Have you ever noticed how the lens on a camera becomes spotted with dust and fingerprints?  If steps aren’t taken to clean the lens you end up with spoiled or inferior quality pictures.

The same principal is true for the lens in your eye.  It works much like a camera lens to focus incoming light rays on the proper point at the back of your eye.  While the lens in your eye doesn’t collect dust or fingerprints, it can still become cloudy or unclear.  This is called a cataract.  Consequently, the “pictures” of the world you see through your eyes will diminish in quality.  This happens because the light that enters your eye will be scattered by the cataract, and thus you will not see a clear image.  The worse your cataract becomes the less you will be able to see clearly and focus sharply on an object.

Cataracts typically form as we mature, and are the leading cause of poor vision in adults over age 50.  Cataracts can also occur in younger adults and even children, but not nearly as often.  While many conditions can cause blurry vision, there are several symptoms that typically occur in an individual with cataracts.  These symptoms may include inability to focus on an object, double vision, appearance of a “veil” over your vision, intolerance of bright lights, and a general lack of brightness in colors.

What should you do if you think you might have cataracts?  Contact your family optometrist for an appointment.  They will carefully examine your eyes and verify whether or not your vision problem actually results from a cataract.  If you have cataracts your eye doctor will refer you to an ophthalmologist, or eye surgeon, for appropriate care.

The only treatment for cataracts is surgery.  However, cataract surgery has significantly advanced within the last few years.  A skilled cataract surgeon uses a no-shot, no-stitch, no-patch cataract procedure through a micro incision.  The surgery itself takes only a few minutes and is performed on an outpatient basis.  Your surgeon should also discuss the alternatives for replacement lenses with you.  Traditionally all patients received a replacement lens which provided good vision at one set point, usually distance.  They then needed reading glasses to perform up-close activities.  In certain cases, though, a new lens is now being used that provides clear vision at all distances.  This lens, the Array multifocal, is available to some patients – ask your doctor if you might be a candidate.  This lens is FDA approved for effectiveness, so you might want to obtain a second opinion if your surgeon or eye doctor is not familiar with the Array.