What Does Cataract Surgery Involve?

Cataract surgery is a way to manage – you guessed it! – cataracts that develop in people. A cataract is an eye condition that involves the lens of your eye becoming cloudy, which makes it a lot more difficult to see than you are likely used to. Generally, cataract surgery involves an operation to replace this cloudy lens with a clear plastic lens, which restores the sight lost due to the cataract. There’s a bit more to this kind of surgery, though, so in this article we take a look at what cataract surgery is all about to help give you an idea about what you might be in for if you are looking to remedy cataracts. 

Understanding cataracts basics

If you’ve in Melbourne and have consulted an eye surgeon in St Kilda (or wherever else you may be), you may very well have some understanding of what cataract surgery may involve. Cataracts form as a result of advancing age or an injury that changes the tissue that makes up your eye’s lens, and it is usually very noticeable as cataracts cause vision to become blurry or hazy, sometimes to the point where it becomes debilitating. Cataracts also make the sufferer sensitive to bright lights, see starbursts around lights, or give everything a slightly faded or yellow look. The replacement lens for the cloudy natural one is a permanently implanted plastic lens called an intraocular lens. To prepare for cataract surgery, the patient will on the day receive eye drops that incorporate an antibiotic. Just before the surgery is to take place, you will also potentially be given an injection around your eye either local anaesthetic or general anaesthetic) or get special eye drops in order to make the eye go numb for the operation. 

During and after your surgery

Cataract surgery will necessitate you lie down for up to 45 minutes – during this time the doctor will make a small incision in the eye to remove the cloudy lens and to replace it with the plastic lens. After you have your cataract surgery, you will have an eye pad applied to your operated eye. You should expect it to be sore and sometimes painful, but if this is the case you may receive some kind of medication to remedy the discomfort. You will also be given eyedrops by the doctor, and you will have to use them for some time after the procedure (although how long this may be will depend on the patient). One of the best things about cataract surgery is that it is an outpatient procedure, so there will be no need for you to stay in hospital overnight. You should ensure that you have organised someone to take you home, however, as driving right after cataract surgery can be very dangerous.  

Experiencing complications? Let someone know

As with any other kind of operation, there is potential for something to go wrong with cataract surgery. There is a small chance that patients will develop bleeding, infection or damage to the eye that was operated on – if you experience your eye becoming red and painful, your eye shedding fluid, or your vision becoming worse, it’s highly important that you contact your eye or health specialist or go to an emergency department as quickly as possible.