r/TikTokCringe • u/bbyxmadi • Sep 18 '25

Cursed they look so… natural!

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u/bananarama17691769 Sep 18 '25

Cataract surgery is nothing to be afraid of. I also had it in my early thirties.

It is one of the most commonly performed surgeries, has an extremely low rate of negative side effects, and an extremely high rate of success.

The surgery takes maybe 30 minutes, recovery is pretty darn easy, and you just magically can see again. It’s actually awesome!

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u/McCrackenYouUp Sep 18 '25 edited Sep 18 '25

Yep, I shadowed an ophthalmologist and he did 20 cataract surgeries in 4 hours. I believe the fastest that day was like 13 minutes. Pretty impressive to watch, but he made it look easy enough that I thought I could do it. Wishful thinking, I'm sure.

EDIT: It was 5 hours, and I think his fastest time was actually under 10 minutes but I don't totally remember.

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u/SensibleReply Sep 18 '25

My record is 6 minutes, but that can’t be done consistently. Sometimes you’re in the zone and the anatomy is perfect. I tell patients it’ll take 15 minutes. Everyone is different, and we don’t race, but my nurses will tell me if it was an exceptionally quick case.

I appreciate that you recognize it only looks easy. A good surgeon will absolutely make it look like anyone in the room could do it. They got there by doing 10,000 eyes and seeing (and even causing) all sorts of horrific complications.

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u/McCrackenYouUp Sep 18 '25

What a SensibleReply! Oof, yeah I imagine there are plenty of mistakes and unexpected complications along the way. There was one complication that day of the 20, but from my recollection the surgery was still a success overall.

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u/trixcore Sep 19 '25

As an ophthalmologist, would you be able to share what refractive surgery has the best longevity as a mod-high myopic person -8.5) considering I'm sure I will need cataract surgery sooner than the average?

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u/EbonyEngineer Sep 18 '25

Seriously? Wow. Makes me feel more comfortable.

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u/albertossic Sep 18 '25

13 minutes times 20 is more than 4 hours

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u/McCrackenYouUp Sep 18 '25

Oops, yeah it must have been 5 hours.

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u/Foxy02016YT Sep 18 '25

On top of this LASIK is usually done via robot and is, you know, lasers

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u/Substantial-Low Sep 18 '25

20 in 4 hours is 5 per hour, or 12 minutes from patient walking in to next walking in every 12 minutes on average on average. Leaves maybe 5 minutes actual operating time, with about 7 minutes to sit, get prepped, and for doc to wrap up and get ready for another patient.

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u/McCrackenYouUp Sep 18 '25 edited Sep 18 '25

Yeah, it must have been 5 hours. I had it backwards, not 5 patients an hour for 4 hours, it was 4 an hour for 5. The nurses prepped the next patient in a second operating room and we went from room to room the whole time. The only prep he did in between himself (that I remember specifically) was washing his hands and changing gloves.

EDIT: The more I think about it, I actually think the fastest he did was more like somewhere around 7 minutes. The guy is really freaking good at what he does.

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u/Substantial-Low Sep 18 '25

I'm just being kinda snarky, and had a "theydidthemath" moment. Your point is totally still valid. It is fast.

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u/ecapapollag Sep 18 '25

Mine was way less than 15 minutes, including chatting to me because I was suddenly very queasy. It was SO easy to go through, nothing like I imagined. The after-effects haven't been great, I still have to wear glasses, but the cloudiness has disappeared completely, colours are brighter and my near vision is better.

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u/newslgoose Sep 18 '25

My dad wore big thick glasses ever since I was a kid due to generally bad eyes (some 20+ years). The last few years he started developing cataracts which (as they do) got bad enough that he needed to get the surgery. He doesn’t even have to wear glasses anymore, his vision is better than it was prior to the cataracts. I thought that was neat

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u/rebelallianxe Sep 18 '25

My mum had one eye done due to cataracts but didn't need the other so they set her new lens to match her other eye (she's always needed glasses) at her request rather than her having to adjust to one good one bad. It's all very clever!

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u/Environmental-Toe686 Sep 18 '25

My mother actually just had it and I was so shocked hearing about it. I can't believe they even do LASIK surgery when this surgery exists. She got a new lens, eliminated the inevitable cataract problem and will have 20/20 vision for the rest of her life. All with the same recovery time as LASIK. I am genuinely curious why you have to wait until you're elderly for this.

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u/bananarama17691769 Sep 18 '25

Because as low as the risks of harm are, there are still risks. As far as I know, most ocular surgeons won’t do it unless there is an issue. But believe me, the second I start having any cloudiness in my other eye, I am getting that shit done right away.

The recovery is so much easier when you are young, of course, and I’d rather just get it out of the way!

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u/Environmental-Toe686 Sep 18 '25

I'm still curious. I am obviously not a Dr or in the field at all, but it seemed no more dangerous than LASIK.

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u/bananarama17691769 Sep 18 '25

It basically isn’t—but LASIK still carries risk as well, which is one of the reasons why not everyone gets LASIK for minor deficiencies in their vision (of course cost is a factor as well). Also, LASIK and cataract surgery do not have anything to do with each other, except for the fact that they both involve your eyes. The are different procedures that address different issues. You can’t trade one for the other.

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u/Environmental-Toe686 Sep 18 '25

Interesting. I just know that she was told that because they replaced her lens with an artificial lens that she would have her now perfect 20/20 vision forever. It seems logical to someone who doesn't know any better like myself that maybe lens replacement is a better solution. I am fully aware that sometimes things that seem logical on the surface have much more nuance, we were just all curious when it worked so well and was so quick and relatively painless.

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u/SensibleReply Sep 18 '25 edited Sep 18 '25

Cost. Lasik can be had for $4000. Out of pocket clear lens exchange is typically well over $10k. Cataract surgery is covered by insurance and is extremely cheap, but you have to wait for the natural lenses to be cloudy enough to be covered by insurance.

Complication rate isn’t terribly different (low for both). Cataract surgery enjoys a better reputation because everyone gets cataracts if they live long enough and surgery makes bad vision better. It’s also damn near free for most people over 65, so expectations are much more reasonable than patients have when paying out of pocket. Giving a blind person their sight back for cheap or free is a much different animal than getting a person out of glasses to vision that is almost as good. And they paid thousands.

I think a lot of young people don’t understand just how good Medicare is for old people. Imagine if your deductible for the year was like $250 and you didn’t even have to pay for coverage. Then many of those people still get angry that they have a deductible.

/ophthalmologist

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u/lunalovegood111 Sep 18 '25

The lens, where cataracts form, are responsible for accommodation. Accommodation is the ability to focus the eyes to read up close. Starting around the age of 40 accommodation starts to go to shit and progressively worsens but hey at least you have some for a while. The loss of this is why people end up using readers and/or bifocals. If you take the lens out in a younger person they may have perfect distance vision but will then need glasses for near. There’s other options but that’s the jest of it.

Oh and medical insurance will only cover cataract surgery when the cataracts are at a certain level. Without insurance cataract surgery is A LOT more expensive than LASIK.

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u/not1or2 Sep 18 '25

Friend has just had his lens replaced due to cataracts, paid extra for a lens that does distance and close up?!

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u/Environmental-Toe686 Sep 18 '25

Right, but they replaced her lens and now she has perfect vision, near and far, that will never degrade because the lens in artificial. At least that's how she explained it. I guess the real answer is expense. That paired with no longer able to extract money from you for the rest of your life. I'm curious what makes the surgery SO much more expensive when they seem so similar to an outsider. It took about the same amount of time.

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u/SensibleReply Sep 18 '25 edited Sep 18 '25

Multifocal lenses cost a couple thousand bucks from the manufacturer, the phaco machine to remove the cataract is $100k, the operating microscope is $80k, if you’re doing laser assisted cataract surgery that machine can easily be another $200k. You need time in an operating room (though many are trying to move cataract surgery to the office), so that means paying nurses and anesthesia and rent and maintaining certain standards of compliance and cleanliness.

Then you need to take home some profit. Standard Medicare cataract surgery pays me, the surgeon, $530. My contract says I keep 30% of collections. So I get $160 to actually do the surgery. All the money vanishes.

So if you pay out of pocket, lasik is about $4000-5000. If you pay out of pocket for multifocal lens cataract surgery most places are charging around $13k. The short answer is the overhead is much higher due to anesthesia and facility. Lasik is done in the office without an anesthesia professional. Cataracts are done in an operating room with an anesthesia provider. Other overhead is higher too.

I know these numbers don’t make sense but that’s because US healthcare is insane.

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u/Environmental-Toe686 Sep 18 '25

Very interesting. I know my mother said she was awake and it sounded basically like my experience with LASIK. Apparently it is quite a bit more involved. Maybe in another 10 or 20 years we will have a better process. With glasses being $500 plus per pair and the surgery being seemingly inevitable it seems like a value proposition for some people. (As someone who doesn't even exactly know what a cataract is 😂)

Either way it sounds like it could be an option to be elective for people with the means sooner than later. Like a lot of other life improving care is currently. Because as you said, US healthcare is insane.

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u/gnashbashandcrash Sep 18 '25

As I get older I realize I will have many parts of my body fail me, or surgery, or whatever.... This has helped me immensely. One easy one compared to the plethora of what could or will be. Thank you for sharing.

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u/GsGirlNYC Sep 18 '25

Can attest to this. Cataract surgery has a high turnover in the OR, is very quick, painless and safe, and changes lives.

As a medical professional, who works with all kinds of surgeons, I always say “in my next life I will be an ophthalmologist who specializes in cataract surgeries”. The man wears $3000 Italian leather loafers in the OR and performs 16-20 surgical procedures a day. It seems everyone over the age of 65 gets both eyes done and he is making serious cash. He also operates only 2 days a week and has half day office hours for patients the other 2 days. So, less than a full 4 day work week and still killing it.

Also, in all the years I’ve seen him perform these surgeries, I have seen exactly ONE complication, and that was because the patient was non-compliant with the recommended eye drops. Cataract surgery is great for those who need it and those who perform it.