If you're like most people, eventually your cataracts will become more than an inconvenience. Stronger glasses or contacts, magnifying devices and better lighting, and other interim measures can do only so much to help you see better.

When you sense that the time for surgery has come, you'll want to discuss the procedure- removing the natural lens and replacing it with a man-made lens-with your ophthalmologist. Surgery to remove the cataract is the only effective treatment for cataracts, despite promotions you might have seen endorsing cataract-reducing medications, exercises, eye drops, and optical devices.

Cataract surgery produces better vision for nearly all patients-an astounding 98 percent, according to the Eye Surgery Education Council. If you have other eye conditions, such as macular degeneration or advanced glaucoma, your doctor 56 6 will explain how these disorders might affect the results of cataract surgery and will make treatment recommendations for them.