To understand if you have a condition like cataracts, your doctor will need to examine you, analyze your symptoms, and examine your eyes.
Diagnosis
- Eye test. An eye chart should be used to check your vision. At a certain distance, you measure how clearly you can read letters of different sizes. The eyes are checked one by one, left and right eyes. While testing the right eye, the left eye is closed and vice versa for the other eye. For the best test, they use a table that has 20 rows of letters, each row smaller than the one before it. After the test, the doctor will tell you how clear your vision is. The ideal result is 20 out of 20.
- Slit lamp diagnosis. It allows the doctor to see the enlarged structure of the front of the eye. This microscope is called a slit lamp because it uses an intense line of light-a slit-to illuminate the iris and lens of the eye. The machine allows the doctor to see even the smallest abnormalities.
- Retinal examinations. To examine the retina, the doctor puts special drops into the eye that dilate the pupils. These drops make it easier to examine the back of the eye. Using an ophthalmoscope, the doctor will see if the lens shows signs of cataracts. If a cataract is found during the examination, the patient will be offered surgery. A phacoemulsifier is often used for surgery.
- Another eye test is appolation tonometry. A text is performed that measures fluid pressure in the eye.
Methods of treatment
If the doctor prescribed glasses and in them you still see everything blurry, the only correct method is surgery. To do this, it is worth talking to your ophthalmologist and clarifying what kind of surgery is right for you.
As a rule, doctors start advising patients to have an operation only after the disease significantly affects the quality of life and interferes with everyday life. For example, because of cataract you cannot drive a car or read a book. Most people should not rush to have cataracts removed because they are not harmful to the eyes. The stage at which the patient had the surgery will not affect the speed and quality of vision recovery.
How does cataract extraction procedure work
During the surgery, the clouded crystalline lens is removed and a transparent artificial lens is implanted. The medical name for this lens is the intraocular lens. After surgery, the artificial lens remains a permanent part of the eye. However, some people have other eye diseases that do not allow the use of an artificial lens. After cataract extraction, the doctor prescribes eyeglasses or lenses for such patients.
Often the surgery is performed on an outpatient basis, so you will not need to stay in the hospital after the surgery. During the surgery, local anesthetics are used, which is used in the area around the eyes, but the patient is awake during the surgery. The entire cataract removal procedure is generally safe, but there is a risk of infection and bleeding.
The patient usually experiences some discomfort for a few days after surgery. Complete healing usually occurs within a few weeks.
What is noteworthy is that if the patient has cataracts in both eyes, the surgeries will be done alternately. First on one eye and when it is completely healed on the other eye.
How to deal with the symptoms of cataracts
- Before you decide to undergo surgery it is a good idea to double-check with your ophthalmologist and make sure that your glasses are chosen correctly.
- In the house to increase lighting should increase the number of lamps.
- On a bright sunny day outdoors wear sunglasses.
- It is best to refrain from driving at night.
- It is best to refrain from driving at night.
