Cataract surgery is an operation to remove the lens of the eye when it is cloudy. The function of the lens is to bend (refract) the light rays that enter the eye to help us see. Your own lens should be clear, but when you have a cataract it becomes cloudy. Having a cataract can be like looking through a foggy or dusty windshield. Things can look fuzzy, cloudy, or less colorful. The only way to remove a cataract is through surgery. Your ophthalmologist will recommend removing a cataract when it prevents you from doing things you want or need to do.
During cataract surgery, your natural cloudy lens is removed and an artificial clear lens is inserted. This lens use to be called an intraocular lens (IOL). Your ophthalmologist will talk with you about IOLs and explain how they work. Visit the kraffeye.com site to check the speciality of the ophthalmologist once for sure.
What to Expect from Cataract Surgery
Before the surgery:
Your surgeon will take measurements of your eye to determine the proper focusing power of the intraocular lens. Also, it will ask if you are taking any medications. They may ask you to stop taking any of these medications before surgery.
Eye drops may be prescribed for you to use before surgery. These medications help prevent infection and decrease inflammation during and after surgery.
The day of surgery:
Your ophthalmologist may ask you not to eat any solid food for at least 6 hours before surgery.
Cataract removal surgery can be done in an outpatient surgery center or hospital. It consists of the following:
- Your eye will be numbed with eye drops or an injection around it. You might be provided medicine to be relaxed.
- You will be awake during the surgery. You might see light and movement at the time of the process, but you will not be able to see what the doctor use to be doing to your eye.
- Your surgeon looks through a special microscope. She creates small incisions (cuts made with a laser or scalpel ) near the edge of the cornea . The surgeon uses these incisions to reach the lens of the eye. With very small instruments, you will break the lens with the cataract and remove it. Then put the new lens in place.
You will rest in a recovery zone for 15–30 minutes. Afterward, you are ready to go home.