June is Cataract Awareness Month — When Should You Have Your Cataracts Assessed?

Cataracts are the leading cause of reversible vision loss worldwide and one of the most treatable conditions in medicine. Yet many patients live with deteriorating vision far longer than necessary — unsure when symptoms warrant assessment, or under the impression that surgery should be deferred until a cataract is “bad enough.” June is Cataract Awareness Month, and an appropriate moment to set the record straight.

What Is Cataract Awareness Month?

June is Cataract Awareness Month — an annual initiative to encourage people experiencing visual changes to seek timely assessment and understand their options. Cataract surgery is one of the most commonly performed and successful surgical procedures in Australia, yet many patients delay seeking assessment, often attributing their symptoms to normal ageing or assuming surgery is something to put off indefinitely.

The goal of awareness initiatives is not to promote unnecessary surgery, but to reduce the gap between when cataracts begin causing real impairment and when patients receive an assessment. For many patients, a single consultation is sufficient to establish a management plan — even if surgery is not yet indicated.

What Is a Cataract?

A cataract is a clouding of the eye's natural crystalline lens — the transparent structure behind the iris that focuses light onto the retina. As the lens proteins break down with age, the lens gradually loses its clarity, scattering light rather than focusing it. The result is a progressive reduction in visual quality that cannot be corrected with glasses or contact lenses.

Cataracts develop in virtually everyone given sufficient time. Most people begin to develop lens changes from their mid-fifties onwards, though visually significant cataracts typically present in the sixties and seventies. Certain factors — including diabetes, prolonged corticosteroid use, and significant ultraviolet exposure — can accelerate cataract development.

What Are the Symptoms of Cataracts?

Cataracts cause a characteristic and gradual pattern of symptoms: blurred or hazy vision that cannot be fully corrected with glasses, increased glare sensitivity — particularly from oncoming headlights when driving at night — faded or yellowed colour perception, and frequent changes in glasses prescription. The symptoms worsen progressively over months to years as the cataract develops.

Many patients describe the experience as looking through a dirty or frosted window. A useful sign is the “second sight” phenomenon — a temporary improvement in near vision that can occur in the early stages of nuclear cataract, as the thickening lens acts like a reading glass. This improvement is short-lived and gives way to progressive blurring as the cataract matures.

When Should You Seek an Assessment?

The right time to seek a cataract assessment is when your vision is affecting your daily life — not when a cataract reaches a certain size or density. There is no medically defined threshold at which surgery becomes necessary. The decision is driven by the patient's functional visual needs and the degree to which cataract symptoms are interfering with activities they value.

Indicators that an assessment is warranted include difficulty driving safely — particularly at night — difficulty reading or watching television comfortably, difficulty recognising faces, or any visual symptom that is affecting confidence or independence.

A GP or optometrist referral is required to see an ophthalmologist for cataract assessment in Australia. Your optometrist can assess the degree of cataract at a routine eye examination and advise whether specialist referral is appropriate.

Do Cataracts Need to Be “Ripe” Before Surgery?

No — this is a common misconception. The idea that cataracts need to be “ripe” or mature before surgery is outdated. Modern phacoemulsification — the ultrasound technique used in cataract surgery — is in many respects easier to perform on an early or moderate cataract than on a very dense one. There is no advantage to waiting until vision is severely impaired.

The appropriate time for surgery is when the cataract is causing meaningful visual impairment for that patient, balanced against the small but real risks of any surgical procedure.

What Does Cataract Surgery Involve?

Cataract surgery is a day procedure performed under local anaesthetic, typically taking 15–20 minutes per eye. The clouded natural lens is removed using phacoemulsification — a technique that uses ultrasound energy delivered through a microincision of approximately 2.2–2.8mm — and replaced with a clear artificial intraocular lens. Most patients notice significant visual improvement within 24–48 hours.

The procedure has an excellent safety profile in appropriately selected patients, with a complication rate of less than 1% for serious adverse events in experienced surgical hands.

Cataract Surgery and Lens Options in Melbourne

The choice of intraocular lens at the time of cataract surgery is one of the most consequential decisions in the process — it determines not only visual clarity but the patient's dependence on glasses for distance, intermediate, and near tasks for the rest of their life. Options range from standard monofocal lenses to toric lenses for astigmatism correction, extended depth of focus (EDOF) lenses, and multifocal lenses.

A detailed discussion of lens options — including who is and isn't a candidate for premium lenses — is an essential part of the preoperative consultation. For a comprehensive overview, see our guide to intraocular lens options for cataract surgery.

Book a Cataract Assessment in Melbourne

If you or someone you know is experiencing visual changes that may be related to cataracts, the first step is a visit to your GP or optometrist for a referral to an ophthalmologist. Early assessment allows time to understand your options and plan appropriately — without the pressure of severely compromised vision.

Book a consultation at Northern Eye Consultants, Bundoora.

For further reading, Dr MacIntyre is the author of Seeing Clearly: Your Complete Guide to Cataract Surgery and Modern Lens Options (available on Amazon) — a plain-language guide for patients and their families preparing for cataract surgery.

Dr Ross MacIntyre BA (Chemistry) MD FRANZCO is a cataract, corneal and refractive surgeon practising in Melbourne. He completed subspecialty fellowship training in cornea, complex cataract and refractive surgery at the Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University, and holds a public appointment at the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital. Dr MacIntyre is the author of Seeing Clearly: Your Complete Guide to Cataract Surgery and Modern Lens Options (available on Amazon), a plain-language guide to cataract surgery for patients and their families.