SIGNS YOU MIGHT HAVE EYE CATARACTS

People have the tendency to neglect their eyes until they start developing eye diseases. Developing eye diseases will limit a person’s ability to perform daily activities. One of the most common eye diseases that affects people is cataract.

Eye cataracts are cloudy or opaque areas on the crystalline lens of the eye that gradually degrade the quality of your vision. If left untreated, this condition will soon begin to badly affect your sense of sight that may even result to blindness.

There are many reasons why people develop cataracts on their eyes. Cataracts can be present at birth like congenital cataracts that are caused by hereditary enzyme defects.

Cataracts can also be caused by severe trauma to the eye, eye surgery, or intraocular inflammation; though these events are much rare in occurrence.

However, the most common causes of cataracts are aging, excessive Ultraviolet (UV) light exposure, eye trauma, diabetes, smoking, and certain medications. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cataract results to almost 51% blindness cases worldwide.

Detecting cataract in its early stages is very beneficial so that adequate measures can be taken to avoid its progression. Here is a list of signs of cataracts you may look out for:

Blurred Vision

If you have cataracts, your eyes become cloudy and prevents light from easily passing through.

This can be related to one of the most obvious early sign of eye cataracts which is the appearance of noticeable fuzzy spots in your field of vision.

You might describe this condition as the sensation of looking through foggy glass or feeling like you have a film over your eyes.

These fuzzy spots usually start out as small aberrations, but as the condition progresses, your vision will worsen and become more unclear, hazy, and blurred, making it difficult to carry out your daily activities.

Difficulty Seeing at Night

If you have cataracts, you will find it difficult to see things in low light, especially during night time. This symptom is one that you should look out for because it can get worse gradually and may affect you by incapacitating your sight from clearly seeing things from afar.

These changes may not be easily observed when there is sufficient light, especially during daytime, but you can easily notice the changes at night time. This symptom can be very dangerous especially if you are doing night activities like camping or driving at night.

If you have cataracts, you will find it difficult to see things in low light, especially during night time. This symptom is one that you should look out for because it can get worse gradually and may affect you by incapacitating your sight from clearly seeing things from afar.

These changes may not be easily observed when there is sufficient light, especially during daytime, but you can easily notice the changes at night time. This symptom can be very dangerous especially if you are doing night activities like camping or driving at night.

Light Sensitivity

When you have cataracts, you will experience an increased sensitivity to bright light or glare. With light sensitivity, even the usually normal lights will appear very bright and annoying. This symptom may also include the occurrence of headaches after exposure to bright lights.

If you are experiencing this symptom, it can pose dangers especially when driving at night. The bright light from the lamp posts on the streets and the headlights of other cars may irritate your eyes and make you feel dizzy.

This can also ruin your time when you’re watching a movie or your favorite TV series. Your discomfort becomes more noticeable as time goes by and you may feel wary of doing your usual activities for safety. Extra precaution is advised.

Appearance of Halos

Light is a very important factor for our vision. We can see things when light is reflected from the objects that we look at, and then enters our eyes through our cornea.

Although light is very useful, it can also be very inconvenient if you have eye cataracts. Cataracts can cause glowing halos to appear around sources of light.

Halos are bright circles, usually in different colors, that appear around sources of light like light bulbs, headlights, and even the sun itself.

Although people without cataracts can see halos, people with eye cataracts may have it worse and halos can be very distracting at most times.

Halos can be commonly observed when looking at street lights and headlights when you’re driving at night, increasing the chances of accidents to happen.

Change in Color Perception

You may have failed to detect the previous symptoms immediately, or you may have chosen to neglect them. But, if you leave your cataracts untreated for a long period of time, your condition will worsen.

And as your condition progresses, more symptoms will take place. One of the additional symptom for eye cataracts is the change in the way that you see colors.

The cloudy film from the clumps of protein on the lens of your eyes may turn to yellow or brown and this can cause the light to enter the eye and to be perceived in a slightly different hue.

This situation can make you feel like you’re wearing a “blue light blocker” sunglasses and see colors differently, especially blue and violet light.

Because of this, you might find it difficult to distinguish the difference between these colors.

Diplopia

Diplopia is a more technical term for double vision. This is another and more common symptom of cataract that usually happens in its early stage.

Diplopia is caused by the diffraction of light due to the cloudy film. This causes an object to appear as two images.

Some conditions may also cause double vision, but the most common cause is the improper alignment of the eyes. Diplopia that resulted from cataracts usually occurs even in a single eye.

Frequent Change in Eyeglasses

Having to wear eyeglasses is a hassle especially if you’re not used to it. Having to change it often, however, is another story.

If you have cataracts, you may find yourself frequently changing your eyeglasses to higher potency.

If this frequent changing of eyeglasses does not help you see any clearer, then your condition should not be taken lightly and you should have yourself checked for cataracts.  

If you notice drastic changes in your eyesight and experience any of the symptoms listed above, you should consult your eye doctor immediately.

These symptoms should not be ignored since your eyes may be in the state of rapid deterioration. An eye examination should be taken for such circumstances.

Aside from regular eye consultation, here are a few easy steps to prevent eye cataracts:

• Quit smoking as soon as you can. Better yet, don’t even think about starting. As mentioned, smoking is one of the causes of eye cataracts.
  
• Protect your eyes from being overly exposed to UV rays. Wear sunglasses whenever you’re going out on a hot, sunny day.
  
• Manage your blood sugar level. People with diabetes have a higher chance of developing eye cataracts.

Always remember, the cost of curing eye cataract is far more expensive than the cost of preventing it. It’s never too late to do something to prevent or cure this disease.