Good eyesight is priceless. Cataracts, which are a part of normal aging, occur with a clouding of the lens inside the eye. The lens is located directly behind the iris, the colored part of the eye. The dark round hole in the iris is called the pupil and allows light to pass through the lens to the back of the eye. A cataract operation is a procedure to remove this cloudy lens and replace it with a new lens, called an intraocular lens, or a lens implant.

Cataracts cause blurred or dimmed vision, halos around lights or difficulty seeing in bright sunlight. There is also a loss of contrast sensitivity and color perception. Since these changes are very gradual, most people often do not realize how much their vision has been reduced.

The most common question that we are asked is when is a cataract ripe? With modern equipment, we can remove a cataract at any stage. So the question is really when should we perform the surgery? This is a decision the patient and Ophthalmologist normally make together. The decision is generally based on the symptoms that include glare, difficulty reading, driving, or trouble recognizing people’s faces across a room. Basically, the surgery is performed when the vision is blurred enough that it is interfering with the patient’s normal activities.