After Cataract Surgery: a Common Issue Treated with YAG
After you have cataract surgery, the cataract will never grow back on your new artificial lens. However, there is about a 50/50 chance that a protein film can form behind the new Intraocular Lens (IOL) that was implanted in your eye. The protein material is generated from microscopic cells that remain in the eye after the natural lens is removed. It is almost impossible to vacuum out every remaining cell at the time of surgery. These cells will continue to produce the protein material that caused your cataract in the first place. If that protein film spreads, you can start to experience blurry vision.
The good news is that we can easily correct this condition with a YAG laser. YAG stands for Yttrium, Aluminum and Garnet crystals used to generate the laser.
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How the YAG Works
The YAG laser creates light in an extremely focused beam to make small openings in the posterior capsule to clear the clouded membrane so the proteins have nothing to cling to. Your cornea remains undamaged: the laser only affects the tissue that it is focused on. This treatment is usually a permanent solution to this problem.
YAG is NOT Cataract Surgery
This procedure only takes 1-2 minutes. There is no pain involved because your capsule has no nerve endings and nothing will touch your eyes. You will sit behind the YAG laser (which looks like a microscope) and look into the machine. On average, about 50 pulses from the laser will be used to treat your eye. It’s okay to blink during the treatment without any harm to your eyelids or other eye structures.
After YAG Surgery
There are no restrictions after our YAG surgery in Colorado Springs. You will notice that your vision may be blurry for a few hours due to your eye(s) being dilated and you may notice new floaters in your field of vision (this will eventually decrease over a period of time). These floaters never actually go away, but they do gradually settle down by gravity over a few months.
Our team has performed thousands of YAG surgeries, helping many patients restore clarity and vibrancy to their vision. Contact us today to schedule an appointment if you are experiencing blurry vision after cataract surgery in Colorado Springs.
