Have you been requiring frequent new prescriptions for your glasses? Are you having difficulties when driving at night?
Both of these issues can be signs that you are developing cataracts. Keep reading to find out if you may have cataracts and not know it!
What is a Cataract?
Cataracts develop when the natural lens in your eye becomes cloudy and hard to see through. Without cataracts, the lens is normally clear and easy to see through.
A lot of patients describe having cataracts as looking through a frosty or cloudy window. When you have foggy vision from cataracts, it can be difficult to drive a car, especially at night. As people get older, cataracts become a more frequent diagnosis.
What Are The Symptoms Of Cataracts?
If you have a cataract, you may experience any of the following symptoms:
Frequent Changes in Glasses or Contact Lens Prescriptions:
When cataracts mature, you experience vision changes as well. With cataracts, you may notice your prescription for glasses or contacts changes more frequently. Having rapid vision changes is a common symptom of having cataracts.
Vision Changes:
Most patients experience cataract growth over time. It takes time for a cataract to develop and does not happen overnight.
Early on, cataracts do not negatively impact your vision. As a cataract matures and develops, it will start to affect your vision. This could take years or decades to occur.
This is one of the many reasons it is important to get frequent eye exams. Frequent exams can help your doctor diagnose and watch the development of cataracts.
Cataracts start off small, but as they mature, they keep growing. If they continue developing, this will often lead to vision loss.
Other symptoms you can experience when you have cataracts is a sensitivity to light. When someone has cataracts, it becomes more challenging for light to come into the eye. This can lead to double vision in one of your eyes.
Difficulty Driving at Night:
Cataracts can make it extremely challenging to distinguish between light and dark. Some patients with cataracts also have headaches when they drive at night.
This is due to looking at headlights or street lamps. Seeing halos around lights while driving at night is a symptom of having cataracts too.
Needing to Increase Amount Of Light:
If you are trying to complete tasks that need a lot of focus, you might want to use more light. Increasing the amount of light can be helpful when trying to sew or read.
When your cataracts are small, adding more light can be helpful. But as your cataracts mature, adding light will not make a difference.
Colors Become Faded:
As cataracts grow, they can make colors look dull or faded. For example, something that once looked white might look more yellow now.
Part of this is also because the cataract is a yellow or brown color. As a result, it may make everything else look yellow or brown tinted.
If you have cataracts that are negatively affecting your life, discuss cataract surgery with your doctor.
Do any of these symptoms sound familiar? If they do seem familiar, it’s very likely you could have a cataract. Schedule a cataract screening at Stahl Eyecare Experts in Hauppauge, NY now!
