Cataract Surgery in Decatur, TX

Dr. Strange is our cataract surgeon, and he performs the surgery at his 25,000 square foot facility at 4501 Heritage Trace Pkwy, Suite 121, Fort Worth, Texas. The facilities are specifically designed for cataract surgeries. Therefore, it is better equipped to do cataract surgery than the hospitals are.

Dr. Strange is a board-certified cataract and refractive eye surgeon. He has extensive experience in premium cataract surgery, refractive surgery, ICLs, and RLEs. He provides his patients with the latest medical and surgical technology and techniques.

He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of North Texas where he earned a B.S. in Biology. After earning his bachelor’s degree, he completed a year of medical research and earned his Master’s degree in biomedical sciences. He then received his medical degree from the University of North Texas Health Science where he developed his passion for ophthalmology.

What are cataracts?

We can detect cataract changes in our lens all the way back to 10 years old. The lenses in our eyes are slowly changing throughout our entire life and cataracts become visible in a dilated exam in our fifties. And then very obvious in our sixties. Most of the time, patients need surgery by their seventies. That's the normal progression for most people.

Normally, the lens of your eye is completely transparent, perfect for gathering light in a variety of conditions. When affected by cataracts, the lens starts to cloud, giving the effect of viewing the world through an increasingly foggy window. The onset of cataracts is usually slow, occurring over years. In the early stages of cataracts, there may be little effect on your vision.

As the condition progresses, it becomes more difficult to read or drive a car, particularly at night, when street lights and headlights aggravate the blurriness that cataracts produce. Stronger eyeglasses and bright light may address these changes, but eventually, your eyesight could become so compromised that surgical intervention becomes necessary.

What causes cataracts?

When patients ask Dr. Fries what causes cataracts, he often replies: "Birthdays".

Nutrition and keeping a low-balanced blood sugar seem to prevent cataracts from progressing quickly.

Machines now can tell from early forms of cataract formation, whether or not the blood triggers are going off.

Diabetics can get early cataracts. Blood sugar does play a part in how fast cataracts become formed.

Eating a ketogenic diet is a way of preventing cataracts from growing too quickly with age.

While injury and medication may cause cataracts to occur, in many cases, the cause is unknown, other than an age-related tissue breakdown. Though cataracts predominantly affect older patients, slightly favoring women to men, congenital cataracts can affect people of all ages, including newborns.

The clouding that occurs with cataracts originates with clumps of lens tissue breaking down and clumping together within the lens. This typically starts slowly and gets worse over time, creating the symptoms associated with the condition. These symptoms include:

Affecting over 24 million Americans, cataracts are one of the most common conditions affecting vision, particularly in those over 40. While a leading cause of blindness worldwide, treatment for cataracts in the United States is readily available. Dr. Strange is our cataract surgeon, and he performs the surgery at his 25,000 square foot facility at 4501 Heritage Trace Pkwy, Suite 121, Fort Worth, TX.

How does Dr. Fries treat cataracts?

Cataracts usually develop slowly, so there’s plenty of time to decide when surgery is right for you. The only treatment for cataracts is the removal of the clouded lens. An intraocular artificial lens replaces the natural lens. Surgery is conveniently done on an outpatient basis under local anesthetic. If both eyes are affected, two surgeries, weeks or months apart, are scheduled to give the first eye time to recover.

Intraocular lenses may not restore your eyesight to its previous pre-cataract condition, and so corrective glasses or contacts are likely required. Dr. Fries can explain the options available to you during your initial consultations. However, there are options with premium intraocular lenses that can address eye problems such as:

A basic lens is usually covered by Medicare, additional features to the lenses will be paid out of pocket in addition to what Medicare covers for, astigmatism and bifocal IOLs, which is what the interocular lenses are. That's something Dr. Strange has.

He has a lens that can have the prescription inside the eye changed up to 4 times with no surgery in order to counteract changes the eye normally makes to the prescription over time.

Therefore, keeping the eye close to needing virtually no prescription for much longer than ordinary lenses.