Learn More About Cataract Surgery
Are you experiencing night driving problems? Are colors fading? If you are over the age of 50 years old you may be experiencing the onset of cataracts. Our doctors are skilled board certified cataract surgeons located in Cobb, Douglas and Cherokee. Our doctors take great pride in educating patients about their best options for success after cataract surgery. Please feel free to review our website to learn about new premium lens implants.
Learn More About Cataract SurgeryWhat Is LASIK Eye Surgery
LASIK eye surgery actually stands for Laser Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis. LASIK is a refractive eye surgery procedure where a laser reshapes the outer surface of the eye known as the cornea. By changing the shape of the cornea doctors can improve vision.
What Is LASIK Eye SurgeryTake Our LASIK Self Test
If you are seeking LASIK in Atlanta, Georgia we are happy to help you learn about LASIK and your candidacy potential for this eye surgery. Please feel free to take our short LASIK self-evaluation test to get on the path to better vision. After taking this test you will be contacted by Marietta Eye if you meet the pre-requisite requirements. All LASIK candidates will be required to undergo a pre-operative eye exam before candidacy is approved.
Take Our LASIK Self TestTake Our LASIK Self Test
Please feel free to watch our educational video series. Click here to see videos of our patients and doctors for better insight into the eye surgery of your choice.
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Thank you for visiting the website of Marietta Eye Clinic. We hope that you found our eye care website information useful. If you have additional questions or wish to contact our office please fill out our contact form.
Contact UsMarietta Eye Clinic's Patient Services Include:
Routine eye exams- Pediatric eye care
- Eyeglasses
- Contact lens fitting
- Cataract and lens implant surgery
- Glaucoma management
- Diabetic retinopathy care
- Macular degeneration treatment
- Eye muscle problem management
- LASIK
- Corneal transplants
- Dry eye treatment
- Cosmetic eyelid surgery
- Botox cosmetic treatment
- Latisse eyelash enhancement
- Uveitis management
Languages Spoken:
- English
- Spanish
- Telugu
- Hindi
- Chinese
- Korean
What Are Cataracts?
Developing a cataract is one of those unfortunate things that befall most of us as we age. Between the ages of 52 and 64, you have a 50% chance of having a cataract, but you probably won't experience any problems with your vision until about 65. By 75, just about everyone has a cataract; and 50% of the people between 75 and 85 have lost some vision as a result.
Many generations have accepted poor vision in later years as an inevitable consequence of aging. But refinements in cataract surgery procedures and technological advances in lens replacement have changed this assumption dramatically, at least in the United States, where cataract surgery is the number one therapeutic surgical procedure performed on Americans 65 and older. Medicare pays $3.4 billion a year for 1 million of the 1.3 million cataract procedures performed annually.
What Is a Cataract?
A cataract is a cloudy or opaque area in the normally transparent lens of the eye. As the opacity thickens, it prevents light rays from passing through the lens and focusing on the retina, the light sensitive tissue lining the back of the eye. Early lens changes or opacities may not disturb vision. But as the lens continues to change, several specific symptoms including blurred vision; sensitivity to light and glare; increased nearsightedness; or distorted images in either eye, may develop.
The lens is located behind the iris, the colored portion of the eye, and the pupil, the dark center of the eye. Tiny ligaments, called zonules, support the lens capsule within the eye.
The lens has three parts, the capsule, the nucleus, and the cortex. The outer membrane, or capsule, surrounds the cortex which in turn surrounds the center or nucleus of the lens. If you imagine the lens as a piece of fruit, the capsule is the skin, the cortex is the fleshy fruit, and the nucleus is the pit.
Types of Cataracts
There are three types of cataracts. Each is described by its location on the lens. The most common type of cataract and the one associated with aging is called a nuclear cataract.
A nuclear cataract occurs in the center of the lens. Common symptoms include blurring or dimming of your vision, glare and visual distortion. A nuclear cataract can induce myopia, or nearsightedness, a temporary improvement in your reading vision sometimes referred to as "second sight." Unfortunately "second sight" disappears as the cataract gets worse.
The cortical cataract begins as wedge-shaped spokes in the cortex of the lens. The spokes extend from the outside of the lens to the center. When the spokes reach the center, they interfere with the transmission of light and cause glare and loss of contrast. Many people with diabetes develop this type of cataract. Although a cortical cataract usually develops slowly, it may impair both distance and near vision so significantly that surgery may be suggested at a relatively early stage.
A subcapsular cataract develops slowly and starts as a small opacity under the capsule, usually at the back of the lens. Significant visual symptoms may not appear until the cataract is well developed. Typical symptoms are glare and blur. A subcapsular cataract is often found in people with diabetes or high myopia, adults with retinitis pigmentosa, and in people taking steroids. Reprinted by permission of the American Academy of Ophthalmology
