ARE YOU TOO OLD FOR A CATARACT SURGERY?

Lately, there are many who are rightly wondering if they are too young for some surgical procedures, especially aesthetic. However, more and more people are wondering if they are too old for some of them, especially for those who contribute to improving their lives and doing their daily life activities. One of these surgeries is cataract surgery.

Although it can occur at any age, the cataract is actually the most common in people older than 55 years. It is then that the most intense metabolic changes in the organism occur, resulting in a partial or complete blurring of the otherwise transparent eye lens. This blurring further causes a decrease in visual acuity, and limits many in performing and fulfilling everyday tasks (writing, reading, driving, etc.).

Since life habits in the time in which we live radically changed in comparison with the earlier period, therefore, the activity of people is even greater, even in the later years of life. Recently, I had an honor and a pleasure to perform cataract surgery on a 95-year-old female patient. After surgery, when she recovered and when she saw how much the surgery changed her life and improved her vision, I asked her why she decided to do it? “None of us know how they will live. So if it is my destiny to end my life tomorrow, I want to clearly see everything that I leave behind today, “she replied. I must admit that I was left speechless.

Therefore, you are never too old, nor too young for cataract surgery. As long as it is diagnosed and as long as it reduces your visual acuity and limits you, surgery is the only option for a better vision.

Here are some more interesting facts when it comes to cataracts.

•  Cataract surgery is a one-day surgical procedure.

Sometimes the patient had to be hospitalized up to 14 days for cataract surgery, as the operations were more complicated, the postoperative course was longer, and the eye was exposed to a number of possible complications. Today cataract surgery is performed in 10 minutes in topical anesthesia (anesthesia with the drops), and the patient can leave the hospital immediately after surgery.

• The cataract surgery is painless.

Indeed, although a topical anesthetic is involved, cataract surgeries are absolutely painless. The only thing that patients can feel during surgery is slight pressure when the cataract is removed, or the intraocular lens is implanted.

• Intraocular lenses are necessary.

Without the implantation of an intraocular lens, the patient would not recover his/her vision, or would not get the desired visual acuity. Therefore, it is important that all patients consult with their doctor during the pre-operative examination about choosing the best lens for their eye.

•  Refractive errors can also be corrected by cataract surgery.

The intraocular lenses give this possibility. When calculating the power of the lens that will be implanted in the eye and when selecting its type, one can choose an implant that will also correct distance vision (monofocal lenses), or both distance and near vision (multifocal lenses).

• The removed cataract can no longer be returned.

An intraocular lens implant that is implanted in the eye during cataract surgery can not be blurred as a natural eye lens, and no cataract can occur on it. True, there may be a blur of the capsule on which it stands, but this blur is easily solved by the so-called YAG laser capsulotomy.

Everything that can improve the quality of your life is not expensive, nor is it too late for it. And as my 95-year-old patient said, if this is the last day of my life, I want to see today what I’m leaving behind. Be brave, be healthy, invest in your health, because it is your best life investment.