Cataract screening and monitoring clinic

Our Cataract Clinic

cataract

Our clinic provides specialist care as apart of our screening and monitoring clinic for our patients. Our Pre-Operation Cataract Examination includes all the comprehensive evaluations of our enhanced eye exam, with additional specialized techniques to assess your suitability for cataract surgery. Alongside the standard tests, we perform detailed evaluation of any lens opacities including density and location, evaluate the effect such potential opacities has on the patients quality of life and discuss the various providers of cataract surgery such that patient can make informed decisions on if/ where they will receive their cataract surgery. Our Post-Operation Cataract Examination includes all the comprehensive evaluations of our enhanced eye exam, with additional specialized techniques to assess the health of the eye and visual outcomes following cataract surgery. Alongside the standard tests, we perform detailed screening for post cataract surgery complications with a view to manage them or refer if required.

Cataract symptoms

Cataracts are extremely common in older individuals. They occur when proteins build up on the lens of the eye, causing cloudy or blurry vision. In the early stages, the cataracts may not be visible in a mirror, but as they mature, you may see white spots or spots that look cloudy when you look at your eyes.

You see glare or halos around lights, especially at night.
You are having increasing difficulty seeing at night when you drive.
You can no longer see well enough to read or watch TV.
Colors appear faded and/or you have noticed blurry vision.

Are you a good candidate for catarct surgery?

Good candidates for cataract surgery include individuals who have been told via a routine eye examination that they have cataracts and are experiencing significant vision loss due to the clouding of the lens of the eye. Most people do not start developing cataracts until after the age of 40, but cataracts can develop at any age. Some babies are even born with cataracts.

If your vision isn’t significantly impaired, it may be a good idea to wait for cataract removal surgery. During this time glasses and/or contacts can help improve your vision. However, when corrective lenses no longer offer the desired amount of vision correction, our team typically recommends surgery to remove the cloudy lens and replace it with an artificial lens.

Cataract surgery process

Once referred by our specialist optometrists for cataract surgery the process of having the cataract removed from your eye/s begins. Cataract surgery is a relatively simple process that takes about 30 minutes. If you have cataracts in both eyes, you’ll need two appointments as only one eye is done during an individual surgery.

During the surgery, you will be given numbing drops and medication to help you relax. For this reason, you’ll need to have a second driver with you in order to drive you home. Cataract eye surgery involves removing the discolored, cloudy lens of the eye and replacing it with an artificial lens that contains your glasses or contact lens prescription. The new lens can contain a fixed or accommodating mono-focal lens, a multi-focal lens or a lens that corrects for astigmatism. This means that once your surgery is complete, you may not need to wear corrective lenses.

You will need to schedule an appointment with us 6 weeks following your cataract surgery to ensure your eyes are healing correctly and for us to also assess if you need corrective spectacle lenses.