Can Cataracts Cause Pain?
August 12, 2024
Cataracts are one of the most common causes of significant vision changes and vision loss, especially among people over fifty. Most cataracts are age-related and progress slowly.
The symptoms of cataracts are painless, but the vision changes can lead to secondary issues like headaches or eye pain from glare. You may be able to manage early symptoms of cataracts, but eventually, they may affect your vision and your ability to do daily tasks.
Cataract surgery is the only way to reverse vision changes from cataracts. Keep reading to learn more about cataracts, including whether or not they can cause pain!
What Are Cataracts?
The natural lens of the eye is a clear, flexible disc made of proteins. It sits closer to the front of the eye and helps focus light so the brain can interpret images.
Over time, the proteins that make up the lens can form clumps that make cloudy or discolored patches on the lens, which are called cataracts. The changes to the lens don’t hurt, but they restrict how much light reaches the retina and cause vision changes.
When you first develop cataracts, they may be so small that you don’t even notice them. Your eye doctor may spot them during a routine exam before they cause any noticeable symptoms.
Over time, they grow larger and lead to vision changes. Early symptoms of cataracts include:
- Increasingly cloudy, blurry, or dim vision
- Difficulty seeing in low light
- New or worsening sensitivity to bright light and glare
- Seeing halos around lights
- Needing frequent changes to prescriptions for eyeglasses or contact lenses
- Colors look brownish, yellowish, or dull and faded
- Double vision in only one eye
While double vision can be a symptom of cataracts, but it can be a sign of a serious health condition such as a brain tumor or MS. If you are having double vision, contact your eye doctor right away.
Schedule a Cataract Evaluation
Do Cataracts Cause Discomfort?
Cataracts are not painful. The changes to the lens don’t cause discomfort.
However, some vision changes from cataracts can lead to eye strain and related issues. If your prescription changes, you may find that you develop headaches because you’re struggling to focus your eyes.
You may have similar problems with eye strain if you’re using a computer or tablet and the light is too dim or the font is too small. Cataracts can also cause an increase in glare.
You might find light seems brighter and you become uncomfortable being in direct light. That can lead to headaches or facial pain from squinting.
Cataracts can also increase your risk of injury. If you have difficulty seeing, you may be more prone to trip, fall, or bump into things.
You may risk hurting yourself while cooking meals or doing chores around the house and yard. If cataracts affect your night vision or you have increased sensitivity to glare, you may be at greater risk for car accidents.
Some people find that cataracts have a negative impact on their mood or mental health. Vision changes might make you reluctant to join activities outside the house.
You may miss out on opportunities to spend time with friends and family. This can lead to social isolation and increase symptoms of depression or loneliness.
When Is It Time for Cataract Surgery?
If vision changes from cataracts cause discomfort, affect your mental health, interfere with basic tasks, or keep you from doing things you love, you may be ready for cataract surgery.
- Have vision changes made it too difficult to do basic tasks like cooking and cleaning? Is your ability to see making it hard to take care of yourself at home?
- Do you have trouble navigating outdoors or in unfamiliar places? Have you canceled planned events or traveled because of your vision issues?
- Do you find that you can no longer do things like baking, crafting, or playing games with your children or grandchildren?
- Does your vision limit your ability to do things outside the house? Does that make you feel lonely or depressed?
- Have you experienced falls or other injuries because of your vision?
- Have you had to stop driving at night? Are you worried about driving during the day?
Cataract surgery is the only way to reverse the effects of cataracts. It is a safe, effective procedure to remove the clouded natural lens and replace it with a crystal-clear artificial lens.
The replacement lens can also correct refraction errors, such as nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism.
Cataract surgery is usually done one eye at a time, several weeks apart. The procedure is performed in your eye doctor’s office and takes under an hour. The clouding from cataracts will be completely gone, so you’ll notice some vision improvements right away, and your vision will continue to improve gradually over the next several months.
Most insurance plans, including Medicare, cover cataract surgery. Your insurance plan can give you the details of your coverage.
Are cataracts causing you discomfort or limiting your activities? Schedule a cataract evaluation at the Center For Total Eye Care in Westminster or Eldersburg, MD, today!