Cataract Care

A cataract is a clouding of the eye’s natural lens. It usually comes on slowly with age and can make your vision look blurred or foggy, dull the colours you see, and cause glare from sunlight or headlights at night. Cataracts are very common — and they are not a film or a growth over the eye, but a change inside the lens itself.

When is surgery needed?

When a cataract starts to get in the way of everyday life — reading, recognising faces, cooking, or going out after dark — surgery is how it is treated. No medicine or eye drop can clear a cataract. Surgery is usually planned for a time that suits you; it is rarely an emergency.

What the surgery involves

Cataract surgery gently removes the clouded lens and replaces it with a clear artificial lens (an intraocular lens) that stays in your eye permanently.

• It is most often done by phacoemulsification — “stitchless” surgery through a very small opening that usually needs no stitches.
• It is usually a day-care procedure — you come in, have the surgery, and go home the same day.
• It is done under local anaesthetic, most often with just eye drops, so you are awake but the eye is numb.

Before and after

Before surgery, your eye is measured carefully to choose the right lens for you. Afterwards, you use eye drops for a few weeks and come for follow-up checks. You will usually be asked to avoid rubbing the eye, heavy lifting, and dusty or dirty water for a short while. Your surgeon will explain what to expect for your eye and answer any questions.