Kadrmas Eye Care New England
  • Doctors
    • Eddie Kadrmas, MD
    • Richard Strecker, MD
    • Daniel J. Townsend, MD
    • Aimee Gray, OD
    • Ashley Sousa, OD
  • Patients
    • CV-19 Statement
    • Eye Conditions >
      • Cataracts
      • Common Eye Problems >
        • Allergies
        • Amblyopia
        • Astigmatism
        • Blepharitis
        • Chalazion / Stye
        • Conjunctivitis
        • Corneal Abrasion
        • Floaters & Flashes
        • Hyperopia / Farsightedness
        • Myopia / Nearsightedness
        • Presbyopia
        • Strabismus
      • Corneal Diseases & Disorders >
        • Corneal Ulcers
        • Fuchs’ Dystrophy
        • Herpes Zoster / Shingles
        • Keratitis
        • Keratoconus
        • Pterygium
      • Diabetic Eye Disease
      • Dry Eye Syndrome
      • Eyelid Diseases & Disorders >
        • Dermatochalasis
        • Ectropion
        • Entropion
        • Eyelid Lesion
        • Ptosis
        • Tear Duct Obstruction
        • Tumor
      • Eye Trauma / Injury >
        • Blunt Trauma
        • Chemical Injury
        • Penetrating / Perforating Injury
      • Glaucoma >
        • Open Angle Glaucoma >
          • iStent
        • Narrow Angle Glaucoma
        • Neovascular Glaucoma
        • Inflammatory Glaucoma
      • Macular Diseases & Disorders >
        • Macular Degeneration
        • Macular Hole
        • Macular Pucker
      • Neurological Eye Diseases >
        • Blepharospasm
        • Double Vision
        • Ischemic Optic Neuropathy
        • Stroke / Visual Field Defect
        • Temporal Arteritis
      • Retinal Diseases & Disorders >
        • Retinal Tears & Detachments
        • Retinal Vascular Diseases
      • Uveitis & Iritis
    • Resources >
      • Eye Health & Care Blog
      • Retina Digest
    • Videos >
      • Eye Anatomy
      • Cataract
      • Laser Cataract Surgery
      • Children's Vision
      • Common Eye Problems
      • Corneal Conditions
      • Diabetic Eye Disease
      • Dry Eye Syndrome
      • Glaucoma
      • Laser & Refractive Eye Surgery
      • LASIK Over 45
      • LASIK Under 45
      • Macular Degeneration
      • Plastic Eye Surgery
      • Retinal Conditions
      • Refractive Errors
      • Routine Eye Exams
    • Forms & Policies >
      • New Patient Forms
      • HIPAA Policy
      • Referral Forms
    • Financial Information
  • Services
    • Routine Eye Exams >
      • Children
      • Adults
    • Hearing Therapy
    • Specialized Eye Exams >
      • Dilated Eye Exam / Slit Lamp Examination
      • Fluorescein Angiogram
      • Indocyanine Green Angiogram
      • Nerve Fiber Analysis
      • Optical Coherence Tomography
      • Refraction
      • Tonometry
      • Visual Acuity Testing
      • Visual Field Testing
    • Medical, Injection & Surgical / Laser Eye Care
    • Contact Lenses >
      • Contact Lens Types
      • Contact Lens Care & Safety
    • Refractive Eye Surgery >
      • LASIK Eye Surgery
      • PRK
      • Clear Lens Extraction
      • Implantable Collamer Lenses
    • Oculoplastic Surgery & Cosmetic Procedures >
      • Blepharoplasty
      • BOTOX®
      • Restylane®
  • Locations
    • Plymouth
    • Wareham
    • Mashpee
    • Surgery Centers
  • About
    • News
    • Affiliations
    • Patient Reviews
  • Careers
  • Contact
To Schedule Your Eye Appointment, Please Call 1-508-746-8600

Patient Resources - Eye Health & Care Blog

Is It Time for Cataract Surgery? Cataract Awareness Month

6/14/2016

 
Picture
Being diagnosed with a vision-threatening condition can not only be upsetting and alarming, but also lead to lots of difficult questions. Fortunately, cataracts, although vision threatening, are a slower to progress condition that allows time to consider and weigh questions such how much are my cataracts affecting my daily life and as when is the right time to have cataract surgery. So for this Cataract Awareness Month, we’re considering the question, “Is it time for cataract surgery?”
​
If you’ve been diagnosed with a cataract in one eye or cataracts in both eyes, your eye doctor has likely discussed managing your symptoms with conservative measures such as new prescription lenses, brighter lighting, anti-glare sunglasses, and magnifying lenses. The hope is that those measures will allow you and your eye doctor to manage your symptoms and vision loss until it’s time for cataract surgery. But when is that time?
 
There are a couple of signs that it’s time to start considering for cataract surgery more seriously, each of which we’ll examine below.

Interference with Everyday Activities


​If the symptoms of cataracts can no longer be managed conservatively and vision loss is interfering with everyday activities, it may be time to consider cataract surgery. Everyday activities are those things we need to do to function and live normally, such as reading, driving, watching TV, cooking, and getting around safely.
 
Cataract surgery can improve one’s quality of life, as well as make it safer. According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO), benefits of cataract surgery include:
  • 40% lower mortality risk for patients who had cataract surgery
  • 16% decrease in odds of hip fractures after cataract surgery
  • 13% decrease in odds of car crashes after cataract surgery
  • 21% gain in quality of life after cataract surgery in one eye
  • 36% gain in quality of life after cataract surgery in two eyes
 
Because of the benefits, safety, and effectiveness associated with cataract surgery, more people are having cataract surgery each year and at a younger age, according to AAO. 

Limitations in Eye Examinations or Other Eye Treatment

If cataracts are preventing the examination or treatment of another eye problem, it may be time to have cataracts removed. While cataracts threaten vision slowly over time, other eye conditions such as certain types of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) can threaten vision quickly and may cause irreversible eye and vision damage if not evaluated and treated immediately. As such, it is important for your eye doctor to be able to evaluate your eyes completely. If your cataracts are more advanced and are blocking or preventing your eye doctor from seeing the important structures in the back of your eye such as your retina, macula, and optic nerve, you may need to have your cataracts removed to allow your eye doctor to preform a complete eye examination. 
​

Cataract Surgery Safety & Effectiveness

According to the National Eye Institute (NEI), “Cataract removal is one of the most common operations performed in the United States. It is also one of the safest and most effective types of surgery. In about 90 percent of cases, people who have cataract surgery have better vision afterward.” While surgery is nearly always a last resort measure for treating any condition, it’s comforting to know that cataract surgery is considered to be safe and effective.
 
In the last post in this Cataract Awareness Month series, we’ll talk about cataract surgery further and take a detailed look at small incision cataract surgery and whether it’s right for you.  

Consult with a Cataract Surgeon 

​If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with cataracts, are considering cataract surgery, and would like to discuss surgery with an ophthalmologist who specializes in the treatment of cataracts, please call us to schedule an appointment with our cataract surgeon, Dr. Richard Strecker. Dr. Strecker is available to answer your questions, discuss the surgical procedure and associated risks, and speak with you to determine if it might be time for cataract surgery. 
​

Comments are closed.

    EYE HEALTH BLOG


    CLICK HERE to sign up for our eye health / care newsletter and have it delivered automatically to your inbox each month!

    Categories

    All
    AMD
    Astigmatism
    Cataract
    Children's Eye Health
    Color Blindness
    Conjunctivitis
    Contact Lens
    Cornea
    Cosmetic Eye Surgery
    Covid 19
    Diabetic Eye Disease
    Driving
    Dry Eyes
    Eye Allergies
    Eye Cancer
    Eye Exam
    Eye Health & Safety
    Eye Infections
    Eye Strain
    Glaucoma
    Injuries
    Low Vision
    Lupus
    Macula
    Myasthenia Gravis
    Organ Donation
    Retina
    Retinopathy
    Scleritis
    Senior Eye Health
    Sports
    Stroke
    Stye
    Uvea
    Vision Correction
    Vision Loss
    Women's Eye Health

    RSS Feed


    Picture

Kadrmas Eye Care New England

55 Commerce Way, Plymouth, MA 02360
14 Tobey Road, Wareham, MA 02571
133 Falmouth Road (Rt 28), Mashpee, MA 02649
Phone Number:
​1-508-746-8600

Hours:
Monday through Friday - 
8 AM - 4:30 PM 
© 2015-2021 Kadrmas Eye Care New England • All Rights Reserved
KadrmasEyeCare.com Privacy Policy • Disclaimer of Medical Liability
Proudly powered by Weebly
Design by DivTag Templates