Cataracts

This section of the website which has been written by Mr Amar Alwitry, has been designed to help you:

  • understand more about cataracts,
  • how cataracts can be treated,
  • cataract surgery and
  • what you can expect before and after surgery

If you have any queries or want to know about the costs of private cataract surgery please call or contact us via email.

What is a Cataract?

What’s going on?

When light enters the eye it is focused on the retina by the lens within your eye. When you are first born the lens is completely clear. As we age the crystals within the lens begin to cloud resulting in blurred vision. Sometimes, with early cataracts the vision is not affected but light is scattered causing ‘haloes’ around lights (particularly problematic with night driving) and glare in bright conditions,.

What will my ophthalmologist see?

The cataract should be quite obvious to the examining ophthalmologist. We will be able to tell you how bad it is and also whether there are any other problems contributing to your symptoms.  

What can I do?

You need to decide whether you want an operation to remove the cataract. If you are contemplating this then see the Frequently Asked Questions below for more information.

What do I need to know?

The cataract can removed with an operation that has a high chance of success if the eye is otherwise healthy. This is performed as a day case under local anaesthetic. Cataracts do not damage the eye, and only need to be removed if you have reduced vision and choose to have surgery to try and improve your sight.

Posterior Capsular Opacification - additional information

What’s going on?

When we remove a cataract, we leave the back capsule in place to support the new intraocular lens. In a proportion of patients, residual lens cells may grow across this posterior capsule, resulting in opacity and reduced vision. This process usually takes more than a year.

What will my ophthalmologist do for me?

We can confirm the diagnosis and make sure there is no other cause for your reduced vision.  

A YAG (yttrium aluminium garnet) laser may used to make a hole in the thickened, opaque capsule with a piece of equipment like a slit lamp to allow clear vision. The process is completely painless and takes just a few minutes.

Your vision should improve virtually immediately after YAG laser treatment, and you should go back to your optician for further refraction after the treatment. Rarely after the procedure, the pressure in the eye can go up dramatically or the eye can become inflamed.

External Websites

The following is a list of other websites that may also be of help. Although we believe these websites to be useful we cannot be held responsible for the content of any external sites.