WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF CATARACTS?
Individuals with cataracts often describe a number of visual problems, including:
• Difficulty driving at night
• Glare from headlights or bright sun
• Difficulty reading fine print or threading a needle
• Dulled color perception
• Ghosting or multiple images are seen
• Frequent changes in glasses prescription
• Feel the need to clean glasses in an effort to clear vision
Your doctor will complete a thorough eye exam to determine if cataracts are present and if surgical treatment is needed.
TREATING CATARACTS
When a cataract advances to the point of visual disability, cataract surgery is necessary to restore vision. A pre-surgical evaluation at the John-Kenyon American Eye Institute will include dilation of the pupils to evaluate cataracts and examine the health of the internal eye structures.
Then your doctor will take careful measurements of the eye shape and size to determine which lens treatment is right for you.
When treating cataracts the doctor will remove the cloudy lens and replace it with a new lens in an outpatient procedure. The artificial lens, called an Intraocular Lens (IOL), cannot be seen or felt by the patient and becomes a permanent part of the eye. Cataract surgery is one of the most common and most effective procedures performed in the United States.
Postoperative care includes follow –up visits and eye drops. Complete healing takes about four weeks but patients can expect to see results soon afterwards and can go back to many of their normal activities immediately. If surgery is required in the other eye, it can often be performed as soon as one to two weeks later.
More than 98 percent of cataract patients at the John-Kenyon American Eye Institute have improved vision following cataract surgery and most patients will enjoy good distance vision without glasses.
ADVANCED LENS OPTIONS FOR IMPROVED LIFESTYLE
With advances in lens technology, it’s now possible to have IOLs implanted to correct astigmatism and eliminate or lessen the need for bi-focal and reading glasses. John-Kenyon American Eye Institute offers implantable lenses such as the toric IOL to correct astigmatism, the Crystalens ® accommodating IOL, which corrects distance vision and moves with your eye for enhanced intermediate and/or near vision, and the multi-focal IOL, which works similar to bi-focal or tri-focal glasses. Contact us to learn more about the broad range of options available and to find the best lens for you.
The John-Kenyon American Eye Institute offers the latest in implantable lens options. Your doctor can help suggest the right lens for you:
- ReZoom(TM) IOL - This refractive multi-focal lens offers patients greater independence from glasses than traditional mono-focal lenses. ReZoom’s proprietary design allows for a range of vision in a variety of light conditions.
- ReSTOR lOL - The ReSTOR lens lets patients see from near to far, usually without glasses, using an innovative optical technology called “apodization.” This technology, used in microscopes and telescopes, allows you to see the big picture, while also seeing fine detail.
- Crystalens Accomodating IOL - The revolutionary new Crystalens IOL is a single-focus lens that works naturally with your eye muscles to give you the quality of vision you enjoyed when you were younger. The state-of-the-art Crystalens uses a "hinge" technology, which allows the lens to move, or accommodate, with your eye to focus seamlessly on objects near, far and all distances in-between.
- Tecnis Aspheric IOL - The Tenic lens implantable lens can help those who experience trouble seeing in low-light situations, like nighttime driving. Even patients who have no problem reading the letters on an eye chart can be at a serious disadvantage in low-light situations. The tecnis lens improves functional vision and in many cases, your doctor can also correct a pre-existing astigmatism at the time of cataract surgery.
- Toric IOL - Toric IOL's correct not only your astigmatism but recapture quality distance vision in one step. Until the recent introduction of Toric IOLs, candidates for IOL's people could only have their nearsightedness and farsightedness corrected during the surgery. Toric IOL's correct not only your astigmatism but recapture quality distance vision in one step. These lenses provide the freedom from glasses you’re looking for while correcting astigmatism.
For More Information on Cataracts and Implantable lenses visit www.allaboutvision.com or www.cataractsurgery.com
HOW DO I KNOW IF I AM READY FOR SURGERY?
Your doctor will work with you and weigh all your individual needs when performing your evaluation. Insurance companies often require a specific level of visual disability before they will cover cataract surgery. Other co-existing eye diseases such as diabetic retinopathy or macular degeneration can also affect the timing of surgery. In addition, you must be healthy enough for surgery, although outpatient surgery only requires local anesthesia and is very safe even for individuals with heart, lung or other serious health issues.
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