Cataract treatment is one of our specialties at our clinic. At DiStefano Eye Center, we can provide you with the treatments and procedures that you need to take care of your cataracts and help you to see clearly again.

The eye works very similarly to the way that a camera works. Over a period of time, the lens in our eyes can become cloudier, which can prevent the necessary light from getting through our eyes to see clearly. When these lenses become blurred enough to cause significant amounts of vision, that is referred to as a cataract. Contacts and Eyeglasses can help you to see clearer in the earlier stages of cataracts, but as time goes on, you may need more significant treatment to take care of the problem.

Cataracts are normally developed over a long period of time, and a painless and gradual blur of vision is caused. With cataracts, you may notice:

• Decrease in color intensity
• More frequent changes in your eyeglass prescription
• Blurry vision
• Glare
• Worse vision at night

For residents of Chattanooga, cataract treatment is available from our experts here at DiStefano Eye Center. Call us today to schedule your appointment.

Your eye works a lot like a camera. Light rays focus through your lens onto the retina, a layer of light-sensitive cells at the back of the eye. Similar to photographic film, the retina allows the image to be “seen” by the brain.

Over time, the lens of our eye can become cloudy, preventing light rays from passing clearly through the lens. The loss of transparency may be so mild that vision is barely affected, or it can be so severe that no shapes or movements are seen—only light and dark. When the lens becomes cloudy enough to obstruct vision to any significant degree, it is called a cataract. Eyeglasses or contact lenses can usually correct slight refractive errors caused by early cataracts, but they cannot sharpen your vision if a severe cataract is present.

The most common cause of a cataract is aging. Other causes include trauma, medications such as steroids, systemic diseases such as diabetes, and prolonged exposure to ultraviolet light. Occasionally, babies are born with a cataract.

Cataracts typically develop slowly and progressively, causing a gradual and painless decrease in vision. Other changes you might experience include blurry vision; glare, particularly at night; frequent changes in your eyeglass prescription; a decrease in color intensity; a yellowing of images; and, in rare cases, double vision.

As the eye’s natural lens gets harder, farsighted (presbyopic) people, who have difficulty focusing up close, can experience improved near vision and become less dependent on reading glasses. However, nearsighted (myopic) people become more nearsighted, causing a worsening in their distance vision. Some kinds of cataracts affect distance vision more than reading vision. Others affect reading vision more than distance vision.

Reducing your exposure to ultraviolet light by wearing a wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses may reduce your risk for developing a cataract, but once one has developed, there is no cure except to have the cataract surgically removed.