondering how you will know when it's time for cataract surgery. If you have no symptoms, or your symptoms are just starting to develop, you may be uncertain if you even need cataract surgery!
Keep reading to learn about how to know when it’s time for cataract surgery!
What are Cataracts?
Because cataracts usually develop slowly, people are often diagnosed with them at a routine eye exam before they notice any changes to their vision. Many people start developing cataracts in their 40s but only experience vision impairment many years later.
Cataracts occur when proteins in your eye begin to clump together on the naturally clear lens of your eye. Over time, these clumps of protein build up and completely cover the lens.
When this happens, it blocks light from entering the eye, impairing vision and the ability to see clearly. There are two very likely ways to know if it is time for cataract surgery.
The first is when your ophthalmologist recommends having cataract surgery. The tests they perform during an eye exam allow them to accurately diagnose the stage of your cataracts and the quality of your vision.
The second way to know when it's time for cataract surgery is by self-assessing the quality of your vision. You are the expert in knowing how well you can see. If you feel your eyesight is affected by cataracts, it's time to consider whether you need cataract surgery. Look for these signs:
Your Vision is Cloudy, Dim, or Blurry
The first sign of developing cataracts is often cloudy, dim, or blurry vision. Many people diagnosed with cataracts compare it to looking through a foggy or dirty window.
As cataracts develop, these symptoms worsen, resulting in increasingly diminished vision. If left untreated, cataracts can lead to further vision loss, making it difficult to leave your house or complete basic tasks.
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You are Experiencing Night Blindness
If cataracts affect your night vision, it can be increasingly difficult to see clearly once the sun has gone down. For many people, night blindness due to cataracts makes driving at night far more challenging.
Driving at night with impaired vision is highly unsafe for both you and your fellow motorists. It is a leading cause of potentially fatal but preventable roadway accidents.
Driving at night with cataracts may also be more difficult due to glare, halos, and starbursts around headlights and oncoming traffic. If you feel unsafe driving, find a friend or family member to drive you until you can have cataract surgery.
You are Increasingly Sensitive to Light
Cataracts can change how your eye processes light, increasing sensitivity to bright lights and glare. Looking at sources of bright light, like car headlights or the sun's reflection off bodies of water, can become almost physically painful.
Going about your day as usual can be troublesome when you constantly worry about exposure to bright light. Sensitivity to light is prevalent in people whose cataracts are developing on the back of their lenses.
You Have Difficulty Seeing in Low Light
While you can easily manage difficulty seeing in low light when you are home with brighter lighting, this symptom of cataracts can make social events, like dinner with friends at a candle-lit restaurant, less enjoyable as you struggle to read a menu or see faces.
Developing cataracts shouldn't be why you have less to do on your social calendar. But if cataracts have compromised your vision, you may be more reluctant to leave home.
You may find yourself tripping over your furniture or injuring yourself more due to increasingly impaired vision. Because of this, it may become less appealing to leave your house.
You See Halos Around Lights
Seeing halos around sources of light can affect your confidence in the quality of your eyesight. Halos are caused by diffraction, which occurs when light is bent as it enters the eye.
Like night blindness, halos can impact your ability to drive safely at night. Bright headlights can cause you to see halos, which could change how you perceive depth or distance while driving.
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You Need to Change Your Prescription More Frequently
As cataracts progress and more of your eye's natural lens is covered by clumps of protein, you may need to change your prescription more often to maintain clear vision. Like with halos, when cataracts affect how light enters the eye, it can worsen an existing myopic error, like near- or farsightedness.
Your Pupil Appears Yellow or Milky White
If you notice changes in the appearance of your pupils, it is likely that cataracts have already significantly impaired your vision. When your pupils appear yellow or milky white, it means that cataracts completely cover your eye's natural lens.
If you are at this stage of cataracts, there is no longer any question about whether you need cataract surgery. Once cataracts have progressed this far, complete vision loss will occur unless you have cataract surgery.
Restoring Your Vision with Cataract Surgery
If cataracts have impaired your vision, you can completely restore your clear vision with cataract surgery. During cataract surgery, the natural lens of the eye affected by cataracts is removed and replaced with a clear intraocular lens (IOL).
Once in place, the IOL restores visual clarity and prevents cataracts from reoccurring. Depending on the IOL you choose, some intraocular lenses can even restore your vision at multiple distances, reducing or eliminating your reliance on visual aids!
The quality of your vision is the real deciding factor when determining if it's time for cataract surgery. If you can no longer take part in basic tasks like cleaning your home, making your family meals, or your favorite hobbies, it's time to consider cataract surgery.
Do you think you may need cataract surgery? Today, learn more by scheduling a cataract evaluation at Eyes of York in York, PA! Isn't it time to live your life with better vision?