Has Anyone Here Had Cataracts Removed?

[naomi24]

A friend was told by the optician that he has cataracts which will stop him driving before long.  He asked what the procedure is and was told that, under local anaesthetic, the surgeon 'cuts the eye, removes the lens and replaces it with a fake one'.   Is that right?

 

He's terrified.... so, does it hurt, and is it possible to request a general anaesthetic?

 

[Khandro]

My wife had it done several years ago- no pain, no problem & she described that during the op. she saw beautiful coloured lights!

She was asked if she wanted afterwards to have long or short vision, she chose short because she reads a lot. It worked perfectly, & ten years later she still reads without specs, but uses a pair for driving.

[bhg481]

Naomi //It doesn't sound nearly as bad as he thinks it is.//

It isn't anywhere near as bad as he thinks it will be; it isn't bad at all, just a little uncomfortable. There is nothing more frightening than the thought of someone messing about with your eyes whilst you're awake - your friend will be amazed just how little he feels and how quickly it's over..

[seekeerz]

Absolutely no problem at all, didn't feel a thing, had mine done a couple of years back, and haven't looked back.

I know the thought of anyone touching eyes puts the fear of god into you, but it truly was a doddle, so reassure your friend there's nothing to worry about at all 😀

[jno]

I blink a lot so I had mine done under a GA. (My sister had it done with a local and says it was completely painless.) It's the most successful operation the NHS does.

Only thing - if it's done this time of year don't drive until your eyes have accustomed to the sun low in the sky; it's dazzling for a day or two. Also, the world goes from yellow to blue.

[jno]

just to be clear - mine were done on the NHS, I asked about a general anaesthetic and was told it was readily available. They did all the GAs at the start or the end of the day, locals during the day, I suppose to keep the anaesthetists' jobs all together.

[naomi24]

Thanks so much for all your answers.  Really helpful and very much appreciated.

[naomi24]

Retro, I hope reading this has given you a bit more confidence.  

[bhg481]

Retro - have no fear, you will NOT feel them touching your eyes.

Can I just point out a couple of points which might be of use to people. A few weeks before the operation you will have the eyes examined and measured; at that point you will be asked what sort of lens you want to replace your old one. The new lens will not be focussable so you will be asked whether you want it set for distance vision or reading; you will have to wear specs for the other option. The other point is that you will have the second eye done a month or so after the first one. In the meantime you will own a pair of specs that will be right for the "bad" eye but not for the new one; just push the lens out of the specs that corresponds to the "new" eye and that will keep you going until the second eye is done and you can get some new specs.

[naomi24]

I wouldn't know which to choose - distance or reading.  Which did you choose, bhg, and why?

[brainiac]

If I had to choose I'd go for distance, then get some reading glasses.  I've had to do this with my contact lenses.

[retrocop]

Thank you Naomi and all contributors. This post has allayed most of my fears. As seekeerz stated I can think of nothing worse than a procedure with sharp instruments anywhere near my eye.It seems awful to contemplate but am assured by the replies. I have often wondered how I can keep my eye open without a reflex action of wanting to close it for protection from F.O.s entering it. As I still enjoy long range target shooting (1000 yds) albeit with powerful riflescopes the operation would still be a better option than losing my sight altogether.Thanks again all for your informative and reassuring posts.

[THECORBYLOON]

My mum wore glasses and when she had her cataracts removed, she was telt the new lenses would be the same as she had so her glasses would not need replacing.

[barry1010]

You can choose distance for one eye and reading for the other if both eyes need doing 

[retrocop]

Barry,

Thats good news. My dominant eye for rifle shooting is my right and I also wear reading specs. I assume I could opt for a long distance lense in my right eye and a lense for reading in my left

[THECORBYLOON]

If one lens is for distance and one for reading, how would you cope without corrective glasses?

[bhg481]

I chose distance - it allows me to spend most of my time without specs. It's particularly useful at night if I wake up and can see the time on the clock. I can also shave/watch TV etc nowadays. I bought an exceeding cheap pair of 1.5 dioptre specs for using the computer (1.5 dioptre = approx 60cm /2 ft reading distance). I find I can also drive the car, including reading the instruments, without specs. Of course, when you go shopping you need to be able to read shelves etc so I got myself a relatively expensive pair of photochromic varifocals which I normally wear when I leave the house; these are exactly the type of specs I needed before the operations but the top part is zero dioptre moving to reading-strength at the bottom. Incidentally, they say that you might need to wear sunglasses in bright light for a few weeks after the operation; I bought some clip-ons from Amazon for about £15, pushed the good-eye lens out of my old specs and used those between ops.

[THECORBYLOON]

My right eye has always been dominant and growing up, a patch was put over my right eye in an attempt to make the other one "catch up" but it didn't work.

I am used to that but I doubt it would be simple to cope now with one eye, "short" and one eye, "long".

[barry1010]

Corby, your brain adjusts so that you clearly see whatever you are focusing on without glasses.

Many people who don't need glasses naturally have different vision

[bhg481]

Retro - youe eye is clamped open during the operation, to stop you blinking and it's kept moist by dribbling water over it. The mask over your face is intended to stop the water getting everywhere and it works quite well.

Another point I forgot to make is that, if you go private, you can have a focussable lens fitted. I was put off doing this because I read that it is more likely to cause problems than a fixed lens does. Problems with either sort are rare, so no real cause for worry.

[barry1010]

What people have laser eye surgery simply so they no longer need glasses or contacts it is common to have one eye set for reading and the other for distance