Don’t Miss Out on Your Annual Vision Benefits | Key-Whitman Eye Center

Why You Should Schedule Necessary Eyecare Services Before the End of the Year

Although vision insurance might not be the first type that comes to mind when you think of health insurance, it is an important benefit for you. Even if you haven’t had many eye issues in the past, vision issues can arise at any time, and that’s when patients are grateful for their vision insurance.

In addition to traditional vision insurance, many patients contribute to their FSA accounts throughout the year, so by the end of the year, they have a surplus of savings that will expire if they do not use them to access necessary eyecare services. We recommend contacting your insurance company to discover what you might have saved, and then making an appointment with us to redeem eye care services like exams and other optical services!

Call Now for Cataract Surgery Before Deductibles Reset

If you need a cataract surgery, there is no better time than now to call and schedule one. This is because you are more likely to have met your annual deductible as the year comes to a close. Extensive treatments like cataract surgery should be scheduled as soon as possible in order to make sure you can have the lowest out-of-pocket payment possible.

How Do You Know If You Need Cataract Surgery?

A cataract is the clouding of the lens of your eye that is normally clear. Cataracts can be caused by aging or injuries that change the tissue of your eye’s lens. They can also be caused by inherited genetic disorders, trauma, medications like steroids, systemic diseases like diabetes, prolonged exposure to UV light, and smoking. Cataracts are extremely common, and they are more common in older individuals. In fact, the risk of cataract increases with each decade of life beginning around the age of 40, and cataracts affect more than 24.4 million Americans age 40 and older. By age 40, 1 in 6 Americans have cataracts. By age 70, about half of all Americans have cataracts. If you are experiencing the following symptoms, you might have developed a cataract:

• Clouded, blurred, or dim vision
• Increasing difficulty seeing at night
• Sensitivity to light
• Need for brighter light to fully see
• An appearance of “halos” around lights
• Fading of colors
• Loss of depth perception
• Double vision in one eye

However, not all cataracts are created equal. There are three primary types of cataracts:

• Nuclear cataract –

This type of cataract forms deep within the central zone of the lens, otherwise known as the nucleus. It is typically associated with aging.

• Cortical cataract –

Cortical cataracts look like white opacities that begin on the periphery of the lens and extend toward the center. This type of cataract occurs in the cortex of the lens, which surrounds the nucleus.

• Posterior subcapsular cataract –

This type of cataract commonly occurs in individuals who have diabetes or are taking steroid medications. Diabetes and steroid medications drastically increase your risk of developing posterior subcapsular cataracts.

Our team of caring eye doctors will answer any questions you might have about your symptoms. If you have a cataract and it needs to be removed, we can remove the cloudy lens through a no-stitch outpatient surgery. We will fragment the cataract and replace it with a lens implant. We also offer advanced technology lenses, which can decrease your dependence on glasses or contacts. Although we cannot guarantee complete freedom from glasses, our Custom High Technology lenses have enabled most patients to have no dependency or less dependency on glasses or contacts.

Why Have Cataract Surgery?

Cataract surgery is one of the most common surgeries performed in the U.S., and we want to help patients who need this surgery not only receive it, but pay the lowest out-of-pocket cost possible. Individuals who have cataracts will reap the following benefits from having surgery:

• Cataract surgery can lessen the risk of dangerous falls and fractures.

Vision loss is one of the most common reasons that people fall… and falling can result in injuries like broken hips, immobility, brain injuries, and even death, especially for older individuals. Improving the vision issues associated with this issue, like cataracts, can help to prevent these unnecessary dangers.

• The surgery can improve your overall quality of life.

Cataracts can affect your life in ways you might not even fully realize until the issue is resolved. To make up for the lack of vision, people with cataracts often give up their favorite activities, which can result in social isolation. For this reason, avoiding cataract surgery can cause anxiety and depression.

• Cataract surgery can help you live longer.

A study conducted by UCLA and published in JAMA Ophthalmology compared the lifespan of over 74,000 women, some of whom had cataract surgery, and some of whom did not. The women who had cataract surgery had a 60% reduced risk of death from all cases.

If you have any questions about our eye care services like cataract surgery, call Key-Whitman at (214) 220-3937 or contact us online.