Cataract Care in Titusville Cloudy Is Fixable.

Is your vision cloudy or dim, even with new glasses?

Night driving has gotten hard. Headlights spread into starbursts, colors have gone a little yellow, and the newest pair of glasses is not as sharp as the pair before. Somebody may have told you that you have the start of a cataract and then said nothing more about it.

That gap is where the worry lives. A cataract grows slowly, and early on a fresh prescription is often all you need. When glasses stop doing the job, the surgery is common and done as an outpatient. We will show you where you are on that road, and nobody here will hurry you down it.

What is a cataract, in plain words?

A cataract is the natural lens inside your eye turning cloudy. The lens sits behind the colored part of the eye and focuses light the way a camera lens does. It is clear when you are young. Over the years its proteins clump, light scatters instead of focusing, and the world looks hazy, dim, or washed out.

Most cataracts come with age, and both eyes usually get them, though rarely at the same pace. Years of Florida sun, diabetes, smoking, some steroid medicines, and an old eye injury can bring one on sooner. No drop or diet clears one. Glasses carry you through the early years, and surgery swaps the cloudy lens for a clear implant when glasses stop helping.

What happens at a cataract evaluation?

At a cataract evaluation we measure how much the cataract is getting in your way, check the rest of your eye, and say whether it is time to think about surgery. The visit runs about an hour at either office. Your eyes will be dilated, so bring sunglasses, and a driver if bright light bothers you.

If you can still do the things you want to do, we update your glasses and set a date to look again. That is a fine answer, and we give it often.

At the evaluation we check:

• How well you see with and without glare, since a cataract hurts night driving long before it shows on a chart
• A fresh refraction, to learn whether new glasses would still help
• The lens itself under the slit lamp, to grade how far along the cataract is
• Your eye pressure, and a dilated look at the retina and optic nerve
• Optomap and OCT images when we need to see past the cataract to the back of the eye

When is it time for cataract surgery, and who does it?

It is time for cataract surgery when the cataract keeps you from something you need to do, such as driving at night, reading, or passing the vision test for your license, and new glasses no longer fix it. There is no rule that a cataract must be "ripe" first. That idea is decades out of date.

When it is time, we send you to a cataract surgeon we know well, with your records and measurements ahead of you. Co-management means the surgeon does the operation and we do the visits on both sides of it. Dr. Greg Aker has co-managed more than 2,000 LASIK surgeries and the recovery of more than 4,500 surgical patients, so this is a road we have walked with a great many Titusville neighbors.

The surgeon will talk with you about which lens implant to choose. A standard implant sets your eye for one distance, usually far, and you wear readers up close. Other implants correct astigmatism or give a range of distances, and some of those cost extra. Before you meet the surgeon we tell you what we think fits your eyes and your habits, so you walk in with the right questions.

What are the follow-up visits like after cataract surgery?

After cataract surgery you come back to us for the check-ups that make sure the eye is healing and the vision is settling, at whichever office you use for your exams. The surgeon sets the schedule, and the visits assigned to us happen here, so you are not driving to the surgical center for each one.

At each visit we check your vision, the incision, the pressure inside the eye, and any inflammation, and we go over your drops, so bring them along. Once both eyes are done and the vision has settled, usually a few weeks later, we measure you for whatever glasses you still need. For many people that is a pair of readers and nothing more.

Does insurance cover a cataract evaluation and surgery?

Medicare and most medical plans usually cover the cataract evaluation, the surgery with a standard lens implant, and the follow-up care, because a cataract is a medical condition. Upgraded implants for astigmatism or a range of distances are usually paid by the patient, and the surgeon's office quotes that part. Call us at (321) 269-2021 with your plan name and we will check your benefits for the visits with us before you come in.