A cataract is a very common condition which causes cloudiness in the lens of your eye and reduces your ability to see. Cataracts get worse over time and with age, so your vision progressively deteriorates.

Cataracts usually develop slowly and although symptoms vary from patient to patient, there are common symptoms that most people will experience.

Most patients eventually develop a cataract in both eyes but not necessarily at the same time. When a cataract starts to develop, you may begin to feel your sight isn't quite right. If you wear glasses, the lenses may seem dirty, even when they're clean. Gradually, you’ll find your sight becoming cloudier, making it harder to see.

For many people, bright lights appear to glare, and car headlights become more dazzling than they used to be. There may also be a slight change in your colour vision, with objects appearing more yellow than before and colours may look different when looked at with one eye as opposed to both eyes.

If a cataract is ignored, your sight will become increasingly cloudy, resulting in a deterioration of your vision. Most people choose to have their cataracts removed when the change in their vision starts to impact on everyday life.

Cataracts can occur for a number of reasons, including:

• Getting older (age-related cataracts)
• Long-term steroid medication
• A family history of cataracts
• Diabetes (blood sugar levels above a safe range can cause changes that result in cataracts)
• Eye injury

You can choose from a range of advanced lenses, which will help correct your eyesight at the same time as removing your cataract. Your Consultant will help you decide which lens replacement surgery would best suit your lifestyle.

Standard (monofocal) lenses

The standard artificial lens is a called a monofocal lens. This provides one focal point, so you can choose to have either clear distance vision (the most common option) or near vision (e.g. for reading a book), but not both near and far distance vision at the same time. If you opt for this lens, you'll need reading glasses or distance glasses after your cataract surgery.

We'll also check your eyes for astigmatism; if this is present (and significant) you may need to continue to wear glasses at all times after cataract surgery, unless you opt for the toric lens options, as described below.

Monofocal toric lens

If you have significant astigmatism (where your eye isn’t completely round but is shaped more like a rugby ball, which can distort the image you see) then a toric lens may be suitable for you. A monofocal toric Lens is designed to correct your astigmatism and reduce your need for glasses for far distance vision, so that you may only need reading (near vision) glasses. 

Multifocal lens

This lens is designed to enable to you focus on objects in the far distance, at intermediate distance (approx. 60 cm e.g. a car dashboard or a computer) and at near (approx. 30cm e.g. reading a book). This should mean that your need for glasses should be reduced significantly, and you may not need them at all.

Multifocal toric lens

This lens combines the advantages of the multifocal and toric lens. It is designed to correct both your astigmatism and your focus for far distance, intermediate distance and near vision, so that your vision should be improved and your need for glasses should be reduced or eliminated.

Extended depth of focus (EDOF) lens

This lens is designed to give you a better range of focus (when compared to a standard monofocal lens) from the far distance to intermediate distance vision (approx. 60cm e.g. a car dashboard or a computer). Although it is not designed to give you near vision (approx. 30cm e.g. reading a book), and you should expect to use reading (near vision) glasses for this, many patients do find that they can read larger print at near without reading glasses, when they have EDOF lenses implanted.

Toric extended depth of focus (EDOF) lens

This lens combines the advantages of the EDOF and toric lens. It is designed to correct both your astigmatism and your focus for far distance and intermediate distance (approx. 60 cm e.g. a car dashboard or a computer), so that your vision should be improved and your need for glasses should be reduced. Although it is not designed to give you near vision (approx. 30cm e.g. reading a book), and you should expect to use reading (near vision) glasses for this, many patients do find that they can read larger print at near without reading glasses, when they have toric EDOF lenses implanted.

Our expert Ophthalmic Consultants now use Callisto Eye®, a new ultra-modern microscope to achieve perfect alignment of your toric lenses. This technology allows for faster and more accurate treatment due to less manual functions, and reduces the risk of focusing errors and residual astigmatism.

You can now access a referral with one of our expert Ophthalmic Surgeons within seven days. Please speak to your Optician or Ophthalmologist for more information.

If you’re attending for cataract removal, you don’t need to bring anything with you, though you may like to wear sunglasses after your surgery. 

Cataract surgery isn’t painful; although some patients report pressure or discomfort. Numbing agents such as a local anaesthetic will be used to ensure your procedure is as comfortable as possible.

The cataract operation itself takes about 15-20 minutes, though you may be in the department between two and four hours.

We have the time and space to care and our experienced team will talk you through your recovery after private cataract surgery.

You may have some mild pain or discomfort after the cataract removal which we’ll help you manage with simple painkillers. It may take several hours before the local anaesthetic wears off and you can start to feel your eye properly again, and it’ll probably be covered with a protective bandage. You may have eye drops to help prevent infection and to control swelling in the eye.

We’ll discuss your aftercare and any follow-up appointments with you before you leave the hospital.

Most people notice their discomfort easing a couple of days post-surgery. However, the healing process can take between four and six weeks.

Your eyes won't look different after cataract surgery. They won't change colour; nothing will change. Initially, after the operation, the eye might seem a little red or a little gritty or scratchy, but those are transient things - they won't last long.

The only thing that people might occasionally notice is that there is a small reflection of the new lens that we've put in. When you look into the sun, you might see a glint of the new lens, like a window in the sunshine, but that's as significant as it is.

Your vision should be back to normal within a day of your cataract surgery, but it’s not uncommon for some people to experience blurriness for a couple of weeks. Your eye drops will help, as will not touching your eye.

You’ll need to wear the shield until the morning after your operation. You can then remove it during the day and start your eye drops. However, you’ll need to wear the shield for three nights to protect your eye while you sleep.

Our advice is to refrain from wearing makeup for four to six weeks after surgery.

Your Consultant will be able to advise, depending on the activity. For example, we’d advise that you don’t start swimming again until four to six weeks after your surgery.

Your clinician will take measurements of your eyes at your pre-operative assessment. This allows us to work out the best prescription lens to use at the operation. We aim to give you normal distance vision, but you may need to use reading glasses after the operation.

We advise that you attend your optician approximately six weeks after your cataract surgery.

Although the discomfort can last only a few days, some patients notice that they feel fatigued for a few days after the operation and may need to take some time off work if you feel more tired than usual.

Our advice is to refrain from driving for one week following surgery.

You should avoid bending over i.e. putting your head below your waist for 48 hours after your cataract surgery as this can increase pressure on your eye.

According to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) you should avoid flying for 24 hours after a straightforward cataract operation. However, your circumstances may vary so we would recommend waiting until after your post-operative appointment, during which you should ask your Consultant for their advice.

We’d also recommend you check your travel insurance policy in case there are any restrictions around flying after cataract surgery – as flying too soon after an operation may void your policy.

Normally we leave about four weeks between cataract surgery. So, we let the first eye settle down before we do the second eye. Sometimes we have a slightly shorter time, just if the difference between the two eyes is too big to be able to manage day-to-day life.

We will occasionally do a surgery earlier and if, for any reason, we feel that the first eye needs to settle down a bit more, we will extend that time.