If you are experiencing cataract symptoms or have been recently diagnosed with a cataract, it doesn’t mean that you will need to have cataract surgery right away. Cataracts develop gradually over time, and cataract surgery is typically not recommended until the symptoms begin to interfere with your daily life.
However, it can be hard to know when to draw the line. Keep reading to learn more about cataracts, how they are treated, and five signs it’s time to think about cataract surgery!
What Is a Cataract?
A cataract is a clouding of the natural lens inside your eye. The lens is located behind the iris and pupil.
When proteins begin to break down and clump together inside your eye’s natural lens, it will block light from reaching the retina at the back of the eye. A cataract usually develops slowly over a period of years.
In the early stages, it may not cause many symptoms. However, as it grows, the symptoms will begin to affect you more and more.
Eventually, the vision loss caused by cataracts will be significant.
Cataracts are most typically associated with aging.
Many people begin to notice them in their sixties. Cataracts can form for other reasons as well, including trauma and disease.
How Are Cataracts Treated?
There is no way to reverse the formation of a cataract. Instead, cataracts are treated by removing them surgically. 
Cataract surgery is one of the most common eye procedures in the world. During cataract surgery, your cataract surgeon will break up and remove the hardened lens from the eye.
Then they will insert an artificial, permanent lens. This new lens is called an intraocular lens, or IOL.
With the cataract gone, you are able to see clearly once again.
When Is It Time to Consider Cataract Surgery?
If you’re experiencing any of the following signs, you may be a good candidate for cataract surgery.
1. Blurry Vision Is Interfering with Your Daily Activities
Does blurry vision make it difficult or even impossible to complete regular activities? If tasks like doing laundry, cooking, and even reading have become frustrating because of a cataract, you should talk to your eye doctor about cataract surgery.
Blurry or cloudy vision is the hallmark symptom of a cataract. It can impact both your near and distance vision.
Cataracts do not get better on their own, though. As the cataract develops, impaired vision becomes more significant.
Even reading a recipe, or watching TV, can be a real challenge. Many cataract patients compare their vision to looking through a dirty window.
If you’re wondering whether it’s time for cataract surgery, ask yourself whether you’re able to complete daily activities with as much ease and confidence as before. If not, cataract surgery can help.
2. You Keep Needing a Stronger Prescription
When you first notice the effects of a cataract, a new prescription or pair of reading glasses may be all that is needed to allow you to see clearly again. However, as the cataract progresses, you’ll find that you need to keep getting a stronger prescription.
Eventually, a cataract will worsen, so that even a new prescription will no longer help. The need for frequent prescription changes is a sign that cataract surgery may be necessary.
3. You Have Trouble Seeing at Night
Many patients with cataracts avoid leaving their homes at night due to difficulty seeing in dim lighting. While cataracts can affect your vision at any time of the day, they can make it especially difficult to see in low-light conditions.
On top of fuzzy vision, you can experience halos and glares around light sources like traffic lights and taillights. Sensitivity to bright lights can make you want to look away or shield your eyes.
Cataracts make nighttime activities like driving not only difficult but dangerous. If you no longer feel safe on the road at night because of your vision, stop driving and call your eye doctor.
4. You’re Seeing Double
Are you seeing multiple images when there should be one? Cataracts can compromise your eye’s ability to focus light, occasionally resulting in double vision, also known as diplopia.
5. Colors Have Lost Their Vibrancy
When you have a cataract, colors aren’t as bright as they used to be. A cataract can make the whole world look tinged in brown or yellow. This can be depressing.
A cataract can also affect your ability to tell one color apart from another, especially cooler colors. Cataract surgery can return vibrancy to every color of the rainbow.
Is it time you started living your life cataract-free? After cataract surgery, you’ll never have to worry about getting a cataract again.
Are you experiencing symptoms of cataracts? Schedule an appointment at Jacksonville Eye Center in Jacksonville, FL, today!