Cataract Operation Looming.

Don’t be scared, although I’ve not had this procedure done myself I’ve known a few who have and they say it’s okay they were in and out in no time at all and it made all the difference to their sight Take care - wear your big pants and you’ll be fine lots of best wishes 💐💐

I have had both eyes done recently, one after another. It isn't painful but it is uncomfortable. However the whole procedure is over quickly. I was asked if I needed a cushion for my back. The staff are very solicitous, in my opinion. You will have a pre op appointment and you can tell them there about your specific concerns.
Afterwards you shouldn't lift or bend forwards for a couple of weeks. Make sure you put in the eyedrops as often as they tell you. I wore an eye guard at night for a week with my first cataract but didn't need to with my second eye. I prepared my house beforehand to make living easy as I live alone. I could see fairly well within twenty five hours. The surgeon inserted a replacement lens and fixed my short sightedness at the same time. My close vision requires reading glasses. Hope that helps

No horror stories, promise.
It's a very common and very successful operation. I had my second one nearly 3 weeks ago so can now see out of both eyes! After the first op my sight was incredible.

The actual procedure takes only a few minutes. A local anaesthetic is administered. You don't feel any pain, just a slight pressure and you see a blinding light for a moment. That's it!

I was sent home with eye drops which I'm still using. After the first op I wasn't to drive for a few weeks but otherwise just a miracle.

I hope yours will be as quick and straightforward. I had mine NHS so didn't choose the hospital. I was told.
I don't know about not lying flat but you won't be the first person who can't. Let us know how you got on.

I had cataracts removed from both of my eyes at the end of last year. I was referred to a provider called Spamedica who provide this service for the NHS. They seem to have clinics all over England. I was nervous too, but really the procedure was straightforward and absolutely pain free. My optician referred me on a Tuesday and on the Thursday the clinic contacted me and arranged for an assessment appointment. They were very thorough. Two weeks later I had the first cataract removed. Drops are used to anaesthetise the eye and you feel absolutely nothing. It takes between 15 and 20 minutes and you do need to lie quite still and flat, so you would need to discuss this with whoever does your op. Initially the sight in that eye was cloudy but they warn you to expect that and for the first day that eye had a low level ache, but a couple of paracetamol took care of that. By day two there was no ache at all. The cloudiness took about 2 weeks to clear completely. The most trying part of the whole thing was the number of drops I had to put into my eyes for 4 weeks afterwards, painless but so many! I think I had more than most because I’m diabetic.
I can reassure you that the procedure is straightforward and can recommend Spamedica, because using them avoids the long waiting lists for hospital treatments. The difference in my sight is amazing. I am so glad I had it done.
I wish you good luck.

Some very positive comments Nanato3 and I hope all goes well with your surgery. Be sure to discuss your concerns with the staff during your pre-op assessment too.
I am nowhere near the stage where removal is required although the optician does say mine have advance slightly during my annual eye tests.

I had my cataracts done recently, I was amazed when the optician told me I needed this, my husband is over 10 years older than me and his clearly haven't reached that stage yet, but it doesn't work like that, age isn't a factor. I thought the appointment would be ages in advance, but it seems the NHS has outsourced cataract procedures, well where I am anyway. I was sent to a private clinic a few miles away a mere couple of weeks hence from my eye test. I'm like you, I was really nervous and particularly squeamish about eyes. The actual procedure, is really quick minutes, lots of different assessments first. Don't worry, everyone was reassuring given my nervousness about having it done. In the aftermath they will place a plastic shield over the eye to be kept in place for 24 hours and eye drops to be used for a couple of weeks with the recommendation to use baby shampoo for hair washing.

Good luck, you'll be fine, your trepidation can't be worse than mine was, the fear of the unknown that's all.

Yes like flippinheck SpaMedica for me too, the staff are very aware of some patients reluctance, all were most reassuring.

No need to be frightened.
It feels very peculiar, with the buzzing sound when the lens is liquefied. You will feel nothing, but there will be a very bright light shining during the approx 20 minutes it takes.
I had no pain during or after the operation an£ the difference is miraculous!
Good luck.🤞

I had both of mine done last year at SpaMedica. There is nothing to worry about at all, the procedure is painless and over quickly. After care could be difficult for somebody who lives alone as you have to administer two lots of eye drops several times a day for a couple of weeks. As grandMattie says the difference is miraculous, I can now read quite small print and do not need glasses for driving.

Nothing to fear- unless you are also frightened of going to the dentist. I found it less painful. These eye surgeons are very skilled in what is a simple and quick operation and you will be in and out in no time.

After your procedure you will be amazed what a difference it makes to your sight too!

it is a trivial op these days and soon over and done with.

I had both my eyes done earlier in the year, no anaesthetic or medication just the usual small pill in the eye and drops. The Opthalmic Surgeon was pretty quick. Very good results, you will find a bright world out there
All the best

I have had both eyes operated on with no problems. There was a lot of waiting and hanging around involved which I found boring but otherwise it was a breeze.

Just be careful to follow the post op instructions and I am sure you will be fine.

M0nica

it is a trivial op these days and soon over and done with.

Bit harsh *M0nica…if you have severe anxiety nothing is trivial…I’ve a dental appointment for prep for implants or dentures Monday and I feel nauseous thinking about this…
Also was told have cataract forming in left eye but can’t cope with all my medical appointments over last 6 mths ..seems I go from one to another 🙃

Not remotely harsh. I understand the OPs anguish, but if she does not know one who has ever had the operation then she may think that it is a major operation causing lots of problems, so I just stated the facts that these days a cataract operation is a trivial operation soon over. I would have thought that information would have been reassuring

A friend reassured me when I was offered replacement lenses; the procedure was quick, painless, and I was staggered at the instant improvement in my vision. Patients lay on a slightly reclined chair, a white cloth is placed over the face, you are told to focus on a bright light through the cloth, and there was no sense of any touching or discomfort, no injections, or anaesthetic - drops are used. Each procedure took about fifteen minutes. I couldn't be happier with the outcome. Good luck - I hope all goes well.

My optician told me my cataracts have got a bit worse when I saw her earlier this week, but they aren't yet ready for treatment. I am pleased to read everyone's positive posts. Thank you.
Good luck Nanato3

I had one done last year, and the other one will probably be next year. It was nothing like as bad as I feared. No pain, just feelings of pressure now and then, and lots of water being sloshed about in my eye, it felt. I was amazed at how soon I recovered and could see so much better within 24 hours.
I drove again in less than a week.
Good wishes, Nanato3. You'll be fine.
PS. I had mine done at a private facility in Exeter, under the NHS. I wasn't given any choice in this. But it was fine.

I’m sure it’ll be fine, Nanatk3.

Not myself, but an ex colleague had seriously bad cataracts. He was the sort of person who never goes to a GP and hadn’t had his eyes tested for ages, maybe never. So he may well have thought he was actually going blind.

Eventually he did consult someone and was sent (via the NHS) to a private clinic. I picked him up after the first appt (he said the procedure was fine, no problem) was all fine, and took him home. Phoned him next morning to see how he was - he was over the moon! His top floor flat was very close to a railway station, and for the first time in years he could read the announcement board!

Thanks everyone for the reassurances.
I've had that many hospital appointments recently I feel overwhelmed. I was told I will be given a choice of where I can have it done and has I have a SpaMedica not too far away I think I will go with them if possible. It's just fear of the unknown has has been said and the fact I'm in a wheelchair when going out doesn't help X

I am blind in my left eye, but about three years ago I had the cataract removed from my right eye, absolutely no problem at all. They replaced the lens.
I had it done at Spamedica absolutely fine..

I had mine done privately - both on the same day.

Truly it was a doddle. Drops and tiny anaesthetic pellets in both eyes - painless. Surgery - also painless. There is nothing to see when it is happening as the lights shining in your eyes are so bright that you can see nothing. All you have to do is sit still!

No pain afterwards.

You have to install drops for a few weeks afterwards and that is no problem. One of the drops stings a bit, that is all. I live alone and had no help with any of this and it all went very smoothly.

Frankly it is a blooming miracle! And my GP friend said it is one of the most successful pieces of surgery ever invented and has benefited millions of people.

You might be asked to choose the nature of the lens that is put in. I chose to have distance vision in both eyes so I could drive without glasses if I needed to. I now wear varifocals so that I can read.

By the way I was told that the old-fashioned concept of waiting till the cataracts are "ready" or "ripe" makes no sense now when the operation is so simple and safe. If you've got cataracts and they are interfering with your daily life then they need to go.

I'm wondering how long they say it is before they anticipate it needing doing?

I know I was used to just normal eyetests for years and after moving to Wales then - in recent years - they've done that photo one can have (and be charged for!) as an added extra of the back of the eye.

From that one of the things they can tell is if a cataract is starting to develop there and some years back they told me they could see the start of one (darn it!) and said "No action necessary for years yet". That's the way it's been and I think it's every other year I have that photo taken (as part of my yearly eyetest I personally have) and there seems to have been no change in it in all that time. I must have been early 60's when they said that to me and I'm early 70's now - so am rather thinking "Well with only an estimated 10 years left to live - with the pace it's developing at (ie it basically isnt) then hopefully my eyes will see me out without work on them". Though I know the rate these things grow at will depend a lot on the person - and I know of someone I used to know here that went from "You've got cataracts" to "You've got to get them done right now" in a matter of just months (am not sure why - and whether it was connected to the fact she had to have very expensive lens in her glasses - because it would have been those pebble thick lens otherwise that some people used to wear). So her sight was very poor anyway.

I'm going to cross that bridge if it comes to it basically - ie if they say "Oh it's developed a lot more" then I'll check out alternative health ways of dealing with it at that point and maybe avoid conventional healthcare for it.

It is my personal take that I use "conventional" healthcare as little as I possibly can personally and I really only see them after I've thought "My body has a health problem", checked out to see what I think it is myself and gone to them to see what they have to say about what it is (ie that's usually confirmation that I've figured out what it is correctly) and then I deal with it myself usually.