Symptoms of Cataracts
Symptoms depend on the thickness of the opaque area and its location on the lens, and whether one or both eyes are affected. The most common symptoms are:
Progressive and painless vision loss.
Difficulty reading.
Difficulty recognising people’s faces.
Difficulty watching television.
Double vision when looking with just one eye.
Halos
Change in glasses prescription.
Increase in myopia or decrease in hyperopia (farsightedness). Some patients notice they start to see better without glasses.
Initially, many cataracts do not cause any symptoms and are detected during routine examinations by eye care professionals.
Symptoms according to the type of cataract
Cataracts are often described based on the area of the lens affected. This also bears an influence on the symptoms experienced by patients:
Nuclear cataracts:
- Progressive reduction in contrast (especially in poorly-lit environments).
- Colours appear less intense.
- Difficulty recognising people’s faces.
- Difficulty seeing small objects (small balls, car number plates).
- Reading ability may be surprisingly good given the patient’s visual acuity.
Cortical cataracts:
- Cortical cataracts do not usually cause any symptoms until they affect the visual axis or a significant portion of the cortex.
- Light scattering when looking at a bright spot.
- Problems caused by glare when driving, particularly at night.
- Difficulty reading.
- Daytime activity remains relatively unchanged due to iris contraction which decreases pupil size.
Posterior subcapsular cataracts:
- Significant problems in well-lit environments, in contrast to fewer difficulties in darker conditions where the pupil is more dilated.
- Difficulty driving during the day.
- Difficulty reading.
Signs of Cataracts
In most cases, external examination of the eye is not enough to identify a cataract, so lamps which function as special microscopes are required. However, more advanced and developed cataracts, where the pupil is no longer black and has become visibly cloudy or even brown or white, are visible to the naked eye.
Substantiated information by:
Published: 26 April 2018
Updated: 26 April 2018
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