Cataract FAQs

As we grow older, most of us will develop cataracts in our eyes. Over time, cataracts can begin to cloud your vision. A medical eye exam from one of our St. Clair Shores and Shelby Township Cataract Surgeons at Eastside Eye Physicians PC can diagnose your cataracts. The following cataracts FAQs explain more about cataracts, their causes, and treatment options.

What Exactly Is A Cataract?

The lens of your eye is normally clear, providing you with good vision. As you age, however, it can become cloudy or opaque. This cloudiness is a cataract. Cataracts generally start as small cloudy areas and grow over the years to cover a larger area of your lens, obstructing your vision.

What Causes Cataracts?

Cataracts may develop for various reasons. Your eyes may undergo chemical changes over the years, causing the lens to cloud over. Heredity factors, eye injuries, or eye diseases may contribute to the development of cataracts. If you smoke or expose your eyes extensively to UV rays from the sun, you increase your risk of getting cataracts.

How Do I Know I Have Cataracts?

Cataracts generally don’t have symptoms in the early stages. As the cataract grows, however, you may experience blurred vision, loss of color perception, and loss of night vision. Your may have cataracts in one or both eyes and they may develop at the same time or at different times. Our St. Clair Shores and Shelby Township Cataract Surgeons can diagnose during your medical eye exam if you have cataracts.

What’s the Difference between Mild and Mature Cataracts?

Mild cataracts are fairly small and have little to no effect on your vision. Through routine eye exams, our ophthalmology doctors can monitor your condition to see how it affects your vision. If your condition worsens, we may recommend surgery to have the cataracts removed.

Mature cataracts have advanced to the stage where they are impairing your vision. If our eye care doctors say you have mature cataracts, it’s time to seriously consider cataract surgery.

Is Cataract Surgery Risky?

Although all surgeries involve some measure of risk, modern advances in cataract surgery have made this procedure fairly common in society today. By choosing one our experienced Cataract Surgeons, who have performed thousands of cataract surgeries, the opportunity of a shared successful outcome is more prevalent.

How Can I Prevent Cataracts from Developing?

Cataracts aren’t preventable as they are part of the aging process. If you are concerned about your cataracts, please schedule an appointment with one of our Cataract Surgeons.

To schedule a consultation with our Cataract Surgeons for cataract diagnosis or treatment, contact Eastside Eye Physicians PC in St. Clair Shores at 586-774-2020 and in Shelby Township at 586-247-2020 today. We look forward to meeting you and handling all of your eye care needs.