Cataract Treatment

You already know that the eye lens is a transparent lens. Sometimes it turns opaque. Cataract is the disease causing the eye lens opacity.

Changing the eye lens transparency prevents the light rays penetrating the eye, and the person’s vision deteriorates. Cataract can affect the whole eye lens or its part.

Many people think that cataract is a film which constantly grows and clouds the eye. This does not correspond to the facts. Cataract causes irreversible changes in the very eye lens. This disease may arise in one or two eyes, but it is not passed from one eye to another. Cataract development is not related to the excessive eye load. Cataract does not mean a danger of becoming absolutely blind for you.

The Causes of Cataract Development.     

 There is a variety of causes for cataract development: trauma, the eye tissues nutrition disorder related to age, ray affection, diabetes, some eye diseases (such as glaucoma) or your organism peculiarities of hereditary character.

More frequently cataract appears during the organism aging process which causes the eye lens density increase and the lens opacity. This is aging or senile cataract. It can arise at the age of 45 already. Cataract can develop in the childhood as well, in this case it is called congenital cataract.

After eye trauma occurs, the lens can become opaque at any age. Strong blow, cut, puncture, thermal or chemical burn may result in traumatic cataract appearing.

One more cataract is diabetic cataract arising as diabetes complication. It is marked by fast opacity development in the both eyes lenses.

Cataract Symptoms

Depending on the size and location of the opaque region in the eye lens, you may notice or, on the contrary, have no idea that you have cataract developing.

If cataract is located on the eye lens periphery, you will fell no changes in your eyesight. The closer to the lens center the opacity is, the more serious vision problems become.

You may notice that the outward objects are not seen clearly, their contours are blurred, especially in the bright light. The image appears double, and photophobia occurs frequently. One eye may have better eyesight than another. The eye pupil which usually looks black, may turn white or become of yellow shade.

These phenomena are increasing and make you frequently replace your spectacles to stronger ones.

Diagnosis

Taking doctor’s advice is strongly recommended! Only specialists is able to determine if you have cataract or not.

Treatment

The only way of treating cataract is opaque eye lens surgical removal. You should not believe that some drops, diet or exercises will help you to get rid of this disease.

Currently the operation methods are elaborated in details, doctors have advanced equipment, and in the majority of cases the operation produces positive result.    

 Don’t worry and trust your doctor. After the operation you will be able to return to normal life again: to work, read, watch TV and so on. Unfortunately, if you have the eye nerve or retina accompanying disease, the operation positive effect may be reduced. 

Operation

During the operation, the surgeon will replace your opaque eye lens with absolutely different lens which is reliable and functions perfectly, not worse than the natural one.

During the operation preparation period, routine blood count and urinalysis is taken, alongside with electrocardiogram, X-ray photograph and examinations by dentist, otolaryngologist and physician.

Absence of acute inflammation processes and chronic disease acute conditions is a prerequisite for successful operation.

Surgeon, assistant surgeon, operation nurse, anesthesiologist and anesthesiologist nurse will be with you in the operating-room. Contemporary methods of anesthesia eliminate pain completely. Cataract removal is performed under the operation microscope.

The operation is performed in the following way: after local anesthesia application and securing the eye’s immobility, incision is made by microsurgical instruments having blades of diamond, sapphire, ruby.

 After this, the eye lens capsule (shell) is dissected and the opaque eye lens is removed. The special viscoelastic preparations provides the eye tissues protection during the operation.

 Currently, different methods of cataract removal are applied: phacoemulsification (grinding the opaque eye lens by means of the ultrasonic device – phacoemulsificator) or laser grinding the cataract with subsequent drawing off the lens fragments. In these operations, the incision is so small that it does not need to be sown.

 In some cases, when phacoemulsification or cataract laser grinding are impossible to perform, the surgeon uses other methods for the opaque eye lens removal in which the operational incision is sown by special extra thin thread.

 There are many types of intraocular lenses. The main type is the back chamber lenses placed behind the iris and the pupil lenses placed in the eye pupil. It is up to the surgeon to decide which lenses type suits your eye.

 The artificial eye lens optic force is selected for every patient on the individual basis and depends on the eye anatomic and optic peculiar features.

 In addition, the doctor takes into account the character of your profession and social conditions. If you like driving, hunting or doing sports, a lens allowing not to use spectacles for watching to the distance, will be selected for you.

 If you have to read and write much, artificial eye lens will allow you not to apply to spectacles for this.

 In very rare cases, in heavy accompanying pathology of the eye, the doctor can make the decision that implanting intraocular lens might be not expedient.

 Postoperation Period

 During the first days after the operation, the outward objects might look slightly distorted to you. This is because the pupil is dilated and there are sutures remained on the eye in some cases. As soon as the pupil narrows, you will feel the vision improvement, and within several weeks after the operation, your eyesight will be completely recovered.

 In some rare cases, the back capsule of the removed eye lens might turn opaque within several months after the operation. The patient feels some eyesight deterioration in the operated eye. This phenomena is called secondary cataract. There are no reasons for serious concerns: after the relevant procedure with laser application is performed, the eyesight is restored within several hours.

 
 Tips for Quick Recovery

 If you want your post-operation period to be quick and with no complications, follow our specialists’ advice: