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cataract surgery

Cataract Surgery

Over 50% of people aged 65 and older have a cataract in one or both eyes. As the cataract progresses, vision deteriorates, leading to a decreased quality of life.

Fortunately, cataract surgery can easily treat this condition. This common surgery has a high success rate, with over 95% of all cataract surgeries free of even mild complications.

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Cataracts are one of the leading causes of vision loss in people aged 65 or older. This condition develops as the eye ages, meaning that by the time we reach 80, more than half of us will have developed a cataract or will have undergone cataract surgery.

Without cataract surgery, millions of people around the world would be unable to see clearly.

What Are Cataracts?

A cataract is a clouding of the lens in your eye which is normally transparent. The lens, located inside the eye, behind the iris and the pupil, focuses light onto the retina at the back of your eye, where it is converted to nerve signals that are passed to the brain, thus enabling you to see.

When your lens becomes cloudy, the images projected onto your retina become blurry and unfocused and therefore the signal to the brain is also unclear.

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What Causes Cataracts?

Cataracts are part of the natural aging process of the eye. While the majority of cases develop in old age, there are instances of congenital cataracts, present at birth. Further, secondary or traumatic cataracts can occur at any age as a result of eye injury, surgery, or disease.

Certain medical, genetic, and behavioral risk factors can also accelerate its development, such as diabetes, a family history of cataracts, smoking and excessive alcohol consumption.

What Are the Symptoms of Cataracts?

Symptoms of a cataract may develop slowly at first, or may not even be noticeable.

The most common symptoms include:

  • Blurred or double vision
  • Trouble seeing at night
  • Sensitivity to glare
  • Colored halos around lights
  • Colors appearing more faded
  • Requiring brighter light for reading

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When To Consider Cataract Surgery?

Cataracts don’t suddenly develop overnight. They generally start off small and only begin to noticeably affect your vision as they grow. You should consider getting cataract surgery once the condition begins to seriously impair your vision and adversely affects your daily life, impacting your ability to:

  • Read
  • Drive
  • Play golf or tennis
  • Watch TV
  • Recognize faces

Surgery should also be considered if it’s preventing the treatment of another eye problem, such as glaucoma. The good news is that cataract surgery successfully restores vision in the vast majority of cases.

Cataract Surgery

Cataract surgery, a relatively quick and painless procedure, is one of the most common surgeries performed in North America.

This surgery involves removing the clouded natural lens and replacing it with a clear, plastic intraocular lens (IOL) that becomes a permanent part of the eye.

IOLs are usually made of plastic and most of them are monofocal lenses or single power lenses to correct for distance vision. As technology advances, specialized IOLs continue to be developed. From multifocal IOLs to IOLs that block UV and blue light radiation, patients have greater options available to them now than ever before.

If you or a loved one has cataracts and would like more information on cataract surgery, please contact our team of eye care professionals today.

Call Us 662-269-0996

Request An Appointment

Wesson and Mothershed Eye Center serves patients from:

Tupelo | New Albany | Saltillo | Fulton | and throughout Mississippi

Lifestyle Lenses – Premium IOLs & Cataract Surgery

As much as eyeglasses and contact lenses have advanced in their versatility, cataract surgeons have promoted premium intraocular lenses to enhance the daily lifestyle choices of our cataract patients. During cataract surgery, your natural lens which is clouded by cataracts is replaced with a new, artificial lens. While patients may opt for the standard procedure, cataract surgeons highly recommend the usage of a premium IOL or artificial lens.

Not only do premium artificial lenses adapt to your eyes functionality, making them virtually unnoticeable overtime, but they can provide a number of benefits that make their added costs reasonable and an investment that immediately improves your overall quality of life. This is why - across the various practices that offer cataract surgery - premium lenses are classified as lifestyle lenses.

Advanced artificial lenses or premium IOLs address multiple zones of vision: near, far, and intermediate distances.

ReSTOR and Tecnis Multifocal Intraocular lenses (IOLs)

Presbyopic patients juggle between reading glasses and progressives whether they sit down to read, traveling by car, or going to an event. While some don't mind the switch up in eyewear or the inconveniences that can occur trying to focus on various distances, multifocal IOLs are an ideal solution to correct any nearsightedness or farsightedness.

Patients not only achieve clear vision from a multifocal IOL like ReSTOR or Tecnis multifocal lenses but eyeglasses and even reading glasses may no longer be needed. Multifocal IOLs can adapt to any lighting conditions and can improve the way you work on the computer or watch television to driving and enjoying the outdoors with clarity.

Accommodating Lenses for Distance and Intermediate Vision

Crystalen is a premium IOL manufacturer that offers accommodating lenses. Similar to a multifocal lens that corrects near, far, and mid-range vision, an accommodating lens will adapt to the eyes natural focus. The eye's muscles will relax or contract depending on what you're focusing on, and an accommodating lens will mimic these micro-movements. These lenses are an advanced premium IOL that outperform the standard multifocal contact lens or progressive glasses as they work harmoniously with your eye. Some patients with an accommodating IOL enjoy better night vision as well, which appeals to late night drivers.

Astigmatism and Toric Intraocular Lenses

Standard eyeglasses or contact lenses correct a refractive error by directing light to the retina. However, when the outermost layer of the eye or the cornea has an irregular curvature or shape, the light is bent or misdirected and can't reach the retina even through standard eyewear. Although patients with astigmatism can rely on specialty contact lenses to correct their vision, a toric IOL is another premium IOL that provides an immediate remedy for astigmatism.

Utilizing a toric intraocular lens in cataract surgery provides greater clarity to astigmatic patients as well as avoids the need of specialty contact lenses. Reading glasses might be needed for close-up tasks.