Cataracts are the leading cause of visual loss in adults age 55 and older. A cataract is a clouding of the natural lens inside your eye. This lens is a clear, disc-shaped structure located behind the iris (the colored portion of the eye). The human lens acts much like the lens in a camera, focusing the images on the retina of the eye. The retina then transfers the visual image to the brain, which permits vision.

When a cataract develops, the lens becomes opaque or cloudy and vision may become impaired. Cataracts are most often a result of aging although anyone can get them. When the lens becomes cloudy and causes vision loss great enough to interfere with normal daily activities, surgical removal is required to improve vision.

Common symptoms of a cataract include:

• a painless blurring of vision
• light sensitivity
• poor night vision
• double vision in one eye
• needing a brighter light to read
• colors looking faded or yellow

Surgery is the only way to cure a cataract. Cataract surgery can be performed when your vision needs require it. During cataract surgery your cloudy lens is removed from the eye and replaced with a permanent intraocular lens. New technology and surgical advancements have made cataract surgery a painless, outpatient procedure. Exciting new lens offerings provide options to patients as well, allowing cataract patients to see well at all distances without the help of glasses, bifocals or reading glasses.