Cataract refers to the clouding of the crystalline lens in the eye, which mainly causes blurred vision and photophobia. What is the cause of cataract? What are the early symptoms? What are the differences between various surgical procedures? What is the difference between health insurance and self-paid intraocular lens?

Early symptoms of cataract: 6 symptoms self-examination

Cataract is a progressive vision loss disease that usually occurs in both eyes. If it is caused by trauma, it may occur in one eye. After the onset, the eyes will neither hurt nor itch, and the rate of worsening of vision loss will also vary depending on the person. It varies, so if you don’t pay more attention, your vision may become increasingly blurry, or even lose your vision.

Early symptoms of cataracts include:

1. Blurred vision and photophobia under strong light: these are the main symptoms
   
2. Night vision becomes worse: the light feels darker, and halos appear when looking at lights
   
3. Monocular diplopia: seeing things with one eye has double images
   
4. Myopia and presbyopia are reduced: Presbyopia suddenly improves and near objects become clearer
   
5. Decreased color and contrast resolution: the colors of things you see become dim and blurry
   
6. Decreased reading ability: When reading mobile phones or books and newspapers, it is difficult to read clearly.

Cataract causes

The crystalline lens is located inside the eyeball, behind the pupil. Under normal circumstances, the crystalline lens is transparent and bright, allowing light to pass through directly and focus on the retina, providing a clear image for the human eye. However, when the crystalline lens is turbid, light cannot penetrate normally, resulting in Cataracts and the above symptoms.

1. The causes of cataracts are divided into the following 5 types. The most common cause is aging:
   Senile cataracts: caused by the aging and decline of the lens. According to the location of the lens opacity, it can be divided into the following three types:
   
   • Subcapsular cataract: The posterior capsule of the lens is opaque, deteriorates the fastest, and is easy to combine with core and cortical cataracts.
     
   • Core cataract: opacity starts from the core of the lens, often accompanied by deepening of myopia.
     
   • Cortical cataract: The turbidity starts from the periphery of the crystalline lens, and the characteristic is that it has no obvious impact on vision in the early stage.
     
2. Traumatic cataracts: caused by eye injury or the use of penetrating intraocular drugs.
   
3. Complicated cataracts: caused by eye diseases such as glaucoma, iritis or retinal pigmented lesions.
   
4. Congenital cataract: caused by genetics, chromosomal abnormalities or intrauterine infection, usually discovered at birth or one year old.
   
5. Other causes: caused by diabetes, thyroid disease, or long-term use of steroids.

There are 3 types of cataract surgery

Oral medicines, eye drops and other drugs can only alleviate the deterioration of cataracts, so the main treatment for cataracts is surgery.

In short, cataract surgery is to remove the cloudy lens through microscopic instruments. After the lens is removed, an artificial lens is inserted, or cataract glasses, soft or hard contact lenses are worn to restore the ability of the lens to focus light. Function: At present, the most common method is to place an artificial lens, because this method is once and for all, and the patient does not need to wear special lenses.

Cataract surgery can be divided into the following three types:

1. Phacoemulsification: It is a mainstream surgery and is covered by health insurance. It emulsifies the crystalline lens through phacoemulsification and then sucks it out. The surgical wound is small, no sutures are required, and no hospitalization is required.
   
2. Femtosecond laser cataract surgery: If it is a self-funded surgery, the cost is usually hign , depending on the price of each hospital; it uses laser technology that is more precise than a microscope to scan, position and cut the eyes, and cut the wound. It is flatter, so it heals faster and causes less damage to eye tissue.
   
3. Extracapsular lens extraction: rarely performed, it is suitable for patients who are not suitable for the above surgery according to the doctor’s judgment. Although the surgical wound is large and the recovery period is long, it is safer for certain patients.

How long should I wear sunglasses after cataract surgery?

Recovery conditions after cataract surgery vary from person to person, but in the first week after surgery, it is recommended to wear transparent protective glasses indoors and sunglasses outdoors to protect the surgical wound and avoid foreign matter entering the eyes, blowing sand, or excessive outdoor light. Strong; 1 week after surgery, the patient can discuss with the doctor whether he or she needs to continue wearing sunglasses based on the wound recovery status.