Vision at 60 and beyond

Cataract surgery, and keeping the rest of the eye healthy.

By this stage cataract is the most common reason vision changes — and it is the most treatable. The examination also checks the pressure, the optic nerve and the retina, because those need watching regardless.

Woman seated at Global Eye Clinic

Cataract is not an emergency, but it is not nothing

A cataract clouds the eye's own lens. It progresses slowly, so the loss is easy to normalise: dimmer colours, glare at night, needing more light to read. Surgery makes sense when it starts limiting what you do, not at a particular density or a particular age.

What the examination checks beyond the cataract

Pressure, optic nerve, macula and retina are all assessed before surgery is planned. This matters because another condition can limit the result, and you should know that before the operation rather than after it.

Both eyes, and the order they are done in

Eyes are usually treated a few days apart rather than together, so the first can be checked before the second is planned. The measurements from the first eye often refine the lens choice for the second.