Cataract surgery in Kolkata, explained before you decide

Is it a cataract?

The lens inside your eye is clear when you are young. With age it slowly turns cloudy and yellow, the way a window gathers grime. Most people over sixty have some cataract. What matters is whether it gets in the way of your life.

• Print looks faint, and you need more and more light to read
• Headlights and streetlights smear or flare at night
• Colours look dull or brownish; whites look yellow
• Your glasses power keeps changing, or new glasses don't help
• Double vision in one eye
• Older people sometimes find they can suddenly read without glasses again. This "second sight" is often an early cataract

None of these prove it is a cataract. Glaucoma, diabetic retina changes and dry eye can feel similar, which is why the first visit is a full eye examination, not just a glasses test.

When should it be operated?

When it bothers you. If you struggle to read, watch TV, recognise faces across a room, or drive safely at night, that is reason enough.

There are also cases where waiting is the wrong call: a cataract that is pushing the eye's drainage angle closed (a glaucoma risk), or one that hides the retina in a diabetic patient who needs retina checks.

How the operation works

Almost all cataract surgery today is phacoemulsification, usually just called phaco.

1. The eye is numbed with drops. You are awake, but you won't feel pain and won't see instruments clearly, only light.
2. A tiny opening, around 2–3 mm, is made at the edge of the cornea.
3. An ultrasound probe breaks the cloudy lens into fragments and gently suctions them out.
4. A folded artificial lens (intraocular lens, or IOL) is slipped in through the same opening, where it unfolds and stays for life.
5. The opening seals on its own. No stitches, in most cases no patch beyond a protective shield.

The whole thing usually takes 15 to 20 minutes. Most of your time at the hospital is spent on drops, paperwork and resting afterwards.

Choosing a lens

The operation is fairly standard. The lens is where you have real choices, and where the cost varies most.

A premium lens is not automatically better. If you have glaucoma, macular degeneration or a damaged retina, a multifocal lens can make your vision worse, not better. Dr. Das will tell you if that applies to you.

On the day

• Eat a light breakfast and take your usual BP and diabetes medicines unless told otherwise. Blood thinners: ask in advance.
• Wear loose, comfortable clothes. No eye make-up, no face cream.
• Come with one family member who can take you home.
• Expect to spend three to four hours at the hospital, most of it waiting for dilation and resting afterwards.

Recovery

• Next day: first check-up. Vision is often clearer already, though it can be hazy for a few days.
• Drops: antibiotic and anti-inflammatory drops for about four weeks, tapering down. Wash your hands before putting them in.
• Water: keep tap water and soap out of the eye for one to two weeks. Bathe from the neck down; wipe your face with a clean damp cloth.
• Don't rub the eye. Wear the shield at night for the first week.
• TV, phone, reading: fine from the same evening.
• Glasses: your final prescription is checked about a month later, once the eye has settled.

Months or years later, some people notice their vision misting over again. That is usually posterior capsule opacification, a film on the membrane behind the lens. The cataract has not come back. A five-minute YAG laser in the OPD clears it.

Risks, honestly

Cataract surgery is one of the safest operations in medicine, but no surgery is risk-free. Uncommon problems include infection inside the eye, raised eye pressure, swelling of the cornea or retina, and, rarely, a retinal detachment. Most are treatable when caught early, which is why the follow-up visits matter.

Call the hospital the same day if pain gets worse instead of better, vision drops suddenly, or the eye becomes very red after the first few days.

Cost

The biggest factor is the lens. After biometry, you get a written estimate for each lens option that suits your eye. See what decides cataract surgery cost in Kolkata, and CGHS, WBHS, ESI and insurance.

Questions