Cataract surgery is one of the most common surgery being done on the planet. Yet there are numerous misconceptions associated with it this articles deals with three most common myths about cataract surgery.
Myth 1: I cannot develop cataract, my father didn’t have it and so shall I …
Reality: Cataract is due to natural AGE RELATED clouding of crystalline lens present inside the human eye. As you can’t stop ageing, hence, you can’t stop cataract formation. But on the other hand degree of cataract formation and progression is variable and cannot be predicted.
Myth 2: I don’t want surgery, can't it be dissolved naturally ?
Reality: Unfortunately all the research that has been done or being done is unable to Stop/ reverse/dissolve cataract formation. The various drops available claiming to dissolve /reverse/stop cataract formation have no scientific basis.
Myth 3: I heard that the surgery is painful and it takes lot of time for the vision to come back..
Reality: Earlier cataract surgery used Injections around the eye, large cuts, sutures and rigid intra-ocular lenses and took a long time for vision to come back.
Modern day cataract surgery involves NO INFECTIONS, LESS THAN 2 MM CUTS, NO SUTURES and FOLDABLE INTRA-OCULAR LENSES, where the patient gets his vision back on DAY 1 post surgery and can resume his/her normal activities.
modern day cataract surgery is one of the safest surgeries today. We don’t wait for the cataract to reach maturity i.e. the patient to loose his vision, but operate as soon as the patient feels his vision is decreasing gradually and is affecting routine activities.
The future has also arrived which involves using Femtosecond Lasers to make incision (cuts) in patient’s eye rather than relying on the surgeon to do so. Almost 95% of modern day cataract surgeon use phaco-emulsification (laser technique as it’s popularly known) as primary modality for cataract removal.