Could You Have Cataracts and Not Know It?
October 3, 2024
Do you suffer from blurry or foggy vision? Have you noticed glare or halos around streetlights while driving at night?
These can be signs of having cataracts. Although cataracts are usually associated with those who are older, they can start developing as early as your forties or fifties. They also take a long time to mature, meaning you could have them for several years without realizing it.
Most people will eventually develop cataracts. Cataracts are an age-related eye condition that most people will have once they are at least 80 years old.
However, not all cataracts will cause changes to your vision. Keep reading to discover if you could have cataracts and not know it, and what that could mean for your vision!
How Do Cataracts Affect Vision?
If you have cataracts, it takes time for them to develop. They form when the natural proteins that make up the lens of your eye begin to clump together, forming cloudy patches.
These patches are small, to start with, and may not interfere with your vision. If you have cataracts, your optometrist or ophthalmologist at Metropolitan Ophthalmology Associates may diagnose you with them during a routine eye exam.
They can perform a dilated eye exam or retinal imaging as part of your annual eye exam. Those exams allow your optometrist or ophthalmologist to see any irregularities in the inner structures of your eye, including the earliest signs of cataracts.
For some people, cataracts may take years to cause any vision changes. Other people might develop noticeable symptoms within a matter of months.
Early symptoms of cataracts include:
- Vision that is cloudy, blurry, or dim
- Difficulty seeing at night or in low light
- New or worsening sensitivity to light and glare
- Needing more light for tasks like reading
- Noticing glare or halos around lights
- Needing frequent updates to your glasses or contact lens prescription
- Colors that look faded or yellowish
Managing Cataracts
No medicines or other treatments can reverse, slow, or prevent cataracts. UV exposure can cause cataract development, so you may be able to reduce your risk of developing premature cataracts by protecting your eyes from excessive sun exposure.
Wear wide-brimmed hats outdoors and sunglasses that provide UVA and UVB protection from the sun's rays. You can improve your overall eye health by maintaining a healthy lifestyle and managing conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes.
If the vision changes because of cataracts are mild, you may be able to manage them by making a few modifications, such as:
- Using brighter lighting in your home or office
- Increasing the brightness and font sizes on your phone or computer screen
- Seeing your optometrist or ophthalmologist at Metropolitan Ophthalmology Associates to receive an updated prescription as needed
- Using a magnifying lens to make it easier to read printed materials
- Using rideshare apps instead of driving at night or asking a friend or family member to take you where you need to go
When Is It Time for Cataract Surgery?
If you have cataracts that aren't causing problems with your vision, you don't need to have cataract surgery yet. The procedure is usually only recommended by cataract surgeons if vision changes from cataracts keep you from doing things you love.
You should consider how cataracts are affecting your ability to do basic tasks, for example:
- Is it difficult seeing well enough to cook dinner? Do you worry about using a knife or stove because of your increasingly impaired vision?
- Is it challenging to join friends for outdoor activities? Does your vision make it hard to navigate outdoors, or if you're in unfamiliar places?
- Do you avoid crafting or playing games with your grandchildren because you can't see well enough to participate?
- Do you stay home more often because you can't see well? Do you feel isolated or depressed because you aren't comfortable going out?
- Have you experienced falls or other injuries because of your vision?
If cataracts limit your activities, affect your safety, or impact your independence, you should talk to your optometrist or ophthalmologist at Metropolitan Ophthalmology Associates about whether it could be time for cataract surgery.
Could you have cataracts?
Cataract Surgery
Cataract surgery is the only way to treat cataracts and any visual changes due to them. Cataract surgery is a safe, effective procedure that involves removing the clouded natural lens of your eye and replacing it with an intraocular lens (IOL).
The IOL ensures you can see clearly after cataract surgery. It also reverses any visual issues caused by cataracts and cannot develop cataracts.
IOLs can also correct refractive errors, including nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism, in the case of a toric IOL. Cataract surgery takes under an hour to complete, and because it's an outpatient procedure, you'll go home after it's over.
If you're nervous, you can ask for a mild sedative to help you relax during the procedure. Before cataract surgery begins, your cataract surgeon at Metropolitan Ophthalmology Associates will apply numbing eye drops to ensure you're comfortable and don't feel any pain.
If you have cataracts in both eyes, cataract surgery is usually performed one eye at a time to ensure sufficient time for your eye to heal before the second one is completed. Recovering after cataract surgery is quick and will allow you to return to your favorite activities within a few days.
Take it easy when you get home from your procedure to give yourself time to rest your eye. In the days after your procedure, you'll notice your vision improving.
While your eye heals, your vision may be blurry for a day or two, but this should dissipate. Remember to use the medicated eye drops provided by your optometrist or ophthalmologist at Metropolitan Ophthalmology Associates to reduce inflammation and prevent infection.
Follow all after-care instructions from your optometrist or ophthalmologist to ensure your eyes heal properly. The final results from the procedure will be noticeable after a few months.
Do you have questions about cataracts? Take the next step by requesting an appointment at Metropolitan Ophthalmology Associates in McLean, VA, and Chevy Chase, MD, now! Stop letting cataracts get in the way of living a whole, complete life!