Cataracts: Your Guide to Cataract Surgery & Recovery

My name is Dr. Jeffrey O’Leary. By profession, I’m an engineer. I’m retired now, but I do four or five days consulting a month. I had noticed that my eyesight had deteriorated. And I had a regular appointment with an optician who basically advised me that my cataracts in both eyes needed doing. uh which as i say, didn’t really surprise me because i’d noticed, particularly with close computer work etc i was i wouldn’t say struggling, but i i was aware of uh of uh uh quite a marked deterioration in my eyesight. Well, I’ve been wearing glasses since i was about six or seven. I mean, as long as i can remember. And I was advised by the surgeon, because one of my eyes is extremely weak, that by choosing the lenses properly, they could at least partially correct the difference in vision between the two eyes. And I would see a difference from having the lenses.

Well, it was brilliant. I mean, right from the very beginning, the first thing is I’m one of these people who always turns up on time and I get annoyed if people aren’t on time. And so everything was done very promptly, very efficiently. But more than that, the staff were very thoughtful and treated you like a human being and explained everything thoroughly. and just went over the top to make one feel comfortable and very relaxed about the whole thing. I experienced them initially. There was a strange thing the day after the surgery in the morning. It was like looking through diluted milk. That’s the best way I could describe it. It was cloudy and that went away after about an hour. And then I was getting halos for about two days, I suppose. But I’m not getting any halos now. It’s just remarkable. That’s all I can say. Almost from an hour after leaving the hospital, I suddenly realised that I could read some number plates on cars. It wasn’t brilliant then, an hour later, but…

Certainly two or three days later, I didn’t drive because I had no need to drive, but I felt that my vision was good enough to drive. And about a week later, I came back to the surgery. I caught the train, came back to the surgery for a post-treatment review. And I suddenly realized that in the station car park, I could read car number plates that were… sort of 50 yards away. It was just remarkable. And since then, it’s gradually improved and improved, and I think it’s now two months since the surgery, and I’m still seeing slight improvements, although right now, I would regard my eyesight as damn near perfect. The thing that I’m most pleased about is that I’m a big rugby fan. I played rugby to quite a high standard as a young man and
I suddenly realized going to a match the other weekend that I could see things that I couldn’t see before and you know you you you don’t realize what you can’t see until you realize that you can’t see them, if you know what I mean. If you’d ask me what I do to care the answer is yes. And would I recommend it? Yes.

My name’s David Penn. I live in Northamptonshire and I’ve been farming all my life. I’m 64. I’m a farmer — very hands-on. I like to do a lot of the work myself, working inside and outside, driving tractors, handling livestock. So my eyes are pretty important to me.

The reason I had surgery was because I was struggling to see things close up. Being out and about in the elements, wearing glasses wasn’t an option. I used to break a pair every day. I’d buy cheap ones, but I’d still break them. So basically, when the opportunity came along, I thought, this is for me — it would see me out, really.

I was really led by the surgeon. I explained what I wanted out of the lenses. I enjoy doing a bit of shooting, so that made a difference. Night driving — that made a difference too. When we weighed up all the options, which the surgeon was very careful to explain, I decided on having those lenses. It was a no-brainer in the end.

I wasn’t really worried about it when I got here. It just happened, really. I wasn’t scared at all. Everyone says, “Oh, I’m not sure about having my eyes done,” but I found it was all very straightforward and painless. And to be able to get up and walk away was even better.

I can’t quite remember what it was like before. For the time of year, the halos are worse when driving — it’s been pretty damp and everything. But I don’t find it uncomfortable to drive. I think I could wear some glasses temporarily to help with that, but it hasn’t been a problem at all.

I’ve got a lot of colleagues in farming, and they’ve all shown an interest in what I’ve had done. They’re waiting to see the long-term results and are considering it themselves. So it’s been good.

My name is Lindel Graham and I’m retired and I live in London and I play sort of sports like tennis and I’m interested in colour and things like that so I’m sort of very busy. Well, I had cataract surgery because I’d already had it in the right eye and my left eye I thought well maybe it might sort itself out but it certainly didn’t and it was getting worse and worse and I got to the stage where it was really difficult to actually sort of lead a normal life because just trying to read timetables or even read the paper or just go about my ordinary business was becoming more and more difficult. So it was sort of getting quite important to have it as soon as possible.

Well, I sort of looked into it in quite a lot of detail and I discussed it previously with Mr. Ayoub and it seemed to me that you’ve got more sort of diversity with this idea of lens than if you had just an ordinary lens. And also if you’re playing sport or something like that, you need the all-round sort of visual experience. And so this lens seemed to sort of be just what I wanted. And after a lot of thought, I decided on this lens.

I just had such confidence in Mr. Ayoub. I just completely trusted him and I felt completely safe in his hands. And I can be quite a nervous person. And so when I had it, I was just able to sort of sit back in the chair, relax, just know everything was going to be fine. And it was. And I received a lot of sort of attention from him before, afterwards, and the team were very helpful. And it was altogether a really satisfactory experience, not overwhelming, but just, you know, a very, very good experience.

Well, it’s been amazing. I can now see to do so many things that I couldn’t see to do before. I mean, simple things like, you know, sort of really a timetable, or reading the paper, actually, with, you know, being able to read close up was the most wonderful thing because that’s where I had been sort of, you know, found the problem before and playing sport and just generally going about my ordinary everyday business, you know, it just made such a difference to my life and brought a new sort of vividness into my life really, you know, just seeing with the doing and everything as well.

Now I didn’t get any halos but I did have shingles in my right eye, and that caused that eye to be very sensitive to light. And so I’m still very sensitive to light, because I think the two eyes, one sort of like talks to the other almost, doesn’t it? So I still, if I’m going out in the sunlight, I will wear a cap. And, you know, I make sure I wear a cap to play tennis. And certainly when I’m driving as well, you know, I do find I can be compromised by the sunlight. But I think that’s me personally. I don’t think it would be everybody having this lens.

I can read without glasses. In fact, for the first six weeks, I didn’t have any glasses at all. And so that was quite good. Then if I’m reading small print in a newspaper, it can be a little bit better if I’m using the glasses, but I didn’t need to. And so that really is amazing. Playing sport is much better. And just generally, I think that when you can see better, you have more confidence, and life is better. I’m just so pleased to have had it done.

So, I would thoroughly recommend this lens to people. And I would thoroughly recommend Mr Ayoub at Oculase, because I think he’s… He just is so kind and thoughtful and considerate and, you know, I have other people who maybe have used different consultants who haven’t had the same experience that I’ve had. So I feel very grateful. So thank you.

The purpose of cataract surgery is to give you good vision so you can get on with your daily activities and your work. Privately you’re able to bypass long waiting times and have your surgery done at most within weeks. You also have the option of having premium lens implants, which give you good vision (excellent quality of vision), without the need for glasses or contact lenses. Additionally, you are able to have top up laser at Oculase to refine the vision to give you even better outcomes. Privately I would be your sole point of care for your cataract surgery assessing you before the surgery, during the surgery, and afterwards.

Usually with cataract surgery a small incision is made in the eye. The front portion of the thin outer covering of the lens is opened to allow removal of the cataract inside. The cataract is gently broken up and vacuumed out, then a folded lens implant is inserted through the small incision and into the capsule where it unfolds and permanently takes the place of the clouded natural lens. With the cataract removed, the new lens implant clearly focuses light rays onto the retina. The power of the lens implant is selected for your individual eye.

My name is Roy Newman. Like most people, I attend the Opticians regularly and over a period of time probably about three years ago, my left eye in particular started to get really quite difficult to see out of. And if I was driving in night time, we often find that brake lights and things would suddenly be like a Christmas tree because you would have all lights all over the place rather than one single light. I’d come to the optician and they said to me your eyes, not that I needed telling, your eye is deteriorating quite a lot So he said, Well, you didn’t really have to wait like that. You can go along and have another opinion on it. And so he gave me a number and it turns out it was Dr [Tariq] Ayoub’s practice and I went along there. Extremely efficient. [What procedure did you have?] Well, the left eye had become very foggy and there were a lot of lights, particularly at night-time, that would spray, it would just blur. So it was a cataract and it was going to be removed and the right eye was not far behind the left eye. But the left eye was obviously the one to prioritise. So that was done. [What was the recovery like?] And immediately, immediately, although you’ve noticed a bit of difference beforehand, immediately the colours have come back into your eye, the blurriness has gone. It’s- It’s magic, really it does make everything so- You don’t realise how bad it’s got really until you’ve had it done and then having that one done I actually realised how bad my right eye was. And so they duly said let’s get over this now. You’ll have another inspection, another visit, and then in 6 weeks to 8 weeks and then all being well, we book you in for the next eye, which is was what happened and then it was exactly the same procedure very, very confidently dealt with. [How did the procedure go?] On both occasions and it was very successful and I’m delighted with their response and how good my eyes are now. In fact, Dr Ayoub, or Mr Ayoub, said you’ll probably still require to wear glasses for reading small print, which I do. But I can nearly read comfortably on a bright day, a newspaper, for example. And so it was win-win all around. [Would you recommend Oculase?] I’d find it hard to imagine there is going to be anybody better in the way they look after you, the courtesy, the care, the attention to detail, and then the aftercare where they check you at the end and everything. And I don’t know what more anybody could do to make it better, to be honest. I don’t know, I can’t compare. But, you can’t, I don’t see how you can be better.

A cataract is a clouding of the natural crystalline lens inside the eye, and it develops in most people after the age of 65, although it can develop earlier on in life due to health or genetic conditions. The cataract results in blurring and misty vision and it can give you glare while driving at night. Cataract surgery is the most commonly performed procedure worldwide and is a very safe procedure.

There is no cut off age to doing cataract surgery, one is never too young or too old for it. Cataract surgery should only be done when it is affecting your vision or your lifestyle or your daily activities. Generally speaking, if you’re getting blurred vision or misty vision, or you’re struggling to drive at night due to a glare, then you would be an appropriate candidate to have cataract surgery. Another very important reason to consider having cataract surgery is if you do not meet the DVLA standards for driving. That is why it is so important to have your eyes assessed regularly and ensure that you are meeting these standards.

Need for glasses after cataract surgery is dependent on the lens implanted in your eye. There are various lens options available for this. Monofocal lens implants give you clear vision at one distance, but you will need glasses for all other distances. This is the standard lens available on the NHS. Privately, we have the option of offering extended depth of focus lenses, trifocal lenses or bifocal lenses. These are all advanced technology lenses. Broadly, patients find that they can do 95% of their activities without glasses with these lenses. However, in the 5% who do need glasses, it is for fine print reading or for nighttime driving usually. To all my private patients, I offer them the advanced technology lenses if they are suitable for it according to the assessment during the consultation.

Cataract surgery is one of the most commonly performed procedures worldwide, and it’s a very safe procedure. However, as with any procedure, there are some risks of side effects that you should be aware of. The most common side effect is the fact that your eyes are going to be a bit swollen and red soon after surgery. Usually this resolves within a few days after surgery, and you will be given lots of drops to use to help that. The second most common side effect of cataract surgery is developing what’s called a posterior capsular opacification, which is some clouding behind the lens in the eye. Everyone develops it at some point, but this may happen six months after the surgery. This may happen several years down the line. It is very easily dealt with by doing a little bit of laser to clear the clouding, which is a completely painless procedure and takes less than five minutes to do. Another important risk or side effect to surgery that you would need to know is that sometimes this initial surgery doesn’t go as planned, and if that’s the case, you may need to have a second surgery to get you to your final outcome. Vanishingly rare risks which may occur, is developing a severe infection or bleed in the eye, which could adversely affect your vision. However, at Oculase, we take all the necessary precautions to ensure that this does not happen.