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Cataracts

Home / Cataracts

Cataract Overview

What is a cataract? What are the common symptoms of cataracts and what causes them? Is there treatment for cataracts?
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Cataract Surgery

Cataract surgery is a common, safe and effective outpatient procedure that helps correct vision loss caused by cataracts.
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Laser Cataract Surgery

Laser-assisted cataract surgery uses state-of-the-art technology for greater precision and accuracy in cataract removal.
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Cataract Surgery Lenses

An intraocular lens (or IOL) is a tiny artificial lens that will replace the eye's natural lens during cataract surgery.
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Advanced Cataract Surgery

Over the past 30 years, Dr. Raymond Bannan’s practice has been at the forefront of advances in surgical techniques and technology. Dr. Bannan has performed over 30,000 cataract surgeries.  He specializes in laser-assisted cataract surgery as well as premium intraocular lens (IOL) implants.

We highly recommend that you watch Dr. Bannan’s video to learn more about cataract surgery at Bannan Eye!

Cataract Overview

What is a Cataract?

A cataract is defined as a clouding of the natural lens of the eye. The lens of your eye sits just behind the colored iris of your eye and is clear in color at birth. As you age, the natural lens becomes yellow and cloudy, causing blurry vision. A cataract can progress until eventually there is a complete loss of vision in your eye.

Fortunately, cataract surgery can help restore your vision before the cataract begins to interfere with daily activities. 

Healthy Eye with Clear Lens

Cataract Eye With Cloudy Lens

What Causes Cataracts?

Aging is the most common cause of cataracts due to normal changes in the eye that begin to occur after age 40. This is when proteins in the lens start to break down, causing it to gradually get cloudy. After age 60, there is usually visible clouding of the lens. However, vision problems may not occur until years later. Other causes of cataracts include:

  • Having family members with cataracts
  • Certain medical problems, such as diabetes
  • Having had an eye injury or eye surgery, or radiation treatments on your upper body
  • Extensive sun exposure without sunglasses that protect eyes from damaging UV rays
  • Certain medications, such as corticosteroids, may cause early formation of cataracts
  • Smoking

Symptoms of Cataracts

Following are some vision changes you may notice if you have a cataract. Be sure to consult with your doctor if you experience any of the following:

  • Lens of eye appears cloudy rather than clear
  • Blurred or fuzzy vision
  • Bright colors seem faded, dull or yellowed
  • Headlights and  streetlights have glare or halos
  • Poor night vision
  • High sensitivity to light, especially oncoming headlights at night
  • Double, ghosted or distorted vision in one eye
  • Frequent changes to your eyeglass or contact lens prescription
  • Difficulty reading, requiring more light

Cataract Surgery

What Happens in Cataract Surgery?

When a cataract advances to the point of visual disability, surgery is necessary to help restore vision. Cataract surgery is a relatively simple outpatient procedure where the eye’s clouded natural lens is broken down and replaced with a plastic intraocular lens (or IOL) which will remain permanently in place. Some premium IOLs can lessen or eliminate your need for glasses after cataract surgery (read more in Cataract Surgery Lenses below).

Traditional vs. Laser Cataract Surgery

When planning for cataract surgery, a patient will generally have two surgical options: either traditional (manual) or laser cataract surgery.

TRADITIONAL (MANUAL) CATARACT SURGERY is a procedure in which the surgeon makes tiny incisions near your cornea in order to reach the lens of the eye. Using very small instruments, the surgeon then breaks up the cloudy lens and removes it. Once the cataract is removed your replacement lens (IOL) is set into position.
LASER CATARACT SURGERY involves the use of a sophisticated laser system to access and remove the cataract. First the laser creates a precise circular opening in the cornea. Then it softens and breaks up the cataract into tiny pieces for gentler and easier extraction. Once the cataract is removed, your replacement lens (IOL) is set into position.

Both procedures are done on an outpatient basis, one eye at a time, and last about 10-15 minutes. Most patients are able to return to daily activities after a couple of days.

Traditional Cataract Surgery

Laser Cataract Surgery

Preparing for Cataract Surgery

BEFORE SURGERY
  • Your surgeon will measure your eye to determine the proper focusing power for your IOL. Also, you will be asked about any medicines you take. You might be asked not to take some of these medicines before surgery.
  • You may be prescribed eye-drop medicines to start before surgery. These medicines help prevent infection and reduce swelling during and after surgery.
THE DAY OF SURGERY

Cataract removal surgery may be done in an outpatient surgery center or in a hospital. Here is what will happen:

  • Your eye will be numbed with eye drops or with an injection around the eye. You may also be given a medicine to help you relax.
  • You will be awake during surgery. You may see light and movement during the procedure, but you will not see what the doctor is doing to your eye.
  • Your surgeon looks through a special microscope. He creates tiny incisions (cuts, created by blade or a laser ) near the edge of your cornea. The surgeon uses these incisions to reach the lens in your eye. Using very small instruments, he will break up the lens with the cataract and remove it. Then he puts your new lens into place.
  • Usually your surgeon will not need to stitch the incisions closed. These “self sealing” incisions will close by themselves over time. A shield will be placed over your eye to protect it while you heal from surgery.
  • You will rest in a recovery area for about 15–30 minutes. Then you will be ready to go home.
POST-SURGERY RECOVERY

For days or weeks after surgery you willfollow these guidelines:

  • You may have to use eye drops after surgery. Be sure to follow your doctor’s directions for using these drops.
  • Avoid getting soap or water directly in the eye.
  • Do not rub or press on your eye. Your ophthalmologist may ask you to wear eyeglasses or a shield to protect your eye.
  • You will need to wear a protective eye shield when you sleep.
  • Your ophthalmologist will talk with you about when you can safely exercise, drive or do other activities again.
RISKS OF CATARACT SURGERY

Like any surgery, cataract surgery carries risks of problems or complications. Here are some of those risks:

  • Eye infection.
  • Bleeding in the eye.
  • Ongoing swelling of the cornea on the front of the eye which might limit vision and necessitate further surgery
  • Swelling of the retina (the nerve layer at the back of your eye).
  • Detached retina (when the retina lifts up from the back of the eye).
  • Damage to other parts of your eye.
  • Pain that does not get better with over-the-counter medicine.
  • Blurred vision.
  • Seeing halos, glare, and dark shadows.
  • Seeing floaters.
  • Vision loss.
  • The IOL implant may become dislocated, moving out of position.
  • During cataract surgery, the cataract or a piece of the cataract might fall into the back of the eye. This necessitates further surgery.

Cataract surgery will not restore vision lost from other eye conditions, such as macular degeneration, glaucoma, or diabetic retinopathy. Your ophthalmologist will talk with you about the risks and benefits of cataract surgery.

Laser Cataract Surgery

Advanced Precision CATALYS®

Dr. Bannan is proud to have been the first in the Wheeling area to perform laser cataract surgery with the market-leading laser, called the CATALYS® Precision Laser System.

The CATALYS® allows for a gentle, highly customized procedure with a level of precision that is unachievable with traditional, manual techniques.  It uses advanced 3D imaging technology to build a 3D map of each eye and tailors the treatment to that map.  The device then automates several steps of the surgical procedure that are done by hand in traditional cataract surgery. 

Benefits of Laser Cataract Surgery

  • Improves accuracy and consistency
  • In some cases, the laser can provide more correction than traditional cataract surgery. The laser can correct low-moderate amounts of astigmatism and reduce your dependence on glasses.
  • Reduced amount of ultrasound energy needed to soften the cataract prior to removal, which leads to a gentler cataract surgery. 
  • Better centration and positioning of the IOL, which leads to better visual outcomes.
  • The laser can also correct low and moderate amount of astigmatism which may, in turn, lessen the patient’s reliance on glasses.

We recommend that you watch the above video to learn more about laser cataract surgery with the CATALYS® laser system at Bannan Eye!

Cataract Surgery Lenses

What is an IOL?

An intraocular lens (or IOL) is a tiny, artificial lens that replaces the eye’s cloudy natural lens after it is  removed during cataract surgery. The IOL cannot be seen or felt by the patient. It remains permanently in place and requires no maintenance or handling.

During your cataract consultaion, Dr. Bannan will talk to you about IOL’s and the lens options available, as well as whether or not you are a candidate for a premium IOL, which can lessen or eliminate the need for glasses after surgery.

The different lens options are described below.

The STANDARD (MONOFOCAL) INTRAOCULAR LENS (IOL) is an implant that gives your eye correction at distance.  If you do not have astigmatism, or other conditions which affect your vision, there is a good chance you will be able to see very well at distance without glasses with a monofocal implant.  Astigmatism is a very common condition in which your eye is not shaped perfectly round, which in turn distorts and blurs your vision.
The TORIC INTRAOCULAR LENS (IOL) can correct astigmatism as well as recapture quality distance vision in one step. Until their recent introduction, candidates for IOLs were limited to correction for only nearsightedness and farsightedness. Toric IOLs provide freedom from glasses while also correcting astigmatism.
Presbyopia is the gradual loss of your eyes’ ability to focus on nearby objects.  It’s a natural, often annoying, part of aging.  Presbyopia usually becomes noticeable in your early to mid-40s and continues to worsen as you get older. You will start to notice that you need to hold the newspaper further away to be able to read it and may even struggle to see the dashboard in your car. Presbyopia can be corrected with reading glasses, but can be permanently corrected during cataract surgery with a premium PRESBYOPIA CORRECTING INTRAOCULAR LENS (IOL) implant. This family of implants, sometimes called multifocal or extended depth of focus (EDOF) lenses, can be used to not only correct your distance vision, but your near vision and intermediate (think computer or dashboard distance) vision as well. They will allow you to see at multiple distances, and may lessen or even eliminate your need for glasses following cataract surgery. (See box below.)

More Videos About Lens Options

Standard (Monofocal) Correction Options
What is a Presbyopia Correcting Lens?
What is a Toric Intraocular Lens?

Presbyopia Correcting Lens Implants

Presbyopia Correcting Lens Implants (IOLs) have different focusing powers within the same lens. These IOLs reduce your dependence on glasses by giving you clear vision for more than one set distance. They provide both distance and near focus at the same time. 

The image on the left shows a STANDARD lens implant  (monofocal) correcting only long-range vision, while the image on the right shows a PRESBYOPIA lens implant (multifocal) correcting both near and long-range vision.