Is it possible to regain sight in the eye with cataract?
In the past, due to medical conditions, most cataracts would end up in blindness, therefore, many people were sentenced to blindness once they heard that they had cataracts. With the advancement of technology and the development of ophthalmic microsurgery, cataract removal surgery has been widely carried out, bringing a blessing to cataract patients and polishing the windows of their hearts. So far, surgery is the only effective measure to treat cataract. The effect of various medications is not certain, and some eye drops can be taken in the early stage, but they can only slow down the development of cataract, unlike what some media advertisements say, that cataract can be cured without surgery by using so-called special drugs. To use an analogy, a cloudy lens is like a hard-boiled egg, and there is no drug that can restore it to a transparent state. Only by surgically removing the cloudy lens and implanting a clear IOL can we achieve the effect of restoring sight. Therefore, cataract is not terrible and is a curable blindness.
What is the best choice of cataract surgery?
With the development of science and technology, the surgical method of cataract is constantly being updated and improved. Initially, it was needle plucking, which was to pluck the lens to the vitreous cavity at the back, and later to large incision cataract freezing removal, both of which required a 1000-degree farsighted lens after surgery and poor vision recovery; gradually it developed to the current extracapsular cataract removal that preserves the posterior capsule membrane, and this procedure can implant an artificial lens. The development trend of surgery is that the incision is getting smaller and smaller, the operation time is getting shorter and shorter, and the effect is getting better and better. The most advanced and ideal operation is cataract ultrasound emulsification plus IOL implantation, which is becoming the first choice for cataract patients.
What are the advantages of cataract ultrasound surgery?
Traditional surgical methods have long operation time, large incisions, heavy losses, slow recovery and unsatisfactory vision restoration, which discourage many cataract patients. In recent years a high-tech treatment, namely cataract ultrasound emulsion surgery, has brought a boon to cataract patients with its unique advantages. Cataract ultrasonic emulsification surgery is a kind of micro-minimally invasive surgery, which is regulated by microcomputer, and through ultrasonic oscillation, together with manual fine operation, the hard lens nucleus is crushed and emulsified, aspirated through a small incision to ensure an intact posterior capsule membrane, and then a folded IOL is implanted, thus enabling patients to recover their vision quickly. This surgery has the advantages of small incision, short time, no stitches in the incision, small postoperative astigmatism, fast recovery of vision, fast healing, good results, and it is not easy to tear the posterior capsule during surgery, and the probability of complications such as macular-like edema and retinal detachment is low after surgery, which is the most advanced and reliable method for cataract treatment.
How to choose the timing of cataract surgery?
In the past, due to the limitations of medical technology, cataracts had to wait until they were fully “mature” and the affected eye could not see before surgery could be performed, and patients had to suffer from low vision for a long time. Nowadays, with the application and development of cataract ultrasonic emulsion aspiration combined with IOL implantation, the safety and effectiveness of cataract surgery have been greatly improved, and patients do not need to wait until they are completely blind before having surgery. The whole procedure of cataract surgery takes only ten to twenty minutes and is painless. Therefore, elderly people should first overcome their psychological fears, and secondly, if they have diseases such as diabetes and hypertension, they should first get their blood pressure and blood sugar under control and then come back for surgery. When exactly should I have surgery? For different patients, how early or late they receive surgery can cause different results. Currently in developed countries patients receive surgery when their vision is 0.5 or higher. We generally consider patients to be ready to consider surgery when they can see with proper glasses. Cataracts can also cause some eye diseases and inflammation, such as secondary glaucoma, and early surgery can avoid these problems. Many middle-aged and elderly people are diabetic and hypertensive patients. After surgery, the lens of the eye is clearer, which is more conducive to observing the fundus and better controlling the fundus lesions complicated by high blood sugar and hypertension.
Is there an age limit for cataract surgery?
As China enters an aging society, more and more elderly people need cataract surgery due to the improvement of living standards. There is no uniform age limit for cataract surgery. Some patients’ families think that it is too dangerous to operate on elderly people over 80 years old. In fact, some elderly people are in good health, with stable blood pressure and heart condition, and most cataract surgeries are performed with local anesthesia or anesthesia (surface anesthesia), which is very painful and can therefore withstand the surgery. Director Ji Shuping introduced that she once performed a smooth surgery for a 95-year-old man. The old painter Su Juxian lived to be 114 years old and was 104 years old at the time of cataract surgery. Therefore, whether one can afford cataract surgery does not depend on age, but on the patient’s physical condition.
Is there any danger of not having surgery for severe cataracts?
Surgery is undoubtedly the best way to treat cataracts, but it is not necessary to operate immediately after getting cataracts. This is a very wrong and dangerous view. These eye diseases mostly occur in the middle and late stages of cataract, such as expansion stage and overripe stage, which can not only cause blindness, but also sometimes cause serious inflammation in the eye, resulting in atrophy of the eyeball. Some patients may have to have their eyeballs removed as a last resort due to chronic eye pain that is unbearable. Therefore, it reminds us that cataracts must be treated surgically when they reach a certain level of development.
What should patients pay attention to after cataract surgery?
1. Protect the eye and pay attention to eye hygiene If you have received cataract ultrasound emulsification surgery, the surgical incision is small, only 2.8~3.0mm, and normal activities are generally not restricted after surgery. However, it is necessary to prevent eye trauma, not to squeeze or collide with the eye, not to go to dusty places within half a month after surgery, to pay attention to avoid water entering the eyes after surgery when washing the face, and not to use hands to rub the eyes.
2, avoid excessive use of the eyes, to prevent eye fatigue usually pay attention to avoid excessive use of the eyes, do not watch television and computer for a long time, and pay attention to the correct posture of the eyes and ensure adequate light source, try to avoid long hours in the dim environment reading and work, every hour or so to close the eyes or look away, so that the eyes appropriate rest.
3. Refractive correction after surgery Since most of the implanted IOLs are hard and non-variable, in order to make up for the defects of post-operative refractive adjustment and improve the visual quality of the operated eyes, especially for the elderly who need to read and look close, they can generally go for optometry and prescription lenses 3 months after surgery.
4.Regular follow-up The early post-operative period is a normal reaction to blurred eyes, mild foreign body sensation, and mild redness and blood in the eyes. If you experience increased redness and eye pain, tearing, photophobia or blurred vision 2 days to 2 weeks after surgery, you should not take it lightly and go to the ophthalmology department in time to rule out the possibility of intraocular infection.