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Technology has made our lives better in many ways. Perhaps no where is this more apparent than in health care. Diseases that would have resulted in death or serious illness in the past are now treated as routine with medications or procedures. And surgical procedures that required lengthy hospital stays and carried significant risk are now outpatient and are much safer.
Cataract surgery, in which the cloudy lens of the eye is removed and replaced with an acrylic implant, falls into that category. In the not-too-distant past, cataract surgery was a major ordeal. Patients were required to stay in the hospital over night and were immobilized while their eyes healed. The procedure was painful at times, and after surgery patients had to wear very thick glasses in order to see.
Today, cataract surgery is much easier and safer and has a very high success rate. The procedure itself takes mere minutes to perform, and there are only small incisions that do not require sutures. Patients are free to go home on the same day as surgery, with many noticing an improvement in vision at day one. Risk of complication and/or infection is low.
At our office, we help our patients with cataracts to decide when to elect for cataract surgery. We also evaluate their post-operative visual goals, which helps them decide which type of cataract surgery would be right for them. Then, after having the procedure performed by a cataract surgeon, we examine the patients one day and one week after surgery – monitoring for any complications and ensuring proper healing. The process is usually easy and pain free.
So if you have cataracts, you don’t have to live with blurred vision and glare. We’re happy to examine you and discuss your options. If you are found to have cataracts, and if the surgery is found to be right for you, your odds of a good outcome are excellent. In fact, the number one thing our cataract patients say to us after surgery is, “I wish I would have done this sooner!”.
Until next time,
Clint Taylor, OD
