With continued neglect, a cataract may tum completely white and become painful and inflamed. Described as overripe or hypermature, these cataracts are so advanced that the patient has little or no vision in the affected eye. Surgery is essential to remove the inflamed lens. This surgery is more difficult and recovery takes longer than the usual lens-replacement procedure.
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Only if you ignore them and fail to get proper treatment are cataracts likely to cause blindness. Many people, unfortunately, do not receive treatment, which is why cataracts are the most common cause of blindness worldwide.
There are a variety of reasons that cataracts go untreated: In some parts of the world, safe and effective cataract surgery is not readily available. Even in the United States and other developed nations, however, many people are afraid to see a doctor about their failing vision. Some of them fear surgery, not realizing that lens replacement is a quick and virtually painless outpatient procedure with a very high success rate.
Signs and Symptoms
You've been wearing the same pair of glasses for years. You go in for your regular eye exam, and your eye doctor gives you a stronger prescription. Six months later, you're back, complaining that your new prescription is already too weak. The first sign of cataracts is often the need for more-frequent prescriptions. A cataract might develop earlier in one eye than the other, but both eyes will eventually be affected.
Cataracts Symptoms
Not all cataracts produce the same symptoms. The type of cataract you have will determine the type of symptoms you may notice.
Clouded, Blurred, or Dim Vision
Cataracts on any part of the lens can cause fuzzy vision, but posterior subcapsular cataracts are likely to do so earlier in their development, as mentioned. A posterior subcapsular cataract is located just beneath the capsule at the back of the eye, near the retina, where the area of incoming light is smallest. The cataract might not be very big, but it obstructs the cone of light at its narrowest point.
Nuclear cataracts, at the center of the eye, are directly in the path of incoming light. At first, nuclear cataracts, being thicker than the natural lens, might act like a magnifying glass, making close-up objects clearer. This short-term improvement in near vision, called second sight, is lost as the cataract worsens.
Halos and Glare
Bigger pupils create a larger pathway for light entering the eye, so more of the lens - including the edges of cortical and subcapsular cataracts - is exposed. When sudden bright light - car headlights, even street lighting and stoplights - enters the eye, the exposed cataract edges "scatter" it, causing halos and glare. A halo is a circle of light around a light source. Glare is light that dazzles and seems almost blindingly bright.
You've experienced this scattering of light when you've driven at night with a fogged-up windshield. The tiny drops of moisture on the window bend the incoming light in multiple directions, nearly blinding you with glare and making it very difficult to see where you're going.
Sensitivity to glare can occur with all types of cataracts. In general, glare is less troublesome for people with nuclear cataracts than for those with cortical cataracts. Posterior subcapsular cataracts usually produce the worst glare.
Some people find glare to be not only inconvenient but almost painful. If cataracts are making you extremely sensitive to glare and interfering with your day-to-day activities, discuss the possibility of surgery with your eye doctor.
Loss of Contrast
Scattering of light inside the eye also causes loss of contrast, making it hard for you to distinguish the edges of dark objects alongside lighter-colored ones. You might not be able to clearly see black lettering on a white page, or trees silhouetted against a bright sky. To find out more, you can check out Is It Possible To Improve Your Eyesight.