7 Signs You May Need To Have Cataract Surgery
How do you know when it’s time to consider cataract surgery? If your eye doctor diagnoses you with cataracts, it does not necessarily mean you need surgery right away.
A cataract is a clouding of the eye’s lens, and they typically develop slowly. It can be years before you experience moderate or severe symptoms.
However, there comes a time when cataracts affect your vision and life enough to warrant having them removed. Keep reading to learn seven signs you may need to have cataract surgery!
1. You Find It Difficult To Complete Everyday Tasks on Your Own
Cataracts can make daily tasks like cleaning, cooking, or doing laundry challenging. You might find living with a cataract is like seeing the world through a piece of frosted glass.
When your vision is blurry, it can be easier to knock objects over while dusting around them or enter the incorrect baking time when you have a meal in the oven. You could easily switch up different laundry products in the laundry room, as similar objects appear to blur together.
What used to be a simple two-minute task can quickly turn into ten minutes. If you’re encountering difficulty completing basic tasks or rely on someone else for help, you may want to consider surgery to regain your independence.
2. You Have Trouble Doing The Things You Love
Struggles completing activities aren’t limited to the tasks you have to do. When you have cataracts, challenges can extend to the activities you love to do.
These struggles can become especially noticeable when trying to enjoy participating in activities such as reading, watching TV on a tablet, doing a puzzle, or knitting. All of these activities require sufficient near vision to properly enjoy.
Some people with cataracts stop doing their favorite pastimes altogether, as they become more frustrating than relaxing. Cataract surgery can ensure you get back the fun you miss in your day due to decreased vision.
3. You’re Experiencing Double Vision
One symptom some people with cataracts experience is double vision. When you’re seeing two of everything, physical activities can become dangerous.
This can even apply to an activity as simple and second nature as walking. Double vision can make climbing the stairs difficult, whether you’re going up or down the steps.
If you have double vision, you are more likely to miss a step. Going through your days with impaired vision can be worrisome, making cataract surgery the safer option.
4. Driving Makes You Nervous
Does the thought of driving at night make you nervous? Because a cataract can lead to increased glare a
nd light sensitivity, the dark road can become difficult to navigate.
Many patients report symptoms of glare like starbursts or haloes when faced with oncoming headlights. These visual symptoms can make it hard to see with other cars on the road.
Anyone who needs vision correction wouldn’t try to drive without glasses or contacts. It can be similarly dangerous to attempt to drive with cataracts when it is causing you visual disturbances like glare and decreased vision.
5. You Have Vision Problems Even With Increased Light
In the early stages of having cataracts, you may find yourself turning on an extra light or two when you sit down to read or when you’re making dinner. It is common for those with cataracts to require two to three times the usual amount of light to see for certain tasks.
While extra light may be enough to offset the symptoms of cataracts at first, there usually comes a time when you feel the additional illumination isn’t helping anymore. If you struggle to read your favorite book at night, consider exploring how surgery can benefit you.
6. You Don’t See Colors As Brightly As You Used To
Life can lose its luster for many people with cataracts as colors appear faded. This dullness can make even the most beautiful of scenes less than spectacular.
There may be a brown or yellow tint to everything, or you could find that cool tone colors are more indistinguishable. Whether enjoying a picturesque landscape in person or seeing one on TV, you deserve to see it in all its vibrancy.
After cataract surgery, you will have sharper vision and see more brilliant colors to enjoy the wonders of the world around you.
7. Your Prescription Keeps Changing
A frequently changing prescription can be one side effect of cataracts. You may find that even though you recently updated your contact or glasses prescription, your vision still doesn’t seem quite right.
This is not only frustrating since getting a new prescription takes up more of your time, but it also means you are going through your days without your best vision. Surgery may be the answer if you have noticed that you are going through prescription after prescription.
The best way to determine if it is time for cataract surgery is by visiting your eye doctor. You can talk to your eye doctor about the symptoms you are experiencing, and they will recommend the best treatment to help improve your vision.
Are you ready to learn if it’s time for you to have cataract surgery? Schedule a cataract screening at Complete EyeCare West in Columbus, OH, today!
