Just behind the iris, the colored part of the eye, is a lens. It's called the crystalline lens because it is so clear. A cataract is a loss of the clearness of the lens. The amount of vision loss depends on which part of the lens and the degrees of the cloudiness or opaqueness of the lens.

Commonly, there is no vision loss when cataracts first begin to appear.

When the pupil is dilated it allows for observation and examination of the lens. If vision is imparied to an extent that it impedes driving, reading or other daily activities correction is made with outpatient surgery. 

Believe it or not there is a lot of good news regarding treatment of cataracts. First, the procedure is out patient and the actual procedure generally takes less that 20 minutes.

Secondly, after the cataract is removed a new lens in implanted with one's eyeglass prescription!  This means that in many cases even after having worn glasses many years, distance vision can be restored without the need for glasses!

Thirdly, there are even new bifocal implant lenses that also allow the patient to be able read as well.

Call Dr. Teles at 410-768-0202 for a free consultation regarding examination and treatment options for cataracts.