Cataracts can make every day things a pain, and very difficult to do, it can massively disrupt daily activities, and leave you feeling down and have no get up and go about you. If cataracts aren’t removed as quickly as possible, things could be made even worse, so it is best to get them removed or treated as soon as one occurs.

Cataracts occur usually in people over the age of 55 although they can occur from the age of 40 upwards. There are up to 4 types of cataracts that are of concern to you, each with different causes. These are:

• Age related cataracts – This is the most common type of cataract.
• Congenital cataracts – It is possible that some children may be born with cataract problems, or develops them in the very early parts of childhood.
• Secondary cataract – Cataracts that occur in people who may have underlying health problems such as diabetes.
• Traumatic cataract – A cataract from an eye injury may occur years later.

Cataracts will be treated in a surgical manner, and you will be put under a local anaesthetic, usually light sedation. Removing a cataract is a very delicate procedure and it involves the manipulation of tiny structure within the eye. The surgeon will use a high powered microscope to view different parts of the eye clearly. A machine sends ultrasonic vibrations to a tiny probe that has been inserted through an incision into the cloudy lens that constitutes the cataract.

Vibrating at over 40,000 cycles per second the machine emulsifies or breaks up the cataract into pieces so that they can be vacuumed up from the lens capsule of the eye. At the same time, it introduces an irrigation solution that maintains pressure and prevents the eye from collapsing. After this has all been done and the cataract has been removed an artificial lens is then inserted. This lens is needed to bring light rays into proper focus onto the retina.

Cataracts are the leading cause of vision loss in older adults and may affect up to 60% of adults over the age of 65 years. So do not hesitate in going to see a surgeon about this, and see the difference once and for all.

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