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Cataract Overview
Leaders in Cataract Excellence & Innovation
At Northeast Ohio Eye Surgeons, treating cataracts is one of our specialities. Among the first in Ohio to use the LenSx® Custom Cataract Laser for the laser treatment of cataracts, our doctors are recognized in northeast Ohio and beyond for surgical excellence and innovation. In fact, since 1982, our surgeons have performed over 50,000 cataract surgeries, with the vast majority of our patients achieving legal driving vision or better after surgery.
Recognized in Best Doctors in America and in Top Docs for nearly 20 years, our award-winning doctors and experienced staff recognize that every eye is unique and that each person has different needs and expectations following cataract surgery. We are committed to helping you make the best treatment decision for you, based on your eye health and lifestyle.
Undergoing a thorough eye evaluation and ensuring all of your questions are answered are important steps in your path toward successful cataract surgery. Please contact us at any time with your questions and concerns.
Am I A Candidate?
Discover if you are a candidate for Cataract surgery by answering a few, simple questions through the Surgery Center’s self-evaluation test.
LASER Cataract Surgery
Northeast Ohio Eye Surgeons offers three cataract treatment options to meet the lifetyle needs of our patients.
What Are Cataracts?
A cataract occurs when the eye’s clear lens becomes cloudy. Cataracts usually develop as a natural part of the aging process, although some cataracts are caused by trauma, disease or medications.
Patients with cataracts generally report two common symptoms: blurry vision and glare around lights at night. This occurs because as the eye’s lens becomes cloudier, light rays cannot easily pass through it.
As a cataract progresses, reading and driving may become difficult, particularly at night. Sufferers may be bothered by glare and, in some cases, may even experience double vision.
Currently, there is no medical treatment available to reverse or prevent cataracts from developing. When you feel your cataracts are interfering with the quality of your life, it is time to consider surgery. Since cataracts are the leading cause of vision loss in people over 40, it is important to treat your cataracts when they become bothersome.
Cataract Treatment Overview
During cataract surgery, the doctor makes a microscopic incision on the cornea. The patient’s cloudy lens is removed and replaced with a new, clear, artificial lens called an intraocular lens (IOL). Traditionally, this incision has been made with a blade and still is in some cases, but because of the tremendous advances in technology, the surgeons at Eye Surgeons typically use the latest laser technology to make cataract incisions and to help center the IOL. This type of surgery is known as Laser Cataract Surgery and is one of the most exciting advancements in cataract surgery in years.
To learn more about the differences between conventional cataract surgery performed with a blade and cataract surgery performed using a laser, please view the video here.
Treating Cataracts
All of our cataract procedures are performed at St. Clare Surgery Center, our private outpatient facility, and take approximately 20 minutes to complete. The surgery is virtually painless and most patients resume their normal activities, including driving, within a day or two of the procedure.
Laser Cataract Surgery
Eye Surgeons is pleased to be on the leading edge of laser cataract surgery in northeast Ohio. Using the first FDA-approved laser for the treatment of cataracts with astigmatism, the LenSx® Custom Cataract Laser, our surgeons can create incisions to treat both cataracts and astigmatism with a laser instead of a blade. Studies have shown computer-guided laser cataract surgery is more accurate than conventional cataract surgery, and is up to ten times more precise than using a blade. This precision can lead to more predictable, accurate surgical outcomes. In fact, cataract surgery using a laser generally enables patients to achieve better quality vision, without glasses, than traditional cataract surgery. For more information on cataract surgery using the laser, please watch the following video.
Laser Cataract Surgery
Eye Surgeons offers three cataract treatment options to meet the lifestyle needs of our patients. Two of these options: Custom Cataract Laser Surgery and Lifestyle Cataract Surgery involves the surgeon using the laser, as opposed to the blade, to perform the surgery.
Cataract Treatment Options
Significant developments in surgical technology over the past few years mean there are more options than ever before to treat your cataracts, as well as other vision issues you may have.
Now, cataract patients who also suffer from such vision problems as nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism and presbyopia (the need for reading glasses after age 40), can have their visual complaints corrected at the time of cataract surgery. This exciting advancement means patients can enjoy better vision than ever before, often without glasses, thereby improving both their overall quality of life as well as their eyesight.
Northeast Ohio Eye Surgeons offers patients three cataract treatment options:
- Option One: Basic Cataract Surgery
- Option Two: Custom Cataract Laser Surgery
- Option Three: Lifestyle Cataract Surgery
After a thorough eye evaluation and a discussion to determine your visual expectations after surgery, our doctors and staff will recommend the best option for you and your lifestyle.

Treatment Option One: Basic Cataract Surgery
Basic Cataract Surgery, considered one of the safest and most successful procedures performed today, has advanced dramatically over the past few decades with nearly three million surgeries performed annually. During Basic Cataract Surgery, the doctor uses a blade to make a microscopic incision on the cornea. The cloudy, natural lens is removed and a clear, basic intraocular lens (IOL) is inserted to replace it.
While Basic Cataract Surgery will alleviate the blurry vision and glare caused by cataracts, it will not address other eyesight issues such as astigmatism or the need for reading glasses. Most patients will still need prescription eyeglasses for many daily activities.
Medicare and most private insurances cover this procedure. Insurance co-pays and deductibles still apply.
Treatment Option Two: Custom Cataract Laser Surgery
Custom Cataract Surgery combines the precision of the laser with the ability to correct for astigmatism to help the great majority of cataract patients eliminate their need for glasses for distance vision.
Using the LenSx® Custom Cataract Laser, the first FDA-approved laser for the treatment of cataracts with astigmatism, our surgeons create incisions to treat both cataracts and astigmatism with a laser instead of a blade. Astigmatism is an extremely common condition in which the clear, front part of the eye is shaped like a cylinder instead of a sphere, resulting in blurry vision. In fact, studies have shown up to 75% of patients have significant astigmatism; these patients could benefit greatly from laser cataract surgery. The laser also enables our doctors to customize your procedure to your eye’s unique characteristics, resulting in potentially better visual outcomes and more reproducible results.
Sometimes patients have too much astigmatism for the laser to correct in its entirety. In this case, our surgeons still rely on the precision of the laser to make incisions to remove the cataract and to help properly align the new intraocular lens, while fine-tuning the astigmatism correction. However, instead of implanting a basic lens, the doctor will insert a toric IOL, a specialty lens designed to correct higher amounts of astigmatism. By correcting both the cataract and astigmatism with the toric lens, many patients will enjoy sharp distance vision without glasses, though most will still need reading glasses.
Custom Cataract Laser Surgery generally enables patients to achieve better quality vision, without glasses, than Basic Cataract Surgery.
While many patients will still need reading glasses after surgery, the relative freedom from glasses for other activities, coupled with the precision and predictability of the laser, has made Custom Cataract Laser Surgery one of the fastest growing eye procedures available.



Treatment Option Three: Lifestyle Cataract Surgery
If you’ve always dreamed of turning back the clock and reducing or eliminating your dependence on glasses or bifocals, Lifestyle Cataract Surgery may be for you. As with Custom Cataract Surgery, our doctors will use the LenSx® Custom Cataract Laser to make incisions and eliminate any astigmatism you may have during cataract surgery. Instead of inserting a basic IOL, however, our doctors will implant a special “multifocal” or “accommodative” lens.
This lens mimics a young eye’s lens in that it can simultaneously focus at distance and near. This flexibility provides the greatest range of vision possible, enabling most patients to significantly reduce their need for glasses for near and distance vision after surgery. Most patients who choose to undergo Lifestyle Cataract Surgery can read and do other close work without reading glasses after the procedure, although some people may still need mild reading glasses for reading very small print or doing fine work.
If you are exploring lifestyle cataract treatment options, the AcrySof IQ PanOptix® IOL may be the right choice for you. PanOptix® IOL is the next-generation trifocal lens designed to provide you with clear vision for near (40 cm), intermediate (60 cm), and far distances without glasses. Click here to learn more about PanOptix® IOL.
ORA: Refining Your Surgical Results
Exciting advances in cataract surgery technology give the doctors at Eye Surgeons the ability to further customize your vision in the operating room after your IOL has been implanted. Optiwave Refractive Analysis, or ORA, is a new cataract surgery measurement tool that helps refine and enhance vision during cataract surgery so that patients achieve their best postoperative vision.
With the ORA intraoperative aberrometry system, surgeons can determine in real-time the eye’s refraction, or visual measurement. This measurement occurs when your cataract surgery has been completed, but before you leave the operating room. The ORA system allows our surgeons to immediately make any necessary surgical adjustments to the IOL to help ensure the best possible visual outcome for patients.
All Custom and Lifestyle Cataract procedures include ORA as part of the surgical process to ensure proper IOL selection and refraction. However, cataract surgery patients electing to undergo Basic Cataract Surgery may wish to consider ORA as well. Please ask your doctor about using ORA during your cataract surgery.
There are expenses associated with ORA that are not covered by Medicare or insurance companies. Please speak with one of our Cataract Counselors for more information.

Treatment Options Summary
Which Option Is Right For You?
Cataract Treatment Options | Laser-Assisted | Need for Glasses Post-Op for Distance Vision | Need for Glasses Post-Op for Near Vision | Astigmatism Correction | Entire Cost Coverage by Medicare | ORA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Basic Surgery | No | Likely | Likely | No | Yes* | Optional |
Custom Surgery | Yes | Unlikely | Likely | Yes | No | Yes |
Lifestyle Surgery | Yes | Unlikely | Unlikely | Yes | No | Yes |
Yag Laser Capsulotomy
Sometimes after cataract surgery, your eye’s capsule, which surrounds the lens, becomes cloudy. This cloudiness can cause decreased vision, glare or even double vision.
Our doctors can treat this common condition with a safe and effective treatment called a Yag laser capsulotomy. We perform Yag laser treatments at St. Clare Surgery Center, our outpatient surgery center in Stow. The procedure takes a just a few minutes to perform and most patients notice an improvement in their vision almost immediately.
For more information on the Yag laser capsulotomy treatment, please watch the following video.
Yag Laser Capsulotomy Overview
Cataract Center
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Stow, OH
4277 Allen Rd
Stow, Ohio 44224
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2013 State Rt. 59
Kent, Ohio 44240
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Akron/Fairlawn, OH
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Surgery Center4441 Hudson Drive
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3583 Reserve Commons Dr.
Medina, Ohio 44256
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Suite 106
Wadsworth, Ohio 44281
Call Us: (330) 334-1300