Cataract Education · Cedar Park & Austin, TX
Understanding Cataracts
A cataract is a painless, progressive vision impairing clouding of your eye's natural internal lens. Learn what they are, how they develop, and when surgery is the right solution.
The Basics
What Are Cataracts?
A cataract is a painless, progressive vision impairing clouding of your eye's natural internal lens. The lens is located behind the iris (colored part of your eye) and works much like a camera lens. As cataracts develop, light becomes blocked from properly passing through the lens, which often causes blurred or fuzzy vision, and sometimes sensitivity to light.
In most cases, cataracts are related to growing older, but sometimes develop in younger people due to certain medical conditions (like diabetes), eye inflammation, eye injury, or even certain medications (like steroids). Being a progressive condition, cataracts can even cause blindness over extended periods of time if left untreated.
Light enters the eye, passes through the cornea, then through the aqueous humor (transparent fluid in the front of the eye), then through the pupil and into the lens. Once to the lens, light is transmitted onto the retina, into the optic nerve, and finally to the brain to process the image.
Warning Signs
Common Cataract Symptoms
Halos or starbursts around lights
Seeing halos or starburst around bright lights.
Sensitivity to light and glare
Sensitivity to light and glare, including problems with glare during the day.
Faded or yellowed colors
Colors change due to a discolored lens, normally fading or yellowing.
Double vision in one eye
A superimposed image feeling, or double vision.
Frequent prescription changes
Frequent or sudden prescription changes for glasses or contacts.
Reading glasses no longer help
Reading glasses or bifocals no longer seem to help.
Risk Factors
What Causes Cataracts?
Cataracts are caused by a buildup of protein in the lens. This happens when new cells form on the outside of the lens, forcing and compacting older cells into the center of the lens and making it cloudy.
- Advancement in age
- Certain eye injuries
- Diabetes
- Glaucoma & retinal disorders
- Ultraviolet radiation
- Hereditary factors
- Certain metabolic conditions
- Cigarette smoking
- Air pollution
- Heavy alcohol consumption
- Some medications, including long-term use of oral steroids
Treatment
How Are Cataracts Treated?
For a time, vision can be acceptably corrected with glasses or contacts, but there are currently no medical treatments to prevent or reverse development of cataracts. Once they begin to affect daily life, cataract surgery is really the only option. Cataract surgery is highly successful in restoring vision and is normally conducted on an outpatient basis — with more than 90% of patients obtaining an improvement in vision.
Laser Cataract Surgery
Bladeless, computer-guided precision using the LenSx® femtosecond laser.
Learn more →Do I Have Cataracts?
Take our symptom checklist to understand whether a cataract evaluation is right for you.
Learn more →Lens Implants (IOLs)
Learn about premium IOL options to restore distance, near, and intermediate vision.
Learn more →Schedule a Cataract Evaluation
The surgery itself involves removing the natural, cloudy lens so it can be replaced with a clear, artificial lens. More than 1.5 million cataract surgeries are performed each year — let our team evaluate your lens and recommend the best path forward.