San Jose and Mountain View Area Ophthalmology Center – Cataract Surgery and Treatment
Peninsula Laser Eye Medical Group serves patients from Mountain View, San Jose, and surrounding areas. Our ophthalmology center provides cataract surgery to improve and protect vision.
- What is a cataract?
- Can a cataract be treated safely?
- What is Phacoemulsification (PHACO)?
- What is crystalens®?
- What is the difference between crystalens® and other lens implants?
- What should I expect during my crystalens® procedure?
- Who is an ideal candidate for crystalens®?
What is a cataract?
A cataract refers to the clouding of the eye’s lens. A cataract may occur as part of the normal aging process, or may be caused by heredity, eye trauma, diabetes, and even some medications. Over time, cataracts can severely reduce your vision, usually causing sensitivity to light as well as fuzzy or blurred vision.
Virtually every individual over age 65 has some cataract formation in their eyes. At one time, this condition was a leading cause of blindness worldwide, but today cataracts can be treated effectively. Modern treatment techniques at our Mountain View and San Jose area ophthalmology office make cataract surgery safe, fast, and effective.
Cataract surgery is required when decreased vision affects your everyday activities. To determine how much your vision quality has decreased, your doctor should evaluate your eyes carefully.
Can a cataract be treated safely?
Cataract formations can affect one or both of your eyes at the same time. They can also develop at different rates. At our San Jose and Mountain View area ophthalmology office, we can surgically remove your cataract or cataracts safely and effectively. Cataract surgery has proven remarkably successful, 99 percent of cataract surgeries resulting in vision improvement.
What is Phacoemulsification (PHACO)?
Also offered at our San Jose and Mountain View area ophthalmology office is phacoemulsification, or phaco, a cataract surgery that requires a small incision of only 3.0 millimeters or less. In phaco cataract surgery, the cloudy lens is broken into tiny pieces (emulsified) by a small ultrasonic probe inserted into the eye. The probe then gently suctions the pieces from the eye, leaving a clear membrane where the intraocular lens is inserted. This intraocular lens is necessary to replace the focusing power of the removed natural lens. With insertion of an intraocular lens, there is little need for thick cataract glasses and contact lenses that were used years ago.
Small incision cataract surgery, such as phaco, offers a number of benefits. Phaco cataract surgery is brief, sometimes requiring fewer than 20 minutes. Recovery time following phaco cataract surgery is also short and most of our patients notice improvement almost immediately.
What is crystalens®?
Crystalens® is breakthrough in vision enhancement for those who have undergone cataract surgery. Crystalens® is an accommodating / multifocal intraocular lens implant made from a proprietary and specially formulated solid silicone Biosil™. Working naturally with your eyes' muscles, the crystalens® cataract replacement lens helps you achieve better vision quality following cataract surgery. Crystalens® utilizes state-of-the-art hinges that allow the replacement lens to seamlessly focus on objects nearby and far away. Dr. Daniel Beers and Dr. Mark Volpicelli of our Mountain View ophthalmology office serving San Jose and the entire Bay Area will take precise measurements to ensure the correct lens power selection for your eye.
What is the difference between crystalens® and other lens implants?
Traditional intraocular lens implants are classified as monofocal, meaning they only allow patients to focus on nearby objects or distant objects. Since a patient's vision is corrected for only distance vision or close vision, the patient requires the aid of prescription glasses.
Crystalens® allows patients to focus on objects that are distant, nearby, and anywhere in between. During the clinical trial period, 497 eyes received crystalens® implants over a two-year period. The trials showed that the implants were able to greatly reduce or eliminate the need for prescription glasses in patients who received crystalens® in both eyes.
What should I expect during the crystalens® procedure?
The crystalens® implant procedure is the same cataract surgery procedure performed on over 7 million eyes globally each year. The crystalens® surgery is only 20 minutes long and is often performed in an outpatient surgical facility. During the pain free procedure, one of our Mountain View ophthalmology and cataract surgery specialists will put drops in your eye, remove the cloudy lens using an ultrasonic probe, and replace your old lens with a crystalens® implant. Once surgery is complete, the doctors will place additional drops in your eye to decrease inflammation and prevent infection. The small opening into the eye heals quickly and requires no stitches.
Who is an ideal candidate for crystalens®?
The ideal candidates for crystalens® are men and women who are 50 years old and older with cataracts. A patient who has undergone LASIK is still a good candidate for crystalens® so long as the patient's eyes are in good health.
Our Bay Area ophthalmology office, serving Mountain View and San Jose, will determine if you are a good candidate for cataract surgery or crystalens®. Contact Peninsula Eye Laser Medical Group today to learn more.
