How Cataracts Affect Quality Of Life

More than half of Americans have developed cataracts by the time they reach their late 70s. Although cataracts cannot be prevented, they can be treated easily and successfully with cataract surgery. In this blog, the ophthalmology team at Berks Eye describes the negative effects that you may notice from cataracts and explains why cataract surgery is so beneficial.

Problems Related to Cataracts

When you have cataracts, your natural lens becomes increasingly hazy, which impedes the light passing through on the way to the retina. The main symptom you notice is blurrier vision, which continues to progress slowly. As a result, your vision becomes less sharp and colors less defined. While you may be tempted to correct your vision with a stronger vision prescription, that is a temporary fix at best.

Your safety is also in jeopardy when you have cataracts. As your nighttime vision declines, it becomes more perilous to drive after dusk. You may also be distracted by vision abnormalities such as halos and starbursts around oncoming lights.

Furthermore, cataracts put you at risk for other harmful eye conditions. Untreated cataracts can cause eye inflammation or elevate the pressure in your eye, which may trigger glaucoma, a serious disorder that gradually damages the optic nerve and can lead to partial vision loss or blindness.  

Don’t Tolerate the Consequences of Cataracts

While there is no doubt that cataracts can have a negative impact on your quality of life, the good news is that you do not need to put up with these adverse side effects. Cataract surgery is famously one of the most-performed surgeries in the United States, with most patients experiencing an easy, quick recovery.

Cataract surgery involves removing the eye’s cloudy lens and immediately replacing it with an IOL (intraocular lens) that restores clear vision. You may even be interested in advanced technology IOLs, which allow you to correct refractive errors like nearsightedness, farsightedness or astigmatism so you can see without needing to rely on prescription lenses as often. One of the best things about cataract surgery is that cataracts cannot reform on an artificial lens, so you do not need to worry about cataracts again for the remainder of your life. 

Choose Berks Eye for Cataract Surgery

Our talented ophthalmologists feel fulfilled each time a patient expresses gratitude for improving his or her eyesight with cataract surgery. Often, the patient wishes he or she had the surgery done sooner. Given how much of an improvement cataract surgery can have on your life, it makes sense to schedule a consultation for surgery after a cataract diagnosis. Please contact us for an appointment at Berks Eye.