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How can a cataract be treated? |
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A cataract may not need to be treated if
your vision is only slightly blurry.
Simply changing your eyeglass
prescription may help to improve your
vision for a while. |
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There are no medications, eye drops,
exercises, dietary supplements or
glasses that will cause cataracts to
disappear or stop progressing or to
prevent them from forming. |
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Surgery is the only
way to remove a cataract.
When you are no longer able to
see well enough to do the things you
like to do, cataract surgery should be
considered. |
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In cataract surgery, the cloudy lens is
removed from the eye through a surgical
incision. In most cases, the natural
lens is replaced with a permanent
intraocular lens (IOL)
implant. |
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When should surgery be done? |
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Surgery should be considered when
cataracts cause enough loss of vision to
interfere with your daily activities. It
is not true that cataracts need to be
‘ripe’ or
‘mature’
before they can be removed or that they
need to be removed just because they are
present.
Based on your symptoms, you and your
ophthalmologist should decide together
when surgery is appropriate. |
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Will cataract surgery improve my vision? |
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The success rate of cataract surgery is
excellent, over 95%. However, even if
cataract surgery is successful, some
patients may not see as well as they
would like to. Other eye problems such
macular degeneration, glaucoma or
diabetic retinopathy, if present, may
limit vision after surgery. Even with
these problems, cataract surgery may
still be worthwhile. Talk to your
ophthalmologist to learn more about
cataract surgery, its risks and
benefits. |
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What can I expect in cataract surgery? |
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During cataract surgery, which is usually
performed under local or topical
anesthesia as an outpatient procedure,
the cloudy lens is removed from the eye.
In most cases, the focusing power of the
natural lens is restored by replacing it
with a permanent
IOL implant. |
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Your ophthalmologist performs this
delicate surgery using a microscope,
miniature instruments and other modern
technology. Hence, traditionally, this
procedure is often referred to as
‘microsurgery’.
Nowadays cataract surgery is performed by
a technique called phacoemulsification. |
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Treatments &
Surgery
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Phacoemulsification
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