When your eye doctor tells you that you have cataracts, you might not need surgery right away. It depends on how quickly your cataracts progress and how much they interfere with your life. The only way to improve your vision when you have cataracts is with surgery. Glasses won't help because the lenses of your eyes become cloudy and glasses won't make the cloudiness go away. Fortunately, the cataract procedure is a fairly quick and safe surgery to undergo and it can restore your sight. Here are some things to know about cataracts and treating them with surgery.

Vision Problems Can Sometimes Be Corrected Too

The cataract surgical procedure removes your cloudy lenses and replaces them with artificial lenses. If you wore glasses before you got cataracts, the artificial lenses may be able to replace the lenses in your glasses depending on the type of vision problem you have. If this is possible, then your vision may be much better after the surgery than it was before you developed cataracts. Even if you still need glasses, you'll probably need to have the prescription changed after you've had cataract surgery. Once your eyes have healed, your eye doctor will test your vision and change your prescription if necessary.

You May Have Cataracts In One Eye Or Both Eyes

Cataracts become more common the older you get. Since they are associated with aging, it is common for both eyes to be affected. However, it's possible you'll only have the condition in one eye or the cataracts may be worse in one eye than the other. You can have surgery on both eyes, but only one eye is done at a time. That's because your vision will be blurry while your eye heals and you wouldn't want both eyes affected at the same time.

Recovery Involves Eye Drops And Eye Shields

You may have some itching and discomfort in your eyes after the surgery and your vision may be blurry for a few days. You'll need to be careful about heavy lifting, bending over, and straining that could put pressure on your eyes. You'll also need to wear an eye shield to protect your eye, especially while you sleep at night. In addition, your eye doctor will probably prescribe eye drops to use daily during your recovery.

Cataracts can be a nuisance in the early stages and when your lenses become very cloudy, they can interfere with your ability to drive and read. Surgery is an effective way to deal with this eye condition. The procedure is done in your eye doctor's office with local anesthesia so you are in and out the same day.