At one point, after age 50, most of us will likely hear our eye doctor say, “Well, you have cataracts.”
A cataract is a clouding of the lens inside the eye, causing vision loss that cannot be corrected with glasses, contact lenses or corneal refractive surgery like LASIK.
Modern cataract surgery usually can restore vision lost to cataracts, and often can reduce your dependence on eyeglasses as well.
Cataract Prevalence after Age 50 (U.S.)
Cataracts affect more than 24.4 million Americans age 40 and older. By age 75, approximately half of all Americans have cataracts [1], and that number is projected to grow to 50.2 million by the year 2050, according to NEI.
Thankfully, modern cataract surgery is one of the safest and most effective surgical procedures performed today.
Cataract Surgery Basics
The lens inside your eye that which became cloudy over time is removed by Dr. Cartwright during this procedure, and it’s replaced with an intraocular lens (or IOL) to restore clear vision.
Best Candidates
Blurred vision, clouded vision, light sensitivity, dim colors
• Procedure time: about 15 minutes
• Recovery time: about a month
Dr. Cartwright has performed over 25,000 cataract surgeries in his career, and it is one of the safest and most commonly performed operations around the world. It involves the use of a high-frequency ultrasound or “phacoemulsification”. The ultrasound soundwaves break up cataract into small fragments that can then be removed through the small incision. The other advance that makes the small incision cataract surgery possible, is the foldable intra-ocular lens implant. These implants are made of soft materials which can be rolled up with a special instrument, allowing them to fit through a very small incisions. Once inside the eye, these lenses unfold and return to their original shape. Small incision cataract surgery is less invasive, allows patients to resume normal activity soon after surgery and provides the fastest recovery of vision.