About Cataracts

Cataract Surgery: Saving And Restoring Vision

Cataracts are one of the leading causes of vision loss in the United States, especially among older patients. These milky clouds in the eye’s lens are strongly linked to age, but they do occasionally occur in younger patients. Cataracts may appear in one or both eyes. As a part of our focus on senior eye care and disease management, Dr. Kenneth Miselis and the staff at Heritage Eye, Skin & Laser Center offer expert care for patients affected by cataracts in and around Stockton, Lodi, Manteca, Tracy, Modesto, and Amador County. Cataract surgery Stockton is a safe, effective procedure that can restore the personal independence that clear, crisp vision allows.

Dr. Miselis, Medical Director and Board Certified Ophthalmologist, has been performing eye surgery for over 30 years. With over 30 years of cataract surgery experience, he has performed thousands of procedures.

Heritage Eye, Skin & Laser Center utilizes the latest and most advanced technology for maintaining and improving patients’ vision. Dr. Miselis cares greatly about his patients. Through experience, compassion, and knowledge, Dr. Miselis is committed to vision maintenance and vision improvement for every patient he sees.

About Cataracts

A cataract is a milky clouding in the eye’s lens that develops gradually as proteins in the lens break down. Over time, this clouding begins to obscure the vision of the patient, eventually causing vision loss and blindness without cataract surgery. Symptoms include decreasing vision with age, blurred vision, frequent prescription changes, poor depth perception, problems distinguishing between colors, and difficulty seeing at night or in bright sunlight.

Risk Factors for Cataracts

There are a number of risk factors for cataract formation, including exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light or radiation, hereditary and genetic factors, eye injuries, long-term oral steroid use, and medical conditions such as diabetes. Cataracts occur most often in older patients, though they occasionally occur in children as well. In fact, the large majority of eye care patients over 75 years of age are affected to some degree by cataracts.

About Cataract Surgery

Senior Cataract Surgery – Cataract surgery is currently the only effective treatment for cataracts. Once the cataract has developed sufficiently, our eye surgeons can remove the obstruction by surgically extracting the lens from the eye.

Heritage Eye, Skin & Laser Center uses the best technology available in every phase of cataract surgery in order to help our patients see more clearly. First, we use the Alcon Series 2000® Legacy® phacoemulsifier to break up the lens for easy extraction. We rely on Alcon’s Infiniti™ Vision System to remove the lens, which makes possible a cataract surgery that is tailored to the patient’s eye, removing the lens safely through the smallest possible incision. We use the Zeiss IOLMaster® to measure the eye precisely for its replacement lens.

Cataract surgery can be performed under local anesthesia with just a single small incision. Most of our patients from the Stockton, Lodi, Manteca, and Amador County areas are able to return home the day of cataract surgery.

Intraocular Lenses for Cataracts

After the eye’s natural lens is removed, cataract surgery patients receive an intraocular lens (IOL) implant to replace it. Modern IOLs incorporate multifocal technology, allowing patients to see clearly at multiple focal depths as they could with a healthy natural lens. We believe strongly in taking advantage of advanced vision care technology, and the state-of-the-art IOLs available at Heritage Eye, Skin & Laser Center are so effective that many of our patients experience significantly enhanced vision after recovering from cataract surgery.