Everyone is born with a natural lens inside each eye, to focus light and help you see clearly. As people get older, a cataract can develop when the lens becomes cloudy, causing the vision to become blurred. Having certain medical conditions such as diabetes, a history of injury or eye surgery, or use of medications such as steroids can cause cataracts.

Although it is difficult to predict how quickly or when a cataract will develop, symptoms of cataracts include blurred vision that can't be corrected by glasses, increased light sensitivity, glare or halos around bright lights (especially oncoming headlights at night), and difficulty reading. Cataracts generally develop slowly as we age and not everyone with a cataract needs surgery. Glasses can significantly improve vision for some people, but if glasses are still not sufficient to improve the vision and you are having trouble doing things you need or want to do, then cataract surgery should be considered. The only way to treat a cataract is to remove it with surgery.

With current technology, cataract surgery is generally a safe and short procedure. During cataract surgery, the ophthalmologist (eye surgeon) removes the eye's natural lens and replaces it with a plastic lens known as an intraocular lens (IOL) implant. Nowadays, there are many more options for lens implants than there were in the past. Modern, advanced technology lens implants can give you a much wider range of clear vision than the basic lens implants of the past, including near (reading), intermediate (computer), and distance (TV and driving) vision, to reduce your dependence on glasses or contacts. Astigmatism can also be corrected at the same time. Your Premier Eyecare eye doctor can explain the options that may be best for you.