When you are diagnosed with cataracts it's normal to have a lot of questions. Below are some of our most frequently asked questions about living with cataracts.
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A cataract is a clouding of the lens in your eye. Your lens sits just behind your iris, the coloured part of your eye. Normally, your lens is clear and helps to focus the light entering your eye. Developing cataracts will cause your sight to become cloudy, misty, and sometimes blurry.
Cataracts usually affect both eyes but can affect just one eye or affect one eye more than the other. Cataracts are treated by surgery, during which the cloudy lens is removed and replaced by an artificial lens.
If you have any changes in vision, you should book an eye test, and if symptoms develop quickly within a few days or weeks, this should be treated as an emergency.
Cataracts normally develop very slowly. At first, the changes they make to your sight may be difficult to notice, but as they get worse, you’ll start to notice symptoms such as:
Developing cataracts is a normal part of growing older. Most people start to develop cataracts after the age of 65, but some people in their 40s and 50s can also develop cataracts.
Certain factors increase your risk of developing cataracts such as:
Despite this, most cataracts are treated with the same surgery.
Some cataracts develop in infancy; these are called congenital cataracts and are managed differently. For more information on these kinds of cataracts, click here.
Cataracts themselves are not painful. You can’t ‘feel’ a cataract. In the early stages, you may not even notice any symptoms. However, as cataracts progress and cloudiness in the lens worsens, you may experience changes in your vision, such as blurriness or sensitivity to light. Tell your optometrist or eye doctor if you experience any discomfort related to cataracts.
Cataracts do not pass directly from one eye to the other like an infection. Cataracts usually affect both eyes, but one eye may be affected before the other.
If you have cataracts in both eyes, check with your optometrist about whether it’s safe for you to drive. This will depend on whether your vision meets the DVLA’s vision standards.
Although there aren’t any medicines that can remove cataracts, treatment options include:
There isn’t any medicine or drops that can remove or treat cataracts – surgery is the only way to treat them. Unfortunately, there’s nothing you can do to stop cataracts from developing or getting worse, however it’s a good idea to wear sunglasses to protect your eyes from ultraviolet (UV) light.
Cataracts can be removed at any stage if they are impacting your day to day activities. You don’t have to wait for them to ‘ripen’ before having surgery. Whether or not you need surgery right away depends on how much your sight is affected and how they affect your quality of life. It can also depend on whether you have any other eye conditions.
In some cases, early-stage cataracts might not impact your vision and updating your glasses prescription or using brighter lighting might be enough. However, as cataracts progress, surgery may be the best option.
Your optometrist can monitor your cataracts at regular eye tests and can help you decide when you want to be referred for cataract surgery.