the symptoms of early cataract may be improved with new eyeglasses brighter lighting anti-glare sunglasses or magnifying lenses. if these measures do not help surgery is the only effective treatment. surgery involves removing the cloudy lens and replacing it with an artificial lens. a cataract needs to be removed only when vision loss interferes with your everyday activities such as driving reading or watching tv. you and your eye care professional can make this decision together. sometimes a cataract should be removed even if it does not cause problems with your vision. for example a cataract should be removed if it prevents examination or treatment of another eye problem such as age-related macular degeneration or diabetic retinopathy. if you have cataracts in both eyes that require surgery the surgery will be performed on each eye at separate times usually four to eight weeks apart.
how is a cataract treated?