Cataracts in the eyes can be caused by a variety of things from diabetes to trauma. The effect is that the eye's lens gets cloudy, making it difficult to see clearly and to focus the eye, particularly at a distance. The Mayo Clinic reports that ocular cataracts not caused by trauma often develop simultaneously in both eyes. While changing to glasses that are stronger may help for a time as cataracts progress, surgery may be needed to remove the cataracts.
Blurring
The most obvious symptom of a developing cataract is that the cloudiness that forms inside the lens begins to blur the vision. This can be an overall blurriness in one or both eyes or can be a partial blurring in either eye. Also, because the cloudiness blocks some of the light getting through the lens of the eye to the retina, it may cause the vision to dim.
Sensitivity
In some cases, the Mayo Clinic states, people may develop a sensitivity in their eyes. This can be a sensitivity to too much light entering the eyes or seeing an increased glare from brightly lit objects. This also may produce such symptoms as seeing halos that surround lights.
Darkening
Cataract development can make it more difficult to see adequately in darkened situations. This may mean having difficulty seeing at night, particularly when driving or engaging in other activities. This may result in another symptom, which is needing to use brighter lights for activities that include reading or anything else normally done with less light.
Diplopia
Diplopia is the medical term for seeing double. Cataracts can have the effect of producing either two images in one eye or an overlapping double image. This second may appear as if you are trying to focus a rangefinder camera. The camera's focus works by having two lenses separated by a short distance with a mirror over half of one of them. As you first look through the lens, there may appear a double or overlapped image. You turn the focusing mechanism to align the two images. Unfortunately, with a cataract, the focusing mechanism is dysfunctional.
Other Symptoms
Cataracts may cause the need for frequent upgrades of contact lens or eyeglass prescription. They can also cause the images the person sees to have color fading or a yellowing of the colors. Pain is not a typical symptom of ocular cataracts.
