A cataract is a common eye disease that affects millions of Americans annually. It’s also a leading cause of visual loss in seniors over 65 years. The condition is typically painless while gradually compromising your visual ability. While considered a normal part of the aging process, cataracts can also develop rapidly in younger people. Our ophthalmologists at Eye Specialists of Illinois provide superior eye care services, including cataract surgery for patients in Park Ridge and the surrounding area.
What Are Cataracts?
A cataract is an eye disorder characterized by the gradual clouding of the naturally clear eye lens, thus distorting vision. The clouding prevents light from getting to the retina, resulting in blurry and foggy vision that worsens over time. Many ophthalmologists recommend wearing dark sunglasses with 100% UV protection since exposure to these harmful sun rays can accelerate cataract advancement.
Types of Cataracts
- Nuclear Cataracts – these are the most common and develop in the middle part of your eye lens. In its early stages, patients may notice a brief improvement in their vision for nearby objects.
- Cortical Cataracts – mainly develops in patients with diabetes. They appear as snowy, wedge-shaped opaqueness that spread towards the center of the lens.
- Subcapsular Cataracts – appear at the back of the lens and usually cause glare or halo symptoms. The disorder mainly develops in diabetic patients and people taking steroid medications.
Cataracts Causes
While there isn’t any known solid cause of cataracts, research suggests the disorder can be caused by:
- Aging
- Eye injury
- Intraocular inflammation
- Eye surgery
- Disease
- Genetics
- Some medications such as long-term use of steroids
- Certain diseases – diabetes
- Excessive ultraviolet light exposure
- Smoking
Cataracts Symptoms
Common cataract symptoms include:
- Gradual loss of vision
- Recurrent changes in eyeglass prescriptions
- Light sensitivity
- Poor night vision
- Double vision
- A blurry and distorted vision that gets worse over time
- Glares/halos
- Loss of color acuity
- Nearsightedness
Diagnosis
Our ophthalmologists perform thorough eye exams to ascertain that your vision loss is not due to other common eye disorders such as glaucoma, macular degeneration, etc. The diagnosis involves opacity, visual acuity, color vision, and light sensitivity examinations, where our eye doctors determine to what extent a cataract may be affecting vision.
Treatment
The only way to effectively fix cataract problems is through surgery. Our eye surgeons utilize advanced equipment and techniques to perform surgical procedures with the highest precision and care. Our ophthalmologists start by removing the cloudy lens and replacing it with an intraocular lens (IOL) that resembles the original eye lens. Our eye surgeons are experts in phacoemulsification, extracapsular, and intracapsular cataract surgeries.
Contact Our Eye Specialists for Quality Vision Care in Park Ridge
If you or a loved one is suffering from blurry or distorted vision, our Park Ridge ophthalmologists can help. We are dedicated to providing the care our patients need for quality vision and eye health. To learn more about how our cataract surgery can improve your visual ability, call our team at Eye Specialists of Illinois eye doctor at (847) 823-2127 to schedule an appointment. If you are looking for ‘ophthalmology near me,’ contact us to learn more about how we can help you maintain optimal vision.