An estimated 400,000 people in the UK require cataract surgery every year – according to the Royal College of Ophthalmologists.
The condition can affect a person’s quality of life or their ability to perform certain tasks, such as driving.
A cataract is where the lens of the eye becomes cloudy. Affecting one or both eyes, the condition is usually associated with the aging process, with most people developing cataracts after the age of 65.
Symptoms include ‘misty’ or ‘cloudy’ vision, sensitivity to light, including bright sunlight or car headlamps, and everything looking more ‘washed out’ than it should be.
Cataract surgery can improve or eradicate symptoms in most patients – and Albyn Hospital has excellent facilities for this hugely successful procedure of cataract surgery.
Your surgeon at Albyn Hospital will usually break the cataract into small pieces using ultrasound (sound waves), before removing it from your eye through a small key-hole incision. They will then insert the new acrylic lens implant behind the iris in the same bag (or capsule) that held the natural lens in place. This can either be performed under a local anaesthetic or a general anaesthetic as a day-case procedure.
Our Consultant Ophthalmologists deal with complex cataract procedures, including the use of specialist toric and multifocal lens implants. Toric implants correct pre-existing astigmatism and improve quality of vision significantly.