Understanding your
eye condition

Understanding your
eye condition

Understanding conditions like cataracts (cloudy lens), astigmatism (irregularly shaped cornea), and presbyopia (age-related difficulty focusing on close objects) offers the chance to improve your vision and reduce reliance on glasses.

Vision with cataracts

Vision with astigmatism

Vision with presbyopia
What are cataracts and how are they treated?
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    What are cataracts?
  • Cataracts happen when the lens inside your eye becomes cloudy or less clear over time due to natural proteins building up. This makes your vision blurry, hazy, or less colorful. You might notice that your vision isn’t as clear or bright as it used to be.

    • Why do cataracts develop? 
  • Cataracts develop due to the natural aging process, where proteins in the eye's lens break down and clump together, causing the lens to become cloudy. Other factors like UV radiation, diabetes, smoking, and certain medications can also contribute to cataract formation.

    • How common are cataracts?
  • Cataracts are a leading cause of vision problems worldwide, over 80% of people over 60 years old develop cataracts.1

    • Treating cataracts:
  • The only way to remove a cataract is through surgery. In this procedure, called phacoemulsification, the cataract is removed from your eye and replaced with a small, acrylic, intraocular lens (IOL) to improve your vision. Although finding out you have a cataract may be unwelcome news, it's a chance to reduce your dependence on glasses and enhance your vision permanently. There have been many advancements in eye care, providing various options for intraocular lenses (IOLs). Learn more about the different IOL options available to you.


    • 1 Hashemi, H., Pakzad, R., Yekta, A. et al. Global and regional prevalence of age-related cataract: a comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis.

What is astigmatism and what are the treatments available for it?
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    What is astigmatism?
  • Astigmatism is a common condition where the front surface of the eye (cornea) is not perfectly round like a basketball. Instead, it's shaped more like a rugby ball, causing blurry or distorted vision at all distances.
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    How does astigmatism affect vision?
  • When the cornea is irregularly shaped, it affects how light enters the eye. This can lead to blurry or distorted vision regardless of whether objects are near or far.

    • Associated vision issues:
  • Astigmatism often occurs alongside other vision problems like nearsightedness (myopia) where close objects are clear but distant objects are blurry, or farsightedness (hyperopia) where distant objects are clear but close objects are blurry.

    • Treating astigmatism:
  • Astigmatism can be managed in different ways. Wearing glasses or contact lenses can help correct the vision issues caused by astigmatism. However, if the condition stabilises in adulthood and you're considering a more permanent solution, your eye surgeon might recommend a surgical procedure. If you're having cataract or presbyopia surgery, your surgeon might suggest using a special type of intraocular lens (IOL) called a toric lens. This lens can effectively reduce astigmatism and improve your vision as part of the surgical treatment.

What is presbyopia and how is it treated?
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    What is presbyopia?
  • Presbyopia is a natural change that happens as we get older. It becomes harder to focus on close-up objects, like reading small print, using a phone, or working on a computer. This isn’t a disease; it's a normal part of aging. Many of us start wearing glasses to help with these close-up tasks.

    • Why does presbyopia happen?
  • As we age, changes occur in the lens inside our eyes, making it less flexible. This makes the muscles that control the lens work harder to focus on near objects. Eventually, we need extra help—like reading glasses—to see things up close.

    •  How common is presbyopia?
  • Presbyopia is one of the most common eye problems. Many of us use glasses for everyday tasks. Over time, as we age, we might also develop cataracts, which can further affect our vision and increase our need for glasses.

    • Treating presbyopia:
  • There are various ways to treat presbyopia, including wearing reading glasses, using contact lenses, undergoing LASIK eye surgery, or having refractive eye surgery with an intraocular lens (IOL). Recent advancements in surgical options mean that you might not need to rely on reading glasses anymore.