Congenital cataract right eye, new cataract on left eye

[stejada]

I have a congenital cataract on my right eye that went undiscovered until I was 5-6 years old.  I have limited vision from this eye.  During my latest yearly visit, I was informed that I have a cataract on my left eye (they eye I rely on).  I knew my vision had been worsening as I went from a +2.0 to a +2.75 for reading.  I am very frightened to have surgery on the eye I actually see from and wondering if others have had something similar and how was the outcome?  How long after surgery does the sight come back ?  I have always been told removing the congenital cataract will really not improve vision in that eye because the part of the brain that lets you see images with that eye did not develop properly in infancy.  

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

I can't answer your question without more information:  what is your age? What is your glasses prescription? What is you vision in each eye with the glasses on?  Post that and I can give a pretty good answer.

[stejada]

Thank you for taking the time to respond. I am 53 years old. I  wear contacts and my prescription is a -6.0 for both eyes. My vision is corrected to 20/30 for the left eye (for nearsightedness). I've never been told what the correction is in my right eye. I have been told in the past if anything ever happened to the left eye I would be considered legally blind though. I do also have progressive glasses, but am unsure of that prescription. Hope this is enough information. Thanks again.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

First read this carefully SEVERAL TIMES: http://www.medhelp.org/user_journals/show/1648102/Consider-ALL-the-Options-Before-Your-Cataract-Surgery-Working-Through-Whats-Best-For-You

Reading glasses or prescriptions get bigger s we get older so the change in reading power on your LE is likely NOT related to the cataract.  Also from the time the ophthalmologist (and you should be seeing an Eye MD not a non-physician optometrist) sees a cataract on your LE to the point where it bothers you enough to consider surgery could easily be 5 to 15 years or more.  If the cataract on your good LE progresses then usually surgery will be done first on the bad RE.  Several reasons for this:  1. Surgery much less scary on 'bad' eye rather than 'good' eye.  2. Sometimes the surgeon learns something on the first eye that helps the second eye. 3. After the person has surgery on the first eye the second eye is usually less scary  4. Sometimes an amblopic eye often sees much better than expected after cataract removal.  The cataract on the bad eye should not be ignored as it could get 'too ripe" (hypermature) and cause severe pain, glaucoma and require a risky emergency surgery.

[stejada]

Thank you so very much!!

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

Best of luck: These things speed cataract growth: nicotine, heavy alcohol use, diabetes especially poorly controlled, obesity, poor diets, steroids, heavy sunlight exposure, cannabis use, tanning booths

[stejada]

Wow. I wasn't aware of all of those things contributed to cataract growth! I was told to and did get sunglasses to protect my eyes!  The only other 2 things I am guilty of in the list is nicotine and tanning booths.  I sincerely appreciate your information!!

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

If you are really serious about keeping your sight as you get older you need to stop using nicotine. Very few things more toxic to the eye. Not only cataracts but you quadruple the risk of age related macular degeneration (ARMD) including the more serious "wet" type (exudative). Also the blood vessels in the eye can block off like in the heart (Heart attack) or brain (stroke) we don't call them by those names we use central retinal artery or central retinal vein occlusion. Those problems are much harder to fix than cataracts.