How Cataracts Affect Your Daily Life — and What You Can Do About It

Cataracts are a common condition that undermines vision. They typically worsen over time, eventually affecting everyday life and leading many people to seek treatment. 

Wicker Park Eye Center in Chicago, Illinois, is proud to provide the best in diagnostic and treatment services. Here, our team discusses life with cataracts and how to decide if it’s time to get help. 

About cataracts

Cataracts develop when the lens at the front of your eye becomes cloudy. This lens is typically clear, helping to bend light as it enters your eye and before it reaches your retina, near the back of the eye. 

The clouding results from proteins and fibers in the lens breaking down and clumping. Aging is the most common cause of this degeneration, but genetic conditions, eye surgery, long-term steroid use, or certain diseases, including diabetes, can cause cataracts. 

Cataracts cause blurry or clouded vision. You can develop cataracts in one or both eyes, and they can form at different rates, giving you different vision in each eye. 

Cataracts develop slowly

In the early stages of cataracts, you might not notice any changes. They don’t usually damage the eye, but they can change the way you see the world around you. Cataracts often affect the center of your field of vision, but they can also cause blurriness or clouding on the sides. 

Attending routine eye exams is the best way to catch cataracts early. Our diagnostic technology can detect issues before you’re aware of any vision changes. 

Cataracts can make it hard to drive at night

One of the first things many people notice with cataracts is that nighttime driving becomes more challenging. That’s due to a combination of factors. To begin, people with cataracts often struggle to see well in low-light settings. 

Also, cataracts can increase your sensitivity to bright lights. The glare of oncoming headlights can seem overwhelming, and you may be unable to see much else until that vehicle passes. 

If driving at night is more difficult than in years past, it might be time for a comprehensive eye exam. 

Are you seeing double?

Cataracts can distort your vision. Ghost images (double vision) cause identical objects to seem overlaid on or next to each other. Many people experience this effect when they’re tired or after a few too many drinks. 

Seeing double can be disorienting and stressful. But if cataracts are the cause of your double vision, simple outpatient surgical correction could be the solution. 

Do bright colors appear less vibrant or yellowed?

A clouded lens can make it harder to perceive colors. If objects that you know are brightly colored aren’t as visually intense as you remember, cataracts might be to blame. 

Many people with cataracts also report seeing objects as having a yellow cast, as though the world has taken on the qualities of a sepia photograph. 

You no longer enjoy reading or hobbies at night

With cataracts, the aforementioned low-light difficulty can change how you spend your time outdoors at night or in dimly lit indoor settings. 

You may notice that reading at night is more challenging, forcing you to turn on overhead lights or find a brighter lamp. Some people develop headaches when straining to read in low light. 

Cataracts are easily treatable

The good news is that cataracts are among the most easily treated eye health conditions. During a simple surgical procedure, Dr. Daniel Tepper removes the clouded lens and replaces it with a clear artificial lens.

In the hours following your procedure, your eye may be sore, and your vision a bit blurry. These conditions improve within a few days, and you should heal fully within a few months.

Usually, we schedule cataract surgery for only one eye at a time. That ensures you can see and perform routine tasks while one eye heals. Then, we can correct the other eye.

If you’re tired of living with the limitations of cataracts, schedule a consultation with the experts at Wicker Park Eye Center. Call our office or request an appointment online today.