The Issue With Cataracts

When a cataract develops, the eye’s natural lens turns cloudy. The disease usually starts small and may be unnoticeable at first. Over time, vision can become impacted as cataracts grow larger. Here are some common ways cataracts can affect everyday tasks.

Where’s the road?

Cataracts negatively affect the way light enters the eye. This may cause haloes to appear around lights at home and on the road. Many patients also experience more sensitivity to lights, causing a blinding effect.

Although less of an issue during the way, haloes can make driving at night very difficult. Every car’s headlights can hurt the eye, leading to challenges focusing on the road. Driving can become too dangerous, forcing individuals to find alternative means of getting around.

This text keeps getting smaller

Progressing cataracts frequently change close-up vision used for reading books, menus, and other forms of small print. Getting a new glasses prescription can restore reading vision initially, but will not solve the problem for long. Eventually, the eye’s natural lens will change so much from cataracts that not even glasses can help.

What am I eating?

Blurry or cloudy vision is a common side effect of cataract formation. Eating food is as much a visual experience as one for taste and smell. Therefore, the disease can take away some of the appeal of favorite food items. Since cataracts tend to mute colors, knowing which food is ripe or has gone bad can be a challenge.

That last step was a doozy

Cataracts can also limit a person’s ability to perceive distances correctly. As a result, being able to judge the height of a step can be a challenge. Shadows can also look like changes in elevation or a drop-off. A miscalculation when walking can lead to a fall, causing severe injury.

Hobbies aren’t fun anymore

Brightness and color contrast often fall victim to maturing cataracts as well. Things can appear grayscale, making minute details hard to notice. Anyone enjoying time outdoors won’t be able to appreciate the fine colors of nature. Those wanting to do certain crafts like knitting or woodworking may be unable to perform these tasks. If finding that golf ball was hard before, searching through muted colors will make tracking even harder.

The house won’t clean itself

Doing things around the house can become much harder than before cataracts appeared. Dusty spots around the house or stains on dishes suddenly become more difficult to see. Individuals can have trouble making out recipes or seeing ingredient labels for a particular meal. Getting the settings right on the washing machine may become a challenge.

Stop cataracts before they stop you

There’s no way to prevent cataracts from forming, but some lifestyle changes may slow growth. Usually age-related, the disease simply appears as individuals get older and worsens with time. Since the disease often takes years to form, these adverse effects are often unnoticeable at first. The best way to catch cataracts before everyday tasks become a burden is to plan regular visits to an ophthalmologist.