When these measures are no longer helpful, surgery is the only effective treatment available, for most individuals. It is important to note that a cataract only needs to be removed when vision loss interferes with everyday activities such as driving, reading, or watching television. You and your doctor can make that decision together. Cataract surgery is one of the most common operations performed and one of the safest and most effective. Over 90 percent of people who have cataract surgery enjoy improved vision after the surgery.
Surgery involves removing the cloudy lens and replacing it with a substitute lens.
If cataracts are present in both eyes, they cannot be removed at the same time. Your doctor will need to perform surgery on each eye separately. The cataract is then removed by suction through the same incision. In an outpatient procedure, the doctor uses a laser beam to make a tiny hole in the lens to let the light pass through. After-cataracts may develop months, or even years, after cataract surgery.