Cataract Surgery Archives - Page 6 of 6

How Long Does Cataract Surgery Take?

August 17, 2021/0 Comments/in Cataract Surgery /by The Armadale Eye Clinic Team

The treatment and management of cataracts are an important part of eye care, mainly because cataracts are so common in our ageing population. Thousands of cataract surgery procedures are performed every year, and the public waitlist for cataract surgery can exceed 12 months. With so many cataract operations churning through every day, many eye surgeons have identified factors that impact their efficiency at this popular procedure. Keep reading to find out how long does cataract surgery take and the factors that affect the operating time.

How long does Cataract Surgery Take ?

There are several factors that affect cataract surgery operating times and not all of them are within the control of your eye surgeon. Typically, a straightforward, uncomplicated cataract surgery procedure can be over in as soon as 10-15 minutes per eye. Conversely, some operations may take over half an hour in the case of unexpected (or even expected) complications. According to research, here are some factors that may affect the duration of your operation.

Expertise and experience of the surgeon

Unsurprisingly, the more cataract surgery procedures an eye care specialist has under the belt, the faster and more efficient he or she will be. A study looking at the operating times of various levels of experience found that the most senior and experienced eye surgeons (consultants), generally demonstrated significantly shorter times compared to junior surgeons. The operating time of a consultant ranged from 9 to 29 minutes, while junior ophthalmologists completed their procedures within 19 to 41 minutes.

Complications

Even though cataract surgery typically boasts high success rates and a low risk of complications in Australia, even the simplest of eye care procedures have the potential to go awry. Regardless of the skill of the eye surgeon, unexpected complications may lengthen the duration of the cataract procedure as the surgeon may be required to utilise additional interventions or simply work at a more cautious pace. Certain factors have been found to increase the complexity of a cataract operation:

Older age
Diabetes
Other concurrent eye diseases, such as glaucoma
Certain medications
Simultaneously performing cataract surgery with another eye care procedure, such as inserting a stent for glaucoma
Hyperopia (long-sightedness), resulting in a narrowed space between the iris and the cornea
A very advanced or mature cataract, which can be difficult to fragment into pieces for removal from the eye

Type of anaesthesia

Cataract surgery is most commonly performed with local or topical anaesthesia. A local anaesthetic may be administered as an injection around the eye area, while topical anaesthesia is instilled as eye drops. Cataract procedures involving a topical anaesthetic eye drop are found to result in a much shorter operating time compared to local anaesthesia. General anaesthesia is rarely used for cataract surgery, however, in the case of a special need, such as a mental impairment, it may be offered. This would conceivably further lengthen the total procedure time.

Pupil size

The pupil is the aperture in the centre of your coloured iris. To be able to access the cataract behind the iris, the pupil must be dilated, typically with eye drops. However, in some cases, pharmaceutical eye drops are not able to dilate the pupil adequately. In these instances, the eye surgeon must use another technique to widen the pupil, such as iris hooks, expanders, or rings. Eyes that can be sufficiently dilated with pharmaceutical eye drops alone are associated with much shorter surgery times compared to eyes that require another intervention. For those that do require the use of a device, certain techniques may take longer to implement. For example, widening the iris with a ring is associated with faster operating times compared to using an iris hook.

Can Anything Be Done to Reduce Your Operation Time?

Even the most experienced eye surgeon will not always be able to give an exact answer to how long does cataract surgery take. However, taking into account the following may help to reduce your risk of unexpected complications arising during your operation, thereby potentially keeping your procedure time to a minimum.

Be open about your medical history

It’s important to give your eye specialist an accurate picture of your health, particularly your eye care history. Even if you think it may not be relevant to your cataract surgery procedure, you may be surprised at how seemingly unrelated systemic conditions or medications can have an impact, whether on the cataract operation itself or the post-operative period. During your preoperative consultations, your eye surgeon will want to know of any health conditions you have, any past eye infections or injuries, and any medications you’re currently taking or have stopped recently.

Follow any pre-operative instructions

Depending on your eyes and your eye specialist, you may be recommended to follow some treatments before your surgery. This can include improving the hygiene of the eyelids and skin around the eyes with lid wipes, or by using medicated eye drops. The aim of these pre-operative instructions is to reduce your likelihood of excessive inflammation or infection after your cataract surgery.

Ask for eye surgeon recommendations

If the choice is available to you, you may want to ask your GP, optometrist, or friends or family who have had cataract surgery about who they might recommend performing your surgery. A personal recommendation is always better than choosing a surgeon at random!

Call us on (03) 9070 5753 for a consultation.

Note: Any surgical or invasive procedure carries risks. Before proceeding, you should seek a second opinion from an appropriately qualified health practitioner.

what expect after cataract surgery melbourne

What To Expect After Cataract Surgery? Everything You Need To Know

July 31, 2021/0 Comments/in Cataract Surgery /by The Armadale Eye Clinic Team

Have you been told you have cataracts? If so, you’re in good company as cataracts top the list of the most common eye conditions in the world. This consequently results in cataract surgery topping the list of the most commonly performed surgical procedures, particularly in a country like Australia where we have easy access to high-quality eye care.

If you’re considering a cataract operation, you may be wondering what happens once you walk out of that operating theatre. Here’s what to expect after cataract surgery.

What to Expect After Cataract Surgery: Your Vision

Once you’ve had your cataracts removed, the world is going to look a little different. While you shouldn’t expect your vision to be crystal clear immediately after cataract surgery, you may already feel your vision is improved, particularly if your cataracts were advanced.

You’re also likely to experience other immediate changes to your sight. Because age-related cataracts are often a brownish-yellow colour, they filter out certain wavelengths of the spectrum and can cause colours to appear duller. As cataracts tend to progress very slowly, you may have been unaware of this change in your colour perception. However, once they’ve been removed through cataract surgery, you may find that colours are much brighter and more vibrant.

The removal of your cataracts may cause you some glare sensitivity in the short term, also known as photophobia. Now that the opacity in your lens has been removed with cataract surgery, more light can enter your eye. This glare sensitivity will resolve over the following weeks to months as your eyes readjust. In the meantime, some activities like looking at a bright screen or encountering sunlight reflecting off the road may be uncomfortable. It is not uncommon for cataract surgery to induce some degree of dry eye, which can also contribute to glare sensitivity. If this is the case for you, wear sunglasses in glary or dazzling conditions and speak to your eye surgeon about whether lubricant eye drops may be appropriate for managing your dry eye. Like glare sensitivity, dry eye as a side effect of cataract surgery tends to self-resolve over several months.

It’s important to understand that if you have limited vision as a result of other eye conditions, having cataract surgery won’t restore this vision loss. These include decreased vision from diseases such as retinal detachment, corneal scarring, or age-related macular degeneration. Your eye specialist will have conducted a thorough eye exam prior to performing surgery and so will have likely mentioned this when explaining what to expect after cataract surgery.

Your eye will take some time to heal from the procedure. Though the exact length of time will vary from individual to individual, many people find their vision has stabilised around 4-6 weeks after the operation. During this time, you won’t be able to wear your usual glasses or contact lenses as your prescription will have been altered by the procedure. Once your vision is stable your cataract surgeon will advise you when you can see your optometrist for a prescription update.

What to Expect After Cataract Surgery: Post-Operation Instructions

Your cataract surgeon will provide you with a guide of post-op instructions. It’s important to follow these to optimise your recovery process and minimise your risk of complications, such as a damaging eye infection.

The exact advice may vary depending on your specialist and your specific situation, but in general, most cataract surgeons will recommend:

Resting and avoiding strenuous activity for a few weeks. This includes lifting or moving heavy objects, participating in sports, and even vigorous housework like mopping.
Wearing your eye shield. Your surgeon may recommend you keep the shield on for the first 24 hours after your cataract surgery and then only overnight for about a week. This is to physically protect your eye from accidents like eye rubbing during sleep.
Using your prescription eye drops. You’ll be given a script for two or three bottles of medications, usually an antibiotic and one or two anti-inflammatory drops. It’s important to instil these as instructed and to complete the full course of eye drops even if your eyes feel better.
Keeping the eye clean. Try to avoid any unsterile water near the eye, including swimming pools, saunas, and at the beach. You can still bathe but you may choose to gently clean your face with a damp washcloth instead of under the shower. Soaps, shampoos, makeup, and any other similar products should be kept away from the eye area.
Avoiding dirty and dusty environments. It’s best to try and keep any foreign particles from getting lodged in the eye while it’s still healing. This includes taking a break from gardening or even housework that may send up dust into the air.

Although complications after cataract surgery are not common, they can happen. If you experience increased redness or pain in your eye, if your vision is deteriorating rather than improving, or if you see any sudden flashing lines or floating specks or lines, get in contact with your eye specialist immediately.

Note: Any surgical or invasive procedure carries risks. Before proceeding, you should seek a second opinion from an appropriately qualified health practitioner.

How is Cataract Surgery Done? Factors That Need To Consider

July 17, 2021/0 Comments/in Cataract Surgery /by The Armadale Eye Clinic Team

If you’re one of the thousands of Australians who are booked in to undergo cataract surgery every year, your ophthalmologist or optometrist has probably already answered your question about “how is cataract surgery done”. Even if you’ve not yet reached that point where you need to think about cataract surgery for yourself, you most likely know someone who does or who has already had it done. If you’d like to know how is cataract surgery done in greater detail, keep reading.

Is it Time for Cataract Surgery?

One of the most common questions preceding how is cataract surgery done is whether you even need to have cataract surgery right now.

Your optometrist or ophthalmologist will be the best person to discuss this with, as each individual’s case is a little different and it’s important to know your eye history and the current state of your vision when deciding. There are some factors to take into consideration but ultimately, you are the one who decides whether you’re ready to undergo an eye operation or not.

The main factor to think about is whether your current vision is adequate for your needs. Different people will have different expectations and demands of their vision. This can depend on your work and your hobbies. For example, if you’re a truck driver who often does long journeys overnight, you may feel the effects of a developing cataract much earlier than someone who works on a computer during the day, even if objectively your cataracts are similar. Vocation and hobbies aside, some people are also simply more sensitive to changes to their vision, or less tolerant of blur compared to others. This can mean an individual with only a mild cataract may still be significantly bothered by the deterioration of their vision, enough to want to seek cataract surgery at this stage.

Another factor your eye care professional will take into account is the overall health of your eyes. There are few circumstances where delaying cataract surgery may result in more serious damage to your eye health, however, one such situation is if the drainage of fluid from your eye is compromised. Angle-closure glaucoma results in increased eye pressure, which can cause permanent vision loss.

If you are at risk of this eye condition, your eye care provider may recommend you have cataract surgery sooner rather than later to ameliorate this risk, even if you’re still happy with your overall vision.

How is Cataract Surgery Done?

It is comforting to know that cataract surgery is one of the most commonly performed surgical procedures in the developed world. Although the ultimate success of your operation depends on the skill of your eye surgeon, cataract surgery is generally associated with low rates of complications and high levels of success.

After your pre-operation examination and consult, if you and your ophthalmologist have decided it’s time to remove your cataracts, you will be organised an appointment in the operating theatre. On the day, you will need to bring someone to drive you home.

Cataract surgery is a day procedure performed under local anaesthetic. Your eye will be numbed with either an injection around the eye or with topical eye drops. Typically, eye surgeons prefer to operate on one eye at a time, but in special circumstances, you may have both cataracts removed at the same time.

Once you’re comfortable, the surgeon will ask you to fixate on a target overhead to help keep your eye steady. There will be an instrument known as a speculum to help keep your eyelids open during the procedure as you may reflexively feel like blinking even though the eyeball itself is anaesthetised. You will also be given some dilating eye drops to widen the pupil so the cataract behind it is more easily accessed.

There are two techniques of cataract surgery. Your eye surgeon may prefer one over the other for all patients or may switch between the two depending on the specific case. Conventional cataract surgery is known as phacoemulsification while a newer method utilises laser technology, called femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery (FLACS). During FLACS, almost all steps of the cataract extraction procedure may be performed with the femtosecond laser rather than a handheld tool as in conventional phacoemulsification.

The first step is to create an incision in the cornea, the clear front surface of the eye. This makes an opening for other tools to get to the cataract further inside the eyeball. From here, the membrane capsule that holds the cataract must be gently torn open, a step known as capsulorhexis. Before the cataract can be removed from the eye, it must be broken into fragments small enough to be suctioned out. In FLACS, the femtosecond laser is used to soften the cataract before an ultrasound probe breaks it into pieces; in conventional cataract surgery, only the probe is used for this step. Once the cataract is entirely removed, the surgeon will insert an intraocular lens implant into the membrane capsule and the corneal incision allowed to self-seal.

Your eye will continue healing over the following 4 to 6 weeks. During that time, you will have a few review appointments with your eye care professional to ensure your vision is stabilising as expected.

Call us now on (03) 9070 5753 for a consultation.

Note: Any surgical or invasive procedure carries risks. Before proceeding, you should seek a second opinion from an appropriately qualified health practitioner.

Cataract Symptoms – Understand What You Need To Look Out For

June 30, 2021/0 Comments/in Cataract Surgery /by The Armadale Eye Clinic Team

Cataracts are a natural part of getting older. Fortunately, due to the accessibility of highly skilled cataract surgery in Australia, instances of significant vision loss from a cataract occur infrequently. Early cataracts often do not cause any detectable cataract symptoms with many people continuing their usual activities with no difficulties. In some situations, even moderately advanced cataracts cause such mild cataract symptoms that an individual may be unaware they are developing a cataract.

What is a Cataract?

A cataract is an opacity of the lens inside the eye. This lens sits behind the coloured iris within the eyeball. At birth, a normal lens is clear and transparent, allowing light to pass through easily to reach the retina and form vision. As we age, this lens gradually loses its transparency, causing minute degrees of vision loss, and eventually, we consider this a cataract. The only way to definitively treat a cataract is through cataract surgery. In most cases, cataract surgery is able to successfully and entirely reverse the vision loss caused by a cataract.

Cataract Symptoms

Cataract symptoms can vary depending on several factors, such as how advanced the cataract is and its location within the lens. More central cataract opacities in the lens will cause more noticeable vision loss compared to an opacity towards the edge of the lens.

Because cataracts typically develop so slowly, many people don’t realise the subtle changes to their vision are due to a cataract but may instead dismiss them as just part of ageing. While cataracts are indeed a natural part of ageing, unlike other eye diseases of older age, such as age-related macular degeneration, any vision deterioration from a cataract can be successfully restored with cataract surgery.

The symptoms of a cataract can also overlap with other eye diseases, some of which may result in permanent vision defects if not managed appropriately. If you are experiencing any of the cataract symptoms discussed below it’s important not to make a self-diagnosis of cataract. Instead, seek a proper eye examination by an optometrist or ophthalmologist who will be able to advise you whether cataract surgery is appropriate for you.

Here are some of the characteristic symptoms of a cataract.

● Deteriorating clarity of vision. Different patients may describe the changes to their vision in different ways. Common terms include hazy, foggy, or cloudy vision. Some people also describe the sensation of looking through a filmy, dirty window.

● Impaired contrast sensitivity. Because the opacity of the cataract blocks some of the light entering the eye, you may experience difficulties seeing in low contrast conditions. You may find this becomes apparent in situations such as driving at dusk or if it’s particularly overcast or raining. Reading the fine print in dim lighting may not be as easy as it once was, or if you are trying to read coloured text against a coloured background.

● Increased glare sensitivity. Though we all experience discomfort to bright glare to some degree, a progressing cataract can increase this sensitivity. Examples of situations where you might find this apparent include when faced with oncoming car headlights while driving at night or when looking at street lights. Backlit signs or LED signs can also become quite uncomfortable to view when a cataract is present.

● Frequent prescription updates. Certain types of cataract can cause a change to the refractive index of the lens. The refractive index refers to the degree that light bends, or refracts, through the lens structure. One type of age-related cataract known as nuclear sclerosis is associated with a myopic shift, meaning that your eye becomes more short-sighted. For patients who used to need reading glasses for near viewing, this can be a welcome symptom! Conversely, another type of age-related cataract called anterior cortical cataract can cause a hyperopic shift, when the eye becomes more far-sighted.

It’s important to remember that a cataract is not typically associated with a red eye or pain. Cataracts are also known to develop slowly over time, though some types of cataract, such as those from trauma or steroid use, may progress faster than others.

When is it Time for Cataract Surgery?

Cataract surgery is indicated once the cataract opacity has developed to the point where it is impeding your usual daily activities. This point will differ between different individuals and can depend on various factors, such as your work, hobbies, and tolerance for the changes to your vision. For example, an artist who requires accurate colour discrimination may be more bothered by a mild cataract compared to a retail worker.

In the early to moderate stages of a cataract, even if you feel that your vision is not as clear as it once was but are still comfortably achieving all the tasks you need to do, it may not be necessary to undergo cataract surgery immediately. There may be some situations where your optometrist or ophthalmologist may encourage you to have cataract surgery sooner rather than later. This may be because you are approaching the limit of the vision requirements to hold a driver’s licence, or if there is a risk posed to the overall health of your eye from the growing cataract, such as in some cases of glaucoma.

Call us on (03) 9070 5753 today for a consultation.

Note: Any surgical or invasive procedure carries risks. Before proceeding, you should seek a second
opinion from an appropriately qualified health practitioner.

What are the Types of Cataract?

June 18, 2021/0 Comments/in Cataract Surgery /by The Armadale Eye Clinic Team

Cataracts are considered the leading cause of reversible vision loss in Western society. In Australia, this makes cataract surgery one of the most commonly performed procedures, particularly because we have an ageing population.

What is a Cataract?

A cataract is any opacity of the crystalline lens inside the eye. At birth, a healthy lens is transparent, allowing the transmission of light to the retina where the process of vision begins. As we get older, this lens naturally begins to become cloudy. This makes age-related cataracts the most common out of all the types of cataract.

As the lens loses its transparency, it begins to cause vision problems. Depending on which of the types of cataract is involved, its location within the lens, and how advanced the cataract is, your vision problems can vary from a mild clouding of your vision to significant vision loss.

A cataract can only be treated with cataract surgery, which involves the extraction of the entire hazy lens from the eye. In Australia, patients rarely reach the stage where they experience complete vision loss from a cataract. This is due to the accessibility of cataract surgery, whether through the public system or with a private eye surgeon.

Types of Cataract

A cataract can be categorised in a number of different ways. One way is to identify a cataract by its underlying cause.

Age-related cataracts, as mentioned previously, are the most common out of all the types of cataract. These are also known as senile cataracts. Cataract surgery is typically able to restore vision back to pre-cataract levels. However, with age, we are also more at risk of other eye diseases that contribute to vision problems, such as age-related macular degeneration.

Traumatic cataracts occur after an injury. An injury can be a blunt, concussive blow to the eye, such as from a punch, or from a penetrating injury like a splinter going through the eye. Other types of trauma that may cause a traumatic cataract include radiation exposure, chemical burns, or electrocution. Sometimes cataract surgery may not be sufficient to restore vision loss in these cases if other parts of the eye have also been damaged, such as the cornea or the retina.

It is possible for a baby to be born with a cataract or develop one shortly after birth. These are known as congenital cataracts. A congenital cataract may be caused by an illness in the mother during pregnancy, such as measles or rubella, or due to certain medications taken during pregnancy.

If a congenital cataract is considered to be visually significant, cataract surgery is usually performed promptly in order to give the baby’s visual system the best chance of developing normally.

Certain metabolic diseases are associated with cataracts. Diabetes is perhaps the most well-known of these conditions. Changes to the water content of the crystalline lens due to elevated blood glucose levels are responsible for inducing a cataract. Other systemic metabolic conditions that may cause a cataract include galactosaemia, Wilson disease, or myotonic dystrophy.

Age-Related Cataracts

Age-related cataracts deserve a bit more attention due to their prevalent nature. There are in fact three types of age-related cataract. An eye can have just one type of cataract or even all three present at the same time.

● Nuclear sclerosis. Nuclear sclerosis appears as a brownish-yellowish haze in the centre of the crystalline lens, an area known as the nucleus. The more advanced nuclear sclerosis is the browner the colour of the cataract. Nuclear sclerosis will typically cause symptoms such as a hazy, foggy, or cloudy sensation to the vision. It can also cause a change to your colour perception, as the yellow-brown tinge of the lens filters out certain wavelengths of colour. Some patients also experience a myopic shift, which is when your vision becomes more short-sighted. This is due to the developing cataract altering the refractive index of the lens.

● Cortical cataracts. Cortical cataracts appear as grey or white spoke-like opacities radiating from the edges of the lens towards the centre if viewed from the front on. This type of cataract usually develops in the outer layers at the front of the lens, known as the anterior cortex. A cortical cataract will often be associated with glare sensitivity, as the incoming light is scattered by the cataract opacities. The development of an anterior cortical cataract may also cause a hyperopic shift, which is when the eye becomes more long-sighted.

● Posterior subcapsular cataract. This typically carries the most significant visual impact on the eye, due to its location in the lens. A posterior subcapsular cataract often forms in the centre at the back surface of the lens and looks like a white plaque. It can be responsible for a significant decrease in clarity of vision as well as a lot of glare sensitivity. Cataract surgery for age-related cataracts can typically be delayed until you feel your vision is no
longer good enough for your usual activities. Once your vision has deteriorated to this point, cataract surgery is a quick, uncomplicated procedure that can effectively return your clarity of vision. Your optometrist and eye specialist are the best people to discuss when your vision is ready for cataract surgery.

Note: Any surgical or invasive procedure carries risks. Before proceeding, you should seek a second
opinion from an appropriately qualified health practitioner.

What You Should Know About the Cataract Surgery Procedure?

May 31, 2021/0 Comments/in Cataract Surgery /by The Armadale Eye Clinic Team

Around the world, every single day, approximately 60 000 eyes undergo a cataract surgery
procedure. This makes cataract surgery among the very top reasons for surgery in Australia, if not
the world. As cataracts are due to normal ageing, most people in our ageing population can assume
they will need cataract surgery at some point in the future. However, understanding exactly what is
involved during the cataract surgery procedure can leave some in the dark.

Before Cataract Surgery

Any eye specialist doing his or her due diligence will conduct a comprehensive eye and vision
examination before taking you under the knife with cataract surgery. During this consultation, you
may also like to discuss the costs involved and any concerns you may have. An important part of this
appointment will also be discussing what sort of intraocular lens you would like to have replace the
cataract once it’s removed – this may be a monovision implant, multifocal, or extended depth of
focus lens. Some intraocular lens implants are even designed to be able to change their depth of
focus to mimic the eye’s natural focusing ability, a type of implant known as an accommodating
intraocular lens. Your ophthalmologist will be able to talk you through your options and help you
decide what sort of implant will best suit your visual needs.

During this examination, the ophthalmologist will want to assess your functional vision. This will
involve reading letters on a standard chart but may also include a test of your contrast sensitivity,
which uses letters of increasingly faint print, as well as measuring your near reading vision. You will
also have your eye health examined, which includes using specialised equipment to directly visualise
the cataract and other structures of the eye. It’s important for the ophthalmologist to rule out any
other eye diseases that may impact the outcome of your cataract surgery, whether it’s a disease like
macular degeneration that may limit your post-operative visual acuity or a retinal tear that needs to
be addressed before undergoing the cataract surgery procedure.

The Cataract Surgery Procedure

Cataract surgery is performed as a day procedure and you will typically be able to go home on the
same day.

Your eye will be prepared for surgery by being numbed with a local anaesthetic, either using a local
nerve block injected around the eye or a topical anaesthetic in the form of an eye drop. It is not
common for cataract surgery to be performed under general anaesthesia but for patients who are
unable to comply with instructions due to a mental disability or are unable to lie still for an adequate
amount of time, a general anaesthetic may be administered. It is more common for a light sedative
to be offered for patients who are feeling anxious or restless.

The eye surgeon will ask you to fixate on a target light overhead, which helps to keep your eye
steady during the procedure and your eyelids may be gently held open using an instrument known
as a speculum. The surgeon then makes a small incision in your cornea, which is the transparent
dome at the front of the eye. Through this incision, the eye surgeon can then insert the tools
necessary to access the lens of the eye, which is where cataracts form. The lens sits behind the
coloured iris.

There are two types of cataract surgery – femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery and
conventional phacoemulsification. During femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery, a computer-
guided laser is used to tear a gap in the lens capsule, which contains the lens, as well as break up the
cataract into smaller fragments by using less energy compared to phacoemulsification. With a
conventional cataract operation, a handheld tool is used to tear open the lens capsule and an
ultrasonic device used to fragment the cataract. Regardless of which technique is used to break the
cataract into small pieces, a handheld device is used to suction the fragments out of the eye. The
surgeon will then insert the chosen intraocular lens through the incision into the lens capsule.
There is an ongoing debate about whether femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery provides
significantly better outcomes than traditional phacoemulsification to justify the much higher costs
for all patients. Although using a computer-guided laser allows more accuracy compared to
handheld tools, in the long-term, many studies have concluded that both methods are effective,
safe, and provide similar visual outcomes.

After Cataract Surgery

The corneal incision created during the operation is designed to self-seal without stitches. Most
people will find their vision is immediately much clearer after the operation compared to when the
cataract was still there, but your vision is still expected to stabilise further over the coming weeks.

Your ophthalmologist will give you a list of post-operative instructions and prescription eye drops to
use while the eye is healing. You will be advised to wear a protective eye shield at night to avoid
accidental eye rubbing, avoid any contaminants in the eye such as dirt or pool water, and avoid any
strenuous activity.

Although some discomfort is expected after surgery, including the eye feeling dry or gritty and some
glare sensitivity, if you are concerned that something is not right, you should contact your
ophthalmologist immediately.

Call us now on (03) 9070 5753 today for a consultation.

Note: Any surgical or invasive procedure carries risks. Before proceeding, you should seek a second
opinion from an appropriately qualified health practitioner.

Optimise Your Recovery From Cataract Surgery

May 16, 2021/0 Comments/in Cataract Surgery /by The Armadale Eye Clinic Team

Cataract surgery is one of the most commonly performed surgical procedures in Australia. Although
a scalpel coming towards your eye can be a pretty daunting sight, cataract surgery is considered a
very safe, highly successful operation. However, as with any surgical procedure, there is a necessary
period of recovery from cataract surgery that comes after you leave the operating theatre.

Cataract Surgery

Ask around your friends or family members over the age of 60 and you’re likely to encounter at least
a few who have had cataract surgery in one or both eyes. Cataract surgery in Australia is a
reasonably straightforward operation and can be accessed either via the public or private health
system.

Prior to undergoing the operation, you will have a consultation and thorough eye examination with
the ophthalmologist. This is to assess the cataract and its effects on your vision, as well as ensure
there are no other eye diseases that may limit the success of the cataract surgery or cause further
complications during your cataract surgery recovery. During this consultation, the doctor can also
discuss with you what sort of intraocular lens implant will work best for your visual needs and
lifestyle. The intraocular lens will replace the cataract once it’s been extracted.

Cataract surgery is performed as a day procedure under local anaesthesia around the eye. A small
incision is created in the cornea (the front surface of the eye) to allow other instruments to access
the cataract sitting behind the coloured iris. The cataract is broken into smaller fragments that can
be suctioned out, and then the intraocular lens is implanted in its place and the corneal incision
allowed to self-seal.

After the procedure, your eye surgeon will give you a list of instructions on how to ensure your
recovery from cataract surgery is as smooth as possible.

What to Expect After Cataract Surgery?

Immediately after you’ve undergone the eye operation, your vision is likely to feel a little cloudy and
blurry due to some normal post-operative swelling in the cornea. Despite this, you may already feel
your vision is much better than before the procedure, depending on how advanced your cataract
was, to begin with. Colours may feel more vibrant and lights a little (or a lot) brighter. It’s normal to
experience some glare sensitivity for up to several months as your eyes readjust to all the light now
unhindered by the cataract opacity.

Some people will also experience some degree of temporary dry eye after cataract surgery. This is
also normal even if you didn’t have dry eyes before the surgery and is due to the disruption of the
corneal nerves during the procedure.

Your eye may feel a bit sore and red during the first few days of your cataract surgery recovery.
Many people will feel their vision is quite clear within a few days of the procedure but you can
expect that it may continue to change and stabilise over the following 4 to 6 weeks. After this time,
once your ophthalmologist has given you the all-clear, you may see your optometrist to update your
glasses as necessary.

How to Optimise Recovery from Cataract Surgery?

Cataract surgery recovery is typically uneventful but its course can vary from individual to individual,
depending on your body’s healing response. Also depending on your hobbies, work, and general
visual demands and expectations, you may feel your full recovery from cataract surgery is longer or
shorter compared to someone else’s.

It’s important to follow your eye doctor’s post-operative instructions to make your cataract surgery
recovery as smooth as possible. Here are some tips to help your eye heal after cataract surgery.

Protect your eye. After the operation, you’ll have a clear plastic shield taped over your eye. It’s likely
your eye doctor will recommend you keep this on the eye for a night or two to ensure you don’t
accidentally rub it while sleeping. After the shield comes off, it’s still important to keep the eye clean
and protected. This means avoiding dirty, dusty environments, or getting makeup and soaps in the
eye. You may be advised to avoid swimming pools, saunas, and spas for a week or two as these
water sources contain many pathogens that can cause an eye infection.
Use your prescription eye drops. Your eye specialist will give you a prescription for a few different eyedrop medications. These will include one or two anti-inflammatory drops and a preventative antibiotic drop. Your dosing regime may taper slowly over the following 3 to 4 weeks but it’s important not to suddenly stop the medications early even if your eye feels okay. You may also choose to use a preservative-free lubricant eye drop for comfort if your eye feels dry or gritty after the surgery.
Avoid strenuous activities. Like any surgical procedure, it’s a good idea to avoid physically exerting yourself after the operation. For a few weeks, you may be advised against intensive exercise or lifting heavy objects. Activities that may raise the pressure inside the eye, such as bending over or coughing, should also be avoided if possible.
If something doesn’t feel right, contact your eye specialist. Even if the operation itself was uneventful, there is always a slim chance of a complication occurring during the post-operative period. If you experience increasing pain or redness, if these symptoms are unusually prolonged, or if there is any discharge from the eye or decrease in vision, contact your ophthalmologist immediately.

Call us now on (03) 9070 5753 for a consultation.

Note: Any surgical or invasive procedure carries risks. Before proceeding, you should seek a second
opinion from an appropriately qualified health practitioner.

Cataract Causes That You Should Know About

April 30, 2021/0 Comments/in Cataract Surgery /by The Armadale Eye Clinic Team

Cataracts are a part of life, they come along part and parcel with the white hairs and wrinkles. A cataract is an opacity or haze that develops in the crystalline lens of the eye, which sits just behind the coloured iris at the front of the eyeball. The clouding of this lens causes the typical cataract symptoms of blurry vision, increased glare sensitivity, and reduced contrast sensitivity. Though the idea of a cataract causes anxiety for some, in Australia we have easy access to a high standard of care with cataract surgery via both the private and public systems.

So, what causes cataracts?

Cataract Causes

Topping the list of cataract causes is age. As mentioned before, cataracts are a part of life simply because they come naturally with age. This makes cataract surgery one of the most commonly performed procedures in a developed society. The underlying mechanism behind increasing age as it causes cataracts is not fully understood. Doctors believe there to be a contribution from cumulative UV exposure over an individual’s lifetime, which causes oxidative damage to the lens. The crystalline lens also continuously grows more lens fibres with age, which may cause the inner fibres to become compacted and lose their transparency.

Age-related UV exposure isn’t the only situation that causes cataracts. Studies have found that groups of people who are exposed to high amounts of sunlight and UV, especially at a younger age, have a higher risk of cataracts. This includes those who work outdoors or those who live in countries with a lot of sun, such as equatorial regions. Because of this, wearing sun protection for the eyes such as a hat and sunglasses can reduce your need for cataract surgery.

Smoking is also known as one of the causes of cataracts in addition to being responsible for contributing to other blinding eye conditions such as age-related macular degeneration. Studies have shown the risk of a smoker developing a cataract and needing cataract surgery is twice as high as someone who has never smoked. Fortunately, quitting smoking can help to lower your risk of developing cataract symptoms, but as this risk is still higher compared to someone who has never smoked, it’s better to have never smoked in the first place.

Also on the list of cataract causes is diabetes. Also known as a “sugar cataract”, experts estimate about 4% of all cataracts are due to diabetes. The elevated blood glucose concentration affects the water content of the lens in the eye, causing the fibres to degenerate and opacify. People with diabetes are thought to be at a 60% greater risk of developing cataracts.

The use of steroid medications can increase the risk of developing cataract symptoms and requiring early cataract surgery. This applies to both systemic and topical steroids, including inhaled steroids, such as those for asthma. The higher the dose and the longer the treatment, the increased likelihood of experiencing a steroid-induced cataract.

Trauma to the eye, such as a hit to the eye or an electric shock can cause cataracts, as can inflammatory eye diseases such as uveitis. Eye trauma may also include certain eye operations. The procedure of treating a retinal detachment will often induce a cataract, which must then be treated with cataract surgery after the retinal detachment has been managed.

Other cataract causes include health issues such as obesity and hypertension. When the body is overweight, the excess fat tissue releases a chemical known as leptin that induces oxidative stress on the eye, which can result in opacification of the lens fibres. Although it’s not fully understood how hypertension causes cataracts, it thought that elevated blood pressure can increase inflammation in the body, which in turn exacerbates cataract formation and increases the risk of requiring cataract surgery.

Several studies have linked alcohol consumption with the development of a cataract. It has been found that the higher the alcohol intake, the greater the risk of age-related cataracts. However, studies have also noted that moderate alcohol consumption, defined as less than 20g of alcohol per day, may in fact have a protective effect on developing cataracts.

A Word on Cataract Surgery

Early symptoms of a cataract usually do not need immediate cataract surgery. Many people are able to work around their cataract symptoms with simple solutions, such as using a bright lamp for sewing or reading a book, or reducing the screen brightness on their digital devices to alleviate glare.

Cataract surgery in Australia is a safe procedure with a high success rate. Your optometrist or ophthalmologist is the best person to discuss with you when you might be ready for cataract surgery – if you’ve just been diagnosed with cataracts this is likely to be not for years. In some cases, you may be advised to proceed with surgery sooner, such as if the delay in removing your cataracts is likely to put your eyes at risk of developing another problem or if you no longer meet the vision requirements for holding a driver’s license.

After your cataracts are removed in a quick day-procedure, you will find your vision is significantly clearer, possibly even restored to the clarity you once had years ago.

Note: Any surgical or invasive procedure carries risks. Before proceeding, you should seek a second opinion from an appropriately qualified health practitioner.

What is a Cataract and How is the Vision Problem Treated?

April 19, 2021/0 Comments/in Cataract Surgery /by The Armadale Eye Clinic Team

You’ve just celebrated your 60th birthday and have turned up to your regular yearly eye test feeling pretty good – you’re generally fit and healthy and have no noticeable vision problems. But then your optometrist gives you a birthday present you could have done without – telling you that you have an early cataract.

This triggers a bunch of questions, such as exactly what is a cataract and will you need to have cataract surgery immediately? The good news is that you’re not likely to need to be rushed into cataract surgery but it will still be helpful to understand what vision problems to look out for that might indicate those cataracts are ready to be removed.

What is a Cataract?

A cataract refers to any opacity of the lens inside the eye. This lens is also called the crystalline lens, a transparent anatomical structure that sits behind the coloured iris near the front of your eyeball. In addition to being responsible for flexing its shape to allow focus at different viewing distances, the lens must remain optically clear to allow light to pass through it.

At birth, this lens is crystal clear (barring a congenital cataract). As we age, various factors such as UV exposure and oxidative stress change the structure of the fibres in the lens, resulting in the crystalline lens becoming increasingly hazy with time. There are three types of age-related cataract:

Nuclear sclerosis: the nucleus of the lens is its central core. Nuclear sclerosis refers to the development of a yellowish-brownish haze in this area.
Cortical cataract: the cortex of the lens refers to the lens fibres surrounding the nucleus. When viewed from the front on, a cortical cataract appears as white or grey spoke-like opacities radiating from the outer edge of the lens.
Posterior subcapsular cataract: surrounding the cortex of the lens is the capsule. A posterior subcapsular cataract is a dense plaque-like opacity that grows just beneath the capsule at the back surface of the lens.

The vision problems caused by a cataract will vary, depending on the degree of the cataract and its location, or type. In the early stages, a cataract will cause no noticeable issues at all. Eventually, someone with a progressing cataract will begin to notice their vision is blurry or hazy, and not as crisp as it once was.

A person with nuclear sclerosis may also notice changes to their colour vision as the brownish clouding of their lens nucleus filters out certain wavelengths of colour from reaching the retina. The cataract may also affect contrast sensitivity, noticed during activities such as trying to read in poor light like a menu at a dimly lit restaurant or driving in rainy conditions.

Cortical and posterior subcapsular cataracts can contribute to an increase in glare sensitivity, which translates to increasing difficulty with driving at night when faced with oncoming car headlights or street lights. Even indoor lights may become uncomfortable to view. The extent to which these vision problems impact an individual’s daily function is typically what drives someone to undergo cataract surgery.

What is a Cataract Caused By?

Apart from age, which is by far the most common cause of a cataract, the formation of a cataract is also related to other risk factors, such as:

The prolonged use of medications such as corticosteroids, whether oral or in eye drop form
Systemic metabolic diseases such as diabetes
Trauma, such as physical trauma or an electric shock
Excessive exposure to sunlight and UV radiation
Smoking
Having a previous inflammatory eye disease
Certain types of eye surgeries, including retinal detachment repair

Cataract Surgery

Cataract surgery is one of the most commonly performed surgical procedures in the developed world. As cataracts are a normal part of ageing, all those who reach a reasonable life span are expected to develop some degree of cataract, though unfortunately, not everyone has access to basic eye care, such as cataract surgery.

Fortunately for us in Australia, cataract surgery is readily available through any number of highly skilled and experienced ophthalmologists.

Typically, a cataract surgery procedure is quick and uneventful. It is performed as day surgery and most eye specialists take only 20 minutes per eye for uncomplicated cases. After having the eye numbed with a local anaesthetic, a small incision is made in the cornea. This allows a surgical tool to be inserted into the eye to break up the cataract into smaller pieces, which can then be suctioned out. Different ophthalmologists will have their own preferences as to which technique they use to fragment the cataract. In Australia, some surgeons will use a femtosecond laser to perform the majority of this, while others prefer to utilise a technique known as phacoemulsification. Both methods are safe and effective, with similar visual outcomes in uncomplicated eyes.

After the cataract surgery, an implant known as an intraocular lens is inserted in the place of the removed cataract. This implant is important as it bends incoming light to fall onto the sensory retina to allow for clear vision. One great benefit of cataract surgery is that many people are able to have an intraocular lens that accounts for their eye’s prescription, meaning they no longer need to wear glasses for long-distance vision after their procedure.

Call us on (03) 9070 5753 for a consultation.

Note: Any surgical or invasive procedure carries risks. Before proceeding, you should seek a second opinion from an appropriately qualified health practitioner.