Cataract Care at Eyecare Specialties

Almost everyone will develop cataracts as they age. Cataracts don’t just cloud your vision and make it harder to see, they slowly decrease your quality of life over the years, as even simple tasks like reading or running errands become progressively harder to complete.

It’s important to all of us at Eyecare Specialties that you understand the eye diseases you encounter so that you can make an informed decision about your treatment. Below, you can learn more about cataracts, what you can do about them, and how we can help you restore both your eyesight and your ability to live independently.

What Are Cataracts?

The eye’s lens is a disc of clear tissue behind the pupil that focuses light onto the retina after it enters the eye. As you age, proteins within the lens can begin to degrade and clump together. When it reaches a certain point, it’s called a cataract, causing cloudy and blurry vision. Because they develop gradually over time, many people live each day with progressively worsening vision until they make the decision to have their cataract(s) removed.

Causes & Prevention

The primary cause of cataracts is simply getting older. The natural aging process causes the lens to break down, which is why most people develop cataracts at some point in life.

Other risk factors include:

  • Health issues, like diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, or a family history of cataracts
  • Injury, prior eye surgery, or too much sun exposure
  • Substance use, like smoking cigarettes, or drinking alcohol. Some prescription medications can increase risk as well.

You can’t fight the effects of aging, but you can get your other risk factors under control to decrease the chances that you develop cataracts. Managing your health, protecting your eyes, and making changes to your lifestyle can help you preserve your vision.

Signs & Symptoms

Cataracts are best known for obstructing eyesight and causing it to become cloudy, but there are other symptoms of cataracts to look out for, even before vision is seriously affected. While a comprehensive eye exam with the eye doctors at Eyecare Specialties will detect signs of cataracts well before you notice them, you should also come in if you notice any of these symptoms:

  • Cloudy, blurry vision
  • Difficulty seeing in low light and bright conditions
  • Halos around lights, and glare
  • Loss of color vision
  • Double vision
  • Frequent vision prescription changes
  • Trouble reading and driving, especially at night or midday
  • Issues with simple daily activities

Treating Cataracts

While the early stages of cataracts can be managed with eyewear, there’s only one way to completely restore your vision: cataract surgery. This involves removing the faulty natural lens and replacing it with an artificial replacement, called an intraocular lens or IOL.

Artificial IOLs have two major advantages over the natural lens. One, they’re synthetic, so they can’t develop future health issues involving the lens — they are a permanent solution to cataracts. Two, depending on the options your surgeon uses, some IOLs can correct for other vision issues, like nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism, and presbyopia. This means that cataract surgery can not only restore your vision to the point where it was before your cataracts formed, it can also reduce or eliminate your dependence on glasses and contact lenses.

Cataract SurgeryCo-Management in Missouri

At Eyecare Specialties, we understand the importance of not only having an experienced cataract surgeon, but also a stress-free surgical process. If we find any signs of cataracts during one of our comprehensive eye exams, our eye doctors won’t just connect you with one of the top cataract surgeons in the region, we’ll co-manage your cataract surgery.

Our dedicated optometrists stay in communication with your cataract surgeon to ensure that they fully understand your case. And we provide you with thorough pre- and post-operative care so that you can rest assured that you’re fully prepared for surgery, and that your recovery is monitored by a team that truly cares about your outcomes.

To find out whether you have cataracts before they affect your quality of life, schedule an appointment online at Eyecare Specialties today!

You can live your life without being held back by cataracts, thanks to our co-managed care. Book a consultation to see the difference we can make.