Cataracts

When a person has a cataract, vision is impaired because a clouding of the eye’s lens blocks light from entering the retina. The retina is the component of the eye that communicates visual images to the brain.

Cataracts are the most common cause of blindness. More than half of Americans develop a cataract by the time they reach 70 years old.

Most people with the condition are age 70 and older. However, cataracts are not limited to a single age group. Early-stage cataracts can begin occurring in one’s 40s and 50s. They are occasionally found in young people, even babies.

Read more about early-stage cataracts by clicking here.

Symptoms

How do you know if you have a cataract? You will not feel pain or have redness or tears.

The following experiences may be symptoms of a cataract:

• You experience blurred or double vision, view ghost images or have the sensation of a “film” being over your eye.

• When you are reading or working close-up, light levels may seem too dim. Strong light may be overpowering and leave you with a sense of feeling “dazzled.”

• You continue to change your eye prescription, but your vision does not improve.
• Occasionally, one may be able to see a cataract in their eye. The cataract may be milky in appearance or may be a yellowish spot on your pupil.

Hart Eye Center offers a free screening to determine whether you have cataracts.
You can find the dates and times of free screenings and seminars by clicking here.

Cataract Removal Using the INFINITI® Vision System

Cataract surgery is no longer a difficult operation with a long healing period. It is now an outpatient surgery with short recovery time.

Click here for more information on cataract surgery.

Dr. Hart is the only Lake Area eye surgeon to utilize the most cutting-edge innovation in cataract surgery, Alcon's INFINITI® Vision System. 

The INFINITI Vision System is composed of two different technologies.
The gentler technique, Aqualase, is generally used in patients under 67, before the cataract has become too dense. In this method, pulses of warm water remove the cataract, resulting in less inflammation and faster healing.

The more traditional method, ultrasound (phacomulsification), is used in most patients over 68 with dense cataracts. This is a micro-incision technique that removes a cataract with an incision as small as 1.8 mm, equivalent to the size of the ball in the point of a pen.

Once the cataract is removed, a lens is implanted in the eye to replace the natural lens. This means that the surgery is not only for cataract removal, but also for ongoing vision correction.