FAQs about cataracts
- Posted on: Dec 15 2020
At Jacksonville Eye Center, our team is here to help patients in achieving and maintaining good eye and vision health. This means knowing about certain conditions that can impact your vision or cause your eye to become unhealthy. One common condition seen in our practice is that of cataracts, and our patients often have questions about what they are and how they are treated.
What are cataracts?
Cataracts are clouding of the eye’s natural lens that can reduce and impair one’s vision. There are three types of cataracts, including nuclear, cortical, and subcapsular.
What are the symptoms of cataracts?
The primary symptom is changes of vision due to clouding and blurriness. Other symptoms may include difficult with lights, faded colors, poor night vision, and frequent changes in vision prescriptions.
What causes cataracts?
It is unknown what causes one patient to develop cataracts and another to not. We often find cataract development to be age-related, but studies have also shown that UV exposure can contribute to the formation of cataracts. This is why patients should always wear protective UV filtering sunglasses when outdoors.
How do I treat cataracts?
Mild case of cataracts can often be ignored and patients learn to live with the blurring. However, as soon as cataracts become severe enough to impact one’s day-to-day activities, making it harder to read, watch television, or drive, it may be time to talk to Dr. Robert Schnipper about surgical procedures to replace the lens with an artificial lens.
What is accomplished with surgery?
Surgery for cataracts requires the doctor to remove the clouded lens that is affected by cataracts and replace it with a donor or artificial lens. These artificial lenses are called IOLs, or intraocular lenses, and can also improve vision clarity in addition to removing the blurry, cataract lens.
Interested in learning more about cataracts?
Contact Jacksonville Eye Center to book an appointment with Dr. Robert Schnipper and his team in Jacksonville, Florida. The office is located at 2001 College Street and can be reached by phone to request a visit at (904) 355-5555. Our professionals are here to help with a wide range of vision concerns.
Posted in: Cataracts