If you no longer see as well as you used to, you might blame your vision problems on aging. But if you're in your 30s and experience serious problems with your eyes, you might have early onset cataracts. Early onset cataracts can cause a host of symptoms that go beyond the normal aging process, including halos and double vision. Cataracts can eventually cause blindness without treatment. Learning more about your symptoms can help you find and receive the correct treatment for them.

What Are Cataracts?

Although cataracts generally affect people over 40 years of age, early onset cataracts develop in younger individuals who smoke, injure their eyes, or have diabetes. Early onset cataracts and age-related cataracts both affect the lenses of your eyes.

Your lenses in your eyes receive, bend, and direct light toward the back of your eyes. Your lenses are made of water and special nutrients called protein. If the protein breaks apart inside your lenses, it forms small clumps. The clumps eventually prevent your lenses from receiving and transferring light.

The symptoms of early onset cataracts generally occur slowly, so you won't notice them right away. But once your cataracts grow in size, you can experience a host of strange symptoms, including blurry vision and halos. You may also have problems seeing things in low lighting, or you may see double in one eye. 

Your symptoms and cataracts won't subside or go away without any type of treatment. In this case, you want to seek vision care immediately.

How Do You Treat Early Onset Cataracts?

Because cataracts don't go away, surgery is often the treatment of choice for many eye doctors. During surgery, doctors remove cataracts by making an incision in the lenses. Doctors may choose to break apart the clouded lenses before using a suctioning tool to remove them, or the specialists may keep the lenses intact and remove them as a single piece. 

Eye doctors can also soften up and remove cataracts by laser. Laser treatment is a good choice for people who want to heal or recover quickly. Stitches may or may not be necessary with laser surgery.

After surgery, you can have your natural lenses replaced with artificial lenses. Manmade lenses not only restore your eyes' ability to focus and transfer light properly, the artificial lenses also correct the vision problems caused by your cataracts. After surgery, you can prevent new cataracts from forming by quitting smoking, eating healthier, and seeing your eye doctor regularly. 

If you have concerns about early onset cataracts or would like treatment, contact a cataract surgeon today. You can also check out a website like http://www.tyreecarrmd.com for more information and assistance.