Private cataracts clinic in London, same-day eye.

Symptoms

• Gradual blurring, or a sense of looking through a dirty window
• Glare and haloes — particularly headlights at night and low winter sun, often the first thing people notice
• Colours looking faded or yellowed, and difficulty distinguishing similar shades
• Needing brighter light to read
• Frequent changes to your glasses prescription
• occasionally double vision in one eye, or a temporary improvement in near vision

When to have surgery

When the cataract is affecting things you want to do. There is no need to wait until it is 'ripe' — that idea belongs to older surgical techniques and is now wrong. Equally there is no obligation to have it done at the first sign. Reasonable triggers include difficulty driving at night, no longer meeting the driving standard, struggling to read or watch television, difficulty recognising faces, or falls related to poor vision.

The operation

• The clouded lens is broken up with ultrasound and removed through a tiny incision, and an artificial lens is put in its place. No stitches are usually needed.
• You are awake, with numbing drops or a small injection. You see light and movement but not the surgery itself.
• One eye at a time, usually a few weeks apart.
• Vision often improves within a day or two, settling over four to six weeks.
• Complications are uncommon, and infection inside the eye is rare — but it is why any pain with reduced vision afterwards must be reported immediately.

Lens choices

• Monofocal — the standard NHS lens, set for distance. You will usually need reading glasses afterwards, and distance vision is excellent.
• Multifocal or extended depth of focus — reduce dependence on glasses, at the cost of more glare and haloes at night in some people. Privately funded.
• Toric lenses correct astigmatism.
• Monovision — one eye for distance, one for near. Suits some people and not others.
• The right choice depends on your eyes, your work and how much night driving you do — and it is worth discussing properly rather than choosing from a brochure.

Afterwards

• Use the prescribed drops as directed, usually for four weeks.
• Avoid rubbing the eye, swimming, and dusty or dirty environments for a few weeks.
• Gentle activity is fine straight away; avoid heavy lifting and bending for a week or two.
• Wait until your optometrist confirms before updating glasses — usually four to six weeks.
• Posterior capsule opacification — clouding of the membrane behind the lens — occurs in some people months or years later, causing similar symptoms. It is treated in minutes with a painless laser, and is not the cataract returning.