JENNIE: Cataracts 101 (everything you wanted to know but were afraid to ask!)
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF)— Do you have cataracts? Do you know what they are? We’re talking about all things cataracts with one of the Eye Guys, Dr. Ryan Smith.
Dr. Smith has been practicing ophthalmology for nearly 20 years. He joined the eye guys in 2012 after serving as the director of corneal and refractive services at a practice in Cincinnati, Ohio. He’s been published in multiple peer review ophthalmology journals and text books.
He says cataracts are the way the eyes age naturally.
“It’s actually the internal lens in your eye. And you get a lens when you’re born and you only get one. And that’s all you get. And so like many other parts of our body, as we age, it starts to wear out. And we were talking earlier that that you actually start getting cataract symptoms. And people don’t like to think about this because it makes them feel a little older than they are, you know? But they start getting cataract symptoms in their mid-forties and those are the whole reading glasses things or bifocals. The most fortunate thing about it is it’s completely curable. It’s fixable.”
Fixed in just 10 to 20 minutes!
“Sometimes sooner. And so, you know, of course, you know, some of the milder cataracts they can be as little as 5 minutes. And if it’s a little, you know, on the denser variety, it may take a little bit longer, but it’s not a long procedure at all.”
And cataract surgery is something you only have to have once.
“One time, because you remove the natural lens of the eye. And so once that natural lens is removed, it won’t regrow. You actually replace it with an artificial lens. So so, you know, sometimes people will say, oh, I didn’t know you put something in there. And I always make the analogy. It’s like, well, let’s say you had your knee replaced. And they said, you know, the orthopedist sees like, Oh, well, I was going to put I’ll take your old knee out, but I forgot to put a new one in. Well, you’re not going to walk very far. Same thing with lenses. If you take something out, you’ve got to replace it with something that’s nice and clear, but it is artificial. And because it’s artificial, it’s not going to age like our natural lens does. It will stay sharp for you.”
Watch the video above for the full interview! For more information about the Eye Guys, click here.
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