Our eyes have a natural lens which helps us with our vision, with age, the efficacy of this lens reduces.
Opacification of the clear fibres in the natural lens of the eye happen over a period of time and that causes the natural lens to harden.
This hard lens is called as the cataract or मोतीबिंदू.
Cataract happens due to progressing age, exposure to uv rays (sun), severe eye injury, it can sometimes also be congenital ( present in a new born child).
Symptoms of cataract include blurred vision, one finds the colours to be faded, one can see halos around lights, in general lights feels brighter and tend to disturb the eye.
Cataract surgery is a procedure where in, the natural hardened lens is removed with a laser and an artificial lens is implanted into the patients eye.
Different types of lenses are available for a patient, although the right lens is decided by the doctor post the pre cataract scans.
At Jehan Eye Clinic there are 3 main scans which are done before a cataract surgery, they are the OCT (optical coherence tomography), Topography Scan (corneal topography) and the A-Scan (Optical Biometry Scan).
The patient also has to undergo a series of blood tests and get a physician fitness test done before their cataract surgery.
These scans will help the doctor determine the power of the IOL (intraocular lens) that has to be implanted into the patient’s eye.
The patient has to follow certain guidelines before the cataract surgery such as:
- Consume the medication prescribed by the doctor in the correct dosage and at the right time a day or two before the surgery
- Have a light meal before the surgery
- Have someone accompany you for the surgery
- Wash your hair on the day of the surgery and come (as it won’t be allowed for 1 week post the surgery)
The surgery is not a very lengthy procedure and takes approximately 30 minutes.
There are certain guidelines a patient has to follow post-surgery such as:
- No head bath and facewash for a week
- The patient can use a damp towel to clean their face.
- A regular bath below the neck is okay
- No hair dye for 1 month
- No eye makeup for 1 month
- No eyebrow threading or waxing for 1 month
- No swimming for 2 months
- No heavy weight training exercises for 2 months
Most importantly the patient must come in for their check up the following day
the doctor will prescribe certain eye drops to prevent any infection and to reduce any inflammation these eye drops must be taken in the correct sequence for the required amount of time.
Weekly and then monthly follow up visits to the doctor must be done to check on the progress of the operated eye.