Cataract Surgery

Cataracts affect the lens in your eye, making your vision cloudy. A lens bends the light as it enters your eye, sending it to the retina at the back of your eyeball. Light placement accuracy determines how clearly you see.

Around the age of 40, proteins in your eye start breaking down. The broken protein fragments then clump together, clouding the lens and forming a cataract. As time passes, clouding worsens, so you have increasingly poor vision.

Cataract surgery involves extracting the eye’s lens and substituting it with an artificial one. Cataract surgery has a long history as a successful treatment for cataracts. Most people undergoing cataract surgery experience significant vision improvement.

You could benefit from surgery if you have cataracts — protein clumps that make your lenses cloudy. Without treatment, cataracts can lead to worsening sight and eventual blindness.

Cataracts are a common problem that typically develops in later life. The changes happen slowly, so you might not realize how much your sight’s deteriorating.

The first signs of cataracts include:

• Blurred vision
• Poor night sight
• Halos around lights
• Increased glare sensitivity
• Double vision

You might have problems performing everyday activities, such as reading, driving, or using tools. The North Florida Eye Center team can diagnose cataracts after examining your eyes.

To determine what treatment you need for cataracts, your North Florida Eye Center doctor completes a thorough eye exam. They perform several tests and use specialized lenses and lights to evaluate the cataract and pinpoint its size and location. You might benefit from conservative treatments at first, which may include:

• Prescription medication
• Prescription eye drops
• Dietary changes

Cataract surgery is likely to be the best option if your symptoms persist or worsen.

The North Florida Eye Center team performs cataract surgery as an outpatient procedure. It takes about about 3-4 hours in total. Your provider gives you a local anesthetic and IV (intravenous) sedation. Then they make a small incision in the eye and carefully remove the affected lens. Next, your surgeon replaces it with an intraocular lens (IOL) implant.

The team uses Alcon’s LenSx® Laser, a bladeless, computer-controlled device. LenSx allows your eye surgeon to plan and perform cataract surgery to your customized specifications. LenSx features cutting-edge technology, including optical coherence tomography (OCT), which produces high-resolution images of your eyes.

Your surgeon uses these images and the LenSx data to perform cataract surgery with a precision not possible using traditional methods. After your cataract surgery, you should be able to see clearly again.