All you need to know about
Cataract Symptoms

Cataract symptoms frequently go unnoticed for some time because they can develop very slowly.

Glare: You will notice an increase in your sensitivity to glare in bright sunlight, or to headlights while driving. Similar to the way a dirty windscreen makes headlights seem brighter as it scatters the light, the increasing opacity of the natural lens scatters light as it enters the eye. It is more difficult to see clearly through this glare.

You will feel a lot more comfortable if you wear a pair of good quality sunglasses when outside during the day.

Blurry Vision: As the lens looses its transparency, everything becomes blurrier to see. This is akin to looking through a dirty or scratched window, or one that it is a little foggy. Unfortunately, the lens can’t be wiped clean like a window. If you don’t drive at night very much then you may notice this symptom first.

Distortion: Cataracts may make straight edges appear wobbly or curved. You may even have slightly doubled vision because of a particularly dense section of opacity.

Altered colour perception: The yellowing of the lens nucleus increases with age. This gives everything you look at a yellowish or brownish tinge. However, these symptoms of cataract creep in slowly so you won't notice the change in colours until you have your cataracts removed.

Most famously, two paintings by Claude Monet demonstrate this. “The Waterlily Pond, Green Harmony”, 1899 was painted prior to developing cataract. He returned to the same site to paint “The Japanese Bridge” in 1922, with cataract. The earlier painting was full of blues and greens. By 1922, he didn’t see these colours well and the painting is full of yellow and oranges and browns.

Would you rather not get cataracts? Then read why prevention is better than cure.

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