Cataract Surgery Overview
Restore cataract-related vision loss at our practice in Culver City, Los Angeles.
Dr. Eduardo Besser, MD is a leading ophthalmic surgeon who has performed thousands of successful cataract surgeries.
What Are Cataracts?
A cataract is an ocular condition where the lens inside of the eye has become cloudy and hardened over time, allowing less and less light to enter.
This causes vision to be dimmer and blurrier, and can make daily activities more and more difficult.
Changing your glasses won’t improve visual function at this point, and LASIK can’t help, either.
During cataract surgery, Dr. Besser removes this clouded lens and replaces it with a new artificial lens to improve vision. It’s almost like implanting a contact lens into the eye itself. The procedure is quick and painless - the average cataract removal takes 10-15 minutes.
Cataract procedures are performed at a dedicated ophthalmology surgery center in Beverly Hills, not far from our Culver City office.
What Is Presbyopia?
In addition to fixing cataracts through surgery, we also perform presbyopia vision correction surgery. Presbyopia is a loss of close-up vision related to normal aging.
Typically, the lens inside a more youthful eye is flexible, easily adjusting its shape when we shift our gaze from a far object to a near object.
As we near our forties, the lens begins to harden, losing this flexibility, and can no longer shift into focus for near objects. Presbyopia is the name for this loss of smooth transitioning.
Previously, these eye problems had to be addressed separately: cataracts with surgery, and presbyopia with glasses or contact lenses.
If a patient wore glasses to correct for near- or far-sightedness before cataract treatment, they’d continue to wear them afterwards.
Eliminating glasses
By replacing the cloudy lens with a specialty intraocular lens implant, or IOL, cataract surgery can now correct presbyopia and other refractive conditions like myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism. This allows patients the potential to see clearly at all distances – far, mid-range, and up close – without glasses.
Advanced lenses implanted during cataract surgery can eliminate your need for glasses at all vision distances.
What are the different types of cataracts?
In most cases, cataracts correlate with aging. These include:
Nuclear Sclerosis Cataracts
The most common age-related cataract, nuclear sclerosis, occurs when the center of the lens gradually hardens and yellows. The primary symptoms of cataracts include blurry vision, difficulty reading, poor night vision, nearsightedness, and colors which seem less vibrant.
Cortical Cataract
Cortical cataracts affect the outer rim of the lens, which becomes white or cloudy. The most common symptom is excessive glare, especially at night. Cortical cataracts may also affect near and distance vision.
Posterior Subcapsular Cataracts
This type of cataract often affects younger patients, those with certain medical conditions such as diabetes, or those who have taken certain systemic medications. This type of cataract often leads to a rapid decline in vision; fortunately, however,
vision can be restored through cataract surgery.
If you’re ready to take the next step in eye care, find out if you’re a good candidate for Cataract Surgery by calling Dr. Besser’s office in Culver City, Los Angeles, or book an eye examination online.