If one is starting to show signs of cataracts that is anticipated to get progressively worse, can one get cataract surgery immediately or is it ill advised (and why)?

Favorable considerations may include:
1. better inherent vision needing less correction (eyeglasses, progressive, contacts). Perhaps not even needing corrective lenses?
2. faster / better recovery when younger
3. better insurance (choice of doc / facility) before medicare than with medicare?

Unfavorable considerations?
1. ??

1. No
2. Probably statistically insignificant
3. 6-7


1. Longer to deal with a bad outcome!

Answers:
1) Have no idea
2) maybe, but recovery is only about a week or so at age, and typically have the second eye done a couple weeks after the first.
3) Medicare covers the "basic" lenses in full, but if you want the better ones you have to pony up, seems like $1500 an eye or so out of pocket.

Unfavorable:
1) I have heard that after a while some will need corrective lenses for reading or driving, not sure if that is age related though. I doubt it.
Regular insurance may not cover if you don't actually "need" at this time per your doc.

I only had the start of cataracts when I got the surgery. The cataracts weren't a problem and probably wouldn't have been for a while but I didn't want to wear reading glasses anymore. With multifocal lenses I don't need glasses near or far and have no issues at all. Recovery was nothing and vision kept improving for a couple months.

Okay - so sounds like just wait until the cataracts become intolerable; despite age, recovery is not an issue nor is medicare coverage (quality and cost).

Was hoping to minimize corrective lenses (both power and eliminate either near or farsightedness). I guess that's not part of this...

I thought resolving cataracts resulted in improved vision as well. I guess it was something else I had in mind....

3. Medicare will cover "Basic" surgery-NOT laser surgery which is about $1500.00 per eye
Just had both eyes done

quote:

I thought resolving cataracts resulted in improved vision as well. I guess it was something else I had in mind....

It can. Some IOLs correct astigmatism.

I’m scheduled to get the Clareon Vivity IOL which will correct astigmatism and provide sharp distant and intermediate vision with no halos. Pricey, but worth it to me.

quote:

Originally posted by konata88:
Okay - so sounds like just wait until the cataracts become intolerable; despite age, recovery is not an issue nor is medicare coverage (quality and cost).

Nope, get it handled if coverage is not an issue. I lived with cataracts for many years not knowing I had a problem. I just kept getting stronger and stronger reading glasses. One day driving to work (in the dark) it dawned on me that I wasn't seeing exit signs or speed limit signs on the freeway. My night vision and reading of computer screens had gone to shit. I went to the eye Dr and he let me know about my problem. Surgery fixed me up. I had no problem with night vision nor did I need reading glasses. It was the best move I ever made.

Not any sort of recommendation at all, but my experiences:

I had “monovision” for most of my life, i.e., nearsighted in nondominant eye, good distant vision in dominant eye.

Vision started deteriorating in my “far” sight eye to the point that I really needed glasses for night driving. It also adversely affected my shooting. The illuminated reticles of Aimpoint sights (the “red dots”) looked like several dots as if I had astigmatism. I have a Leupold spotting scope with reticle, but the scope has no way of changing the reticle focus; reticle out of focus and less usable.

After having my dominant eye done with the instruction that I wanted the best distant vision I could get, I now have 20/20 (with one or two mistakes indoors when my pupil is naturally dilated). In the real dark, i.e. driving at night, I notice a little blurriness and have a pair of glasses that will sharpen things, but I don’t normally wear them. The main reason I requested driving glasses is for if something happened to my dominant eye and I had to rely on the other.

I initially asked for good close vision in my second eye when I had it done. Then I changed my mind and asked for good distant vision like in my dominant eye. I’m not sure why: misunderstanding or just “the way things sometimes turn out,” but what I ended up in my nondominant eye is good for from about 12 inches to across a room, and 20/30 for distant vision based on an indoor test. That result was actually good fortune for me (so far, anyway). I wear glasses for reading and other close work, but otherwise they’re not necessary for daily activities.

Assuming (hoping) nothing ever changes, I couldn’t be much happier other than if the first eye had turned out to be something like 20/10, and I doubt that was even a remote possibility.

Added: Yes, it doesn't always turn out well. An acquaintance had the procedure by the same surgeon that I had, and she's not happy with the results. (One more time I was lucky for no apparent reason.)

I know I have the very beginning of a cataract...diagnosed a few years ago, but when last checked, it was still nothing to worry about.

FYI, one of my older sisters had cataract surgery also a few years ago. Since that time she has experienced some discomfort and a twitching sensation. Still has it, though to a lesser degree.

I know the procedure has become very common and most are fully successful, but I think I'll be waiting before I opt for correction. At what point? Who knows, but this has made me leery.

If you wold like to delay, or even not have surgery for cataracts do some research on the use of castor oil. Cataracts start to develop when antioxidant levels decrease when we age. Eating foods with high antioxidant levels help to prevent cataracts and other issues with your eyes to happen. Glutathione is an antioxidant that helps reduce the chance of cataract from forming.

Castor oil has these antioxidants needed for eye health. You need to find 100% pure and organic castor oil, and you can use it two ways. Rub a drop or two on your eye lid and let it absorb to your eyes. The other one is to put one drop into each eye. It's best to do this at night. This may sound off the wall, but it seems to work. My mom is doing this because she is starting to develop macular degeneration, and in the past month it has been a noticeable change for her.

quote:

Originally posted by konata88:
If one is starting to show signs of cataracts that is anticipated to get progressively worse, can one get cataract surgery immediately or is it ill advised (and why)?

I was diagnosed with cataracts by my optometrist 3 years ago at the age of 60. At the time, he felt that I would probably need surgery after about 5 years. So far, my vision hasn't really degraded much but I suppose a lot could happen over the next couple of years. When I asked questions about the surgery, he replied that since insurance would be involved, the insurance company requires my vision to degrade to a certain point before I can have the surgery. He's very much by-the-book and won't refer me until I meet the criteria. At that time, he was only using two surgeons who operated under the same guiding principles. He said some other surgeons will just go ahead and do the surgery if you request it because, for them, it is just a money thing. Basically, if you have the surgery and it is submitted to the insurance without meeting the criteria, the insurance company will deny payment and, as the patient, you will be left responsible for the entire bill. In other words, those other doctors don't care where the money comes from as long as they get it.

So, while I would prefer to just do the surgery sooner rather than later, my eyes will have to get quite a bit worse before that can happen. The only other option is to pay cash for the whole thing and that is a no-go for me.

Mine were checked yearly and after being monitored for 3 years, my eyes finally reached the point where the surgery was needed. Left eye was done mid October and right eye was first week of November. So far:
Marked improvement in night vision and less haloing.
Everything appears to be less hazy and brighter.
I still need glasses to read.

quote:

Originally posted by ptruck:
use of castor oil

Something I always wonder about when I hear of cures/preventatives like this: How did anyone discover the usefulness of castor oil to prevent cataracts in the first place? I.e., “Cataracts are bad; I wonder how to prevent them and if actually putting something in the eye would work.”

And from there it was a matter of experimenting with countless substances long enough and with enough test subjects using each of the many substances and then follow-up tests with placebos along with the substances that seem promising—was that it, do you suppose?

I wore glasses from the time I was 11 until my right eye went bad with a cataract after getting new glasses 4 months later. Had the right eye done and still wore glasses for 3 more years before I needed the left eye done. I've got more readers 2.0 all over the place and sunglasses, forget how many pair. It's been 12 years since the left was done and I'm still 20/30. I'll be 71 next month.

Started with glasses for near sighted in 4th grade. About 35 years ago I moved to monovision with about 2 diopters removed from my left eye. Worked great with both glasses and eventually contacts. I was 20/400+ in both eyes. 10 years ago I had cataracts removed from both eyes and had astigmatism correction in both at a cost of $1,000 per eye. I was on Medicare. This correction removed 1 diopter from my left eye. It’s perfect correction for me, but I do wear readers in low light. I read about 75 books per year on my Kindle and have no issues.

Thanks all. I'm not sure I see a consensus here. In any case, I'll check on insurance and talk to my doc more.

I went to the eye doctor Thursday about this after being referred by my Optometrist. At 74 my vision clarity, is pretty good without glasses but night driving, especially on busy multi lane highways has become terrifying due to glare to the point last time driving on tri state tollway going toward Chicago from Indiana I pulled over and had my wife drive. He recommended cataract surgery after running multiple tests on me. Probably will have done in the spring.

Additional question if anyone knows. Do they usually do both eyes at the same time? I forgot to ask. I have read that it may be beneficial, at least in some cases, to have them done separately.

Had both eyes done, glad I did it before they got too bad.
Had to get used to carrying around reading glasses

Usually one eye at a time.