There is a direct relationship between a person's visual acuity and her likelihood to fall down and break a hip, or get into an automobile accident. What we can do today with cataract surgery is really one of the most fantastic advances in medicine in the past few decades. Cataract surgery used to be a long and treacherous procedure where, after surgery, people had to lie in bed with sand bags on either side of their head to minimize movement. Then, they had to wear big, thick, coke-bottle glasses in order to see. Today, it's a much simpler procedure with little pain and a quick recovery.
People walk into the office in the morning, have the procedure, and walk back out before lunch time.
And instead of those glasses, people have a tiny plastic lens implanted directly inside the eye. Some people with cataracts may also have other eye problems that interfere with vision, such as glaucoma or macular degeneration. For some of these people, cataract surgery may not improve vision enough to warrant surgery. An examination by a trained eye care provider can help patients decide whether cataract surgery is right for them. Drugs are given to help the patient relax, and anesthesia is injected around the eye.