Didn't See It Coming: Why You Should Not Wait Until You Need Advanced Cataract Surgery

If you begin to have problems with your vision, you will likely visit your eye care specialist to find out what the problem is. For whatever reasons, not everyone visits their eye doctors when they experience the initial symptoms of the early stages of cataracts. Not seeing your eye doctor means you could be allowing your cataracts to advance to the late stages. While you can still have your cataracts surgically corrected in the advanced stage, it is better to have the surgery long before then. Here are some reasons why you should not wait until you cannot see anything coming.

Fewer Complications with Early Surgeries

When you have the lenses in your eyes replaced before the cataracts completely occlude your vision, you have fewer complications. Your body is able to adapt and heal better because its natural defense mechanisms developed to deal with disease (which is what cataracts are) have not reached the full-blown levels found in a person with "ripe" cataracts. ("Ripe" cataracts are fully developed and advanced cataracts.) You can have equally as few complications with advanced cataract surgery, but you may need more medicated eye drops to keep inflammation down and infection away.

You Do Not Have as Much Time as You Think

Most people assume that cataracts take a long time to "ripen." However, your age, diabetes and other illnesses and even your medications (like steroids for arthritis) can cause your cataracts to advance more quickly than someone who has none of these factors and has early stage cataracts. The mild problems you currently experience now can be corrected before you wake up one morning completely blinded by cataracts that have reached their ultimate end.

Peripheral Vision Problems Can Cause Serious Accidents

Because cataracts slowly deteriorate the lenses in your eye from the outside edges in, your peripheral vision is often the first thing to go. You will see what a problem it is and what a serious danger it can become when people are able to sneak up on you from the side or blindside you on foot or driving. If you wait to have surgery, you are waiting for a serious and potentially fatal accident to occur when you completely lose all of your peripheral vision and can only see straight ahead. Even if you do not drive when you are diagnosed with cataracts, then you have to rely on the good driving skills and the schedule of someone else to get around while you wait for advanced cataract surgery. Avoid all of the above, and get the cataract surgery done earlier rather than later.

For more information, contact a doctor's office like Northwest Ophthalmology.

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