Cataract Treatment From SoCal Optometry

Cataract surgery is performed by your ophthalmologist, a Doctor of Medicine (MD) or an Osteopathy Doctor (DO) who works directly with your Doctor of Optometry (DO). Dr. Mirone at SoCal Optometry in Riverside, CA will be with you throughout every step of the process to make sure you receive the most modern and progressive vision correction available.

What are some signs I need to make an appointment with an eye doctor?

Cataracts are one of the most common of all eye conditions, especially in people who are in mid-life or older. There was a study published in 2004 that found that 20 million people in the USA had a cataract in at least one eye. There is about a one in five chance that you will eventually develop a cataract. Here are some signs of the changes in your vision that point to cataracts.

• Knowing something is wrong with your eyesight but not knowing exactly what. If your eye is in the beginning stages of developing a cataract, you might have problems with distant vision. You could find yourself getting more nearsighted. Or you could have problems with close work and reading. But if you have a cataract, your vision problems will only get worse.
• Glare becomes more and more of a problem. Just how much of a problem glare is for people who have cataracts depends on where the cataract or cataracts are located on the lens of your eye. Some people who have cataracts cannot see anything in bright sunlight. Some people who have cataracts have problems with the glare from headlights of oncoming cars at night. And a few people who have cataracts do not have any problems with glare at all except for maybe seeing inexplicable halos around streetlights and car lights.
• Progressively worsening nearsightedness. Even if the initial symptoms of cataracts include problems with near vision, reading, and using a phone, everyone who has cataracts will develop a condition known as a myopic shift. It gets harder and harder to see a walk sign on the corner on the other side of the street, or an oncoming softball or tennis ball, or the stars at night.
• Double vision. Advanced cataracts can cause double vision. Because the problem is in the eye itself, this kind of double vision cannot be corrected with glasses or contacts.

There is good news for people who have cataracts

Cataracts are a major impediment to good vision, but cataract surgery often results in not restoration of sight, but better sight than patients has ever had before. The surgical treatment leaves cataracts patients with vision of 20/20 to 20/40 (good enough to drive without glasses or contacts). Patients do have to follow all the instructions their eye doctors give them for eye care after surgery, however, for the best results to be realized. That is where your optometrist comes in.

Your optometrist does eye exams and sends measurements to the eye surgeon. Your optometrist makes sure that you do not get an infection or have problems with inflammation during the critical weeks of your recovery. And your optometrist gives you ongoing care to recognize any new eye problems as soon as they begin to develop. If you think you have cataracts, your optometrist is the place to start.

Call SoCal Optometry Today!

Dr. Mirone at SoCal Optometry can help you through every step of diagnosis, surgery, and recovery from cataracts. Request an appointment online or call us at (951) 687-7100. SoCal Optometry’s offices are located at 4000 Tyler St, Riverside, CA 92503, across the street from Best Buy.