Cataracts should not be considered a pathology or disease because they affect all people. All people end up developing with aging. What the patient notes is that every time he sees more opaque, darker.
The problem is that it is a very slow process and many times there are people who do not realize the progress. Suddenly you lose your vision from one day to the next. This happens when the cataract advances and no longer allows to finally distinguish.
Is there a patient profile with cataracts?
There is no specific profile of a patient who develops cataracts since it is a consequence of age and it will happen to all people. Cataracts can also be influenced by ultraviolet rays. People who are in a lot of contact with these rays, such as a sailor or welders, can get cataracts earlier than other people.
The cataracts begin to appear from the 50 years. This refers to the aging of the lens, which is when it begins to lose its transparency, what we call phacosclerosis. However, cataracts as such are normal to appear from the 70 years.
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Treatments for cataracts
At the beginning the cataract is treated by changing the graduation because it will produce progressive graduation changes but the definitive treatment is to remove them through an operation. In this surgery, the cataract is removed and an intraocular lens is placed in the eye to compensate for the visual defect.
It is a surgery in which a lens is placed inside the eye so we can at the same time correct other visual defects such as farsightedness, astigmatism, presbyopia or myopia with the lenses that we put inside.
Cataract surgery is a process that takes about 20 minutes and is done under local anesthesia. What we do is make a hole in the upper part of the eye. Through ultrasound we remove the entire cataract and then we introduce the intraocular lens. For this we have made a small incision in the cornea of 2,2 mm.
It is not a painful operation because that area of the eye does not have pain endings. What the patient can notice is if we put a lot of pressure on the eye. So you have to be careful to make it as fine as possible.
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How is the postoperative of cataract surgery?
The postoperative period of cataract surgery is simple and consists of using a series of drops for a month. At first a little antibiotic and then anti-inflammatory antibiotic. In the end, only anti-inflammatory to avoid inflammation as a result of the operation.
At 24 hours the patient is already seeing and even that same day in the afternoon after surgery he can already see. The first hours after the operation not because in order to operate we need to dilate the pupil of the eye and that makes it unable to focus well.
