Cataract surgery, also known as “lens replacement surgery”, is the removal of the natural lens of the eye that has developed an opacification, which is referred to as a cataract, and its replacement with an intraocular (within the eyeball) lens.
In easier terms, cataract surgery involves replacing the cloudy lens inside your eye with an artificial one. It has a high success rate in improving your eyesight.
Cataract surgery is a straightforward procedure that usually takes 30 to 45 minutes and it can take 2 to 6 weeks to fully recover from it. It’s often carried out as day surgery under local anaesthetic and you should be able to go home on the same day.
When we're young, our lenses are usually like clear glass, allowing us to see through them. As we get older they start to become frosted, like bathroom glass, and begin to limit our vision. Meaning that cataracts most commonly affect adults as a result of ageing.
