Have you ever noticed that with a modicum of knowledge about an issue reading further about the subject makes much greater sense than your initial introduction? I observed that lately. During the past year, I was scheduled for two cataract surgeries (about half a year apart). I didn’t know what to expect.

At the time, I remembered a related article on Aging_With_Pizzazz. Award-winning author (and more importantly to me, my friend) Lorraine prepared a guest article Blind as a Bat No More. Evidently, I had not internalized it but realize now that she offered a clear vision of what to expect with cataract surgery and choices to be made. Recently, after experiencing it all myself I have to compliment her detailed picture of the event. I highly recommend revisiting the post if you are considering surgery or know someone who is, and with whom you feel comfortable sharing.

After Surgery

In her post, Lorraine explained her success and results. Mine too were good (if not perfect).

As she explained, immediately after surgery, you will have to deal with the annoying night guard to shield your eye from inadvertent rubbing or anything (like bed/pillow fibers) from entering your eye. You will also be prescribed eyedrops to protect the eye from infection. Likely two or three times in the first week your doc will watch for signs of such infection. They will look for indications of decreasing vision, increasing pain, redness, any discharge around the eye or other possible side-effects.

According to WebMD Medical references (AND my doc) it is normal to have blurred vision as well as swelling for days to weeks afterwards. Many people need a change in eyeglass prescriptions immediately after surgery. I am happy to say that my middle and far vision improved greatly and ‘readers’ help significantly when doing up-close work.

Further along after surgery some folks suffer ongoing discomfort and dry eyes. It’s not terribly uncommon to hear of a persistent feeling that vision is not quite right. Recovery can be frustratingly slow, and one cannot assume eyesight will be restored to its greatest glory of days past. Still, the surgery will likely remove cloudiness and correct severe vision problems.

My Side Effects

After my first surgery, I complained of two side-effects. They included swelling around my eye and (several months later) new eye floaters and flashes of light (a subject for a different blog). These results were the “not perfect” part of my first experience.

The second surgery left me with a different side effect, which I hope will resolve. While quite a common byproduct, the term is not common in our everyday lingo. It’s called “Negative Dysphotopsia.” My best description of it is a small arched line of shadow at the edge of your field of vision. Similar, but more internal than the shadow one sees in their peripheral vision when first getting eyeglasses.

Optometrists say people get used to that frame being in their line of sight. Ophthalmologists say if the negative dysphotopsia persists, the brain may likely hide it as it does with eyeglass frames. My doc explained that with every new development in lens, ophthalmologists ask if this issue has been solved. So far, the answer is always “no.” He elucidated that the natural lens is just much more sophisticated and enjoys an amazing shape that the artificial lens can’t duplicate (yet).

Admittedly, neither of my less-than-positive and unexpected results are severe or interfere with life, sight or comfort. Still, I trust that a year from now I am unable to notice either. I’m hopeful.

Do We Know the Cause of Cataracts?

The exact cause of cataracts can still spur debate. Additionally, symptoms can vary, including cloudy, fuzzy, filmy or double vision, glare from headlights during night driving or from the sun and even lamps. Still, it’s clear that the risk grows as we get older and contributing factors are well known.

Because the lens inside your eye gets cloudy with a cataract, things linked to the clouding are often explored. Some are within our control, some not. Specifically, these factors include:

Aging (most common)
Smoking
Overuse of alcohol
Diabetes (especially when the blood sugar levels are above the safe range)
Prolonged exposure to sunlight or radiation (including from tanning booths, or sunlamps)
Eye injury (rare)
Medical treatments, such as long-term use of corticosteroids, frequent cranial X-rays or radiation treatments or Vitrectomy (having vitreous gel removed from eye)
Genetics (inheriting the tendency) or congenital cataracts

Slow Cataract Development, Delay Surgery & Protect Eyes

Much of this post concentrates on care and vision health. These are fundamental to prevention, which is always the motherload of benefit. It was my prime motivation to pick up this thread on cataracts and emphasize a few vital behaviors. My goal is to allow us to gain insight to best maintain our sight.

There is no proven way to actually prevent cataracts. But certain lifestyle habits may help slow cataract development. I suspect the ‘causes’ section above already provided clues to you.

Tips to Prevent Cataracts. Things you can do that may lower your risk of developing cataracts are similar to things that help other health conditions.

Don’t smoke.
Always wear sunglasses in the sun (summer and winter). BEST if these are polarized and a good habit to follow even if you have HAD cataract surgery already.
Always wear a hat in the sun (to shade face and eyes).
Keep diabetes well controlled.
Limit alcohol consumption.
Avoid sunlamps and tanning booths.
Eat healthy foods and a balanced diet (you may try a few of the special and specific recommendations in part 2 to follow).
Avoid the overuse of steroid medicines when possible (some people may need them but keep your eye on your unnecessary use).

Protecting eye health internally. Typical self-help sources lay out a balance of vitamins and minerals needed for good eye health. Common B vitamins, E, A and strong antioxidants are among these. Less common are substances like K-1 (The Other Vitamin K), chondroitin sulfate and a couple others I’ll mention in the future blog post.

FINAL THOUGHT

In the near future, but after a vacation from the issue of eyes and cataracts, I’ll continue with additional information and noted resources. Recent and ongoing research holds great promise for vision and delayed development of cataracts.