# Cataracts -- what to expect in early stages **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 10, 2024, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cataracts-what-to-expect-in-early-stages/1008643 "2024-10-10T22:32:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 4
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2024, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cataracts-what-to-expect-in-early-stages/1008643/4 "2024-10-10T23:10:32Z")
My ophtho first noticed my cataracts 10 years ago when I was 56. They’re still slowly growing but nowhere near needing surgery. So the mere fact they can be detected isn’t a reason to immediately pursue surgery. So when should you do it? When you can no longer get acceptable vision with your correction, be that specs or contacts. Or when your perception is that everything is flat and dull. Or when you find bright lights at night to be difficult. If you’ve always had crap vision they may well be able to give you much better vision; IMO that’d be a reason to pursue surgery sooner rather than later. Conversely, if you’ve always had excellent vision the outcome is far more likely to be sorta meh by your youthful or even current standards; IMO that might be a good reason to delay surgery as long as possible. FYI, here are two fairly recent threads on the topic: June 2024: > [@In YOUR opinion, when’s the best time to get cataract surgery?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-your-opinion-when-s-the-best-time-to-get-cataract-surgery/1003189): > > I have cataracts in both eyes, but only one has become an issue, mainly with my distance vision. For now, I have glasses that can correct it, but the day will come when that isn’t possible any more. It’s disturbing to have haloes around bright lights – it’s bad enough that I don’t like to drive at night, and seeing my own personal rainbows around white text on black backgrounds isn’t as cool as I would have imagined it. On the other hand, I went to the ophthalmologist to have my eyesight evalu… Apr 2023 on cataract-adjacent surgery: > [@Laser eye surgery coming up in 3 days, my mind is flipping back and forth nonstop](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laser-eye-surgery-coming-up-in-3-days-my-mind-is-flipping-back-and-forth-nonstop/982089): > > By this point, I’ve read dozens of success and horror stories alike. The problem is that laser eye surgery is extremely binary, by nature. Every story is either “It was awesome, best decision I’ve ever made, worth every penny, it’s like living life in HD now” or… “It was the worst thing I ever did; I’m in agony, my life is destroyed, I had to quit my job.” I’ve watched videos of the surgical operation itself (let’s just say that I…learned a lot, but paid the price of education), read aplenty ab… And an oldie from 2012: > [@Why the wait for cataract surgery?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-wait-for-cataract-surgery/631375): > > On a recent visit to an optometrist, I was told that I had the beginnings of a cataract in my left eye but that it was too soon to schedule surgery. It seems to me that I’ve heard for most of my life that cataracts are allowed to progress before surgery. Why is this? I had lens replacement surgery a few years back on one eye that had developed cloudiness following a vitrectomy (replacement of the vitreous with a gel). Prior to that lens replacement, my night vision had become so poor that drivi… --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cataracts-what-to-expect-in-early-stages/1008643)._