If headlights now look like starbursts and night roads feel blurrier than they used to, your eyes may be telling you something important.
By Dr. Javed H. Farooqui, Lifeline Eye Centre
Many of my patients at Lifeline Eye Centre in Laxmi Nagar, Delhi, don't come in complaining about their vision during the day. Instead, it's a spouse or adult child who notices the hesitation first — slowing down more at night, gripping the wheel a little tighter, avoiding highway drives after sunset. Difficulty with night driving, especially increased glare and halos around oncoming headlights and streetlights, is one of the earliest and most common signs of a developing cataract.
A cataract develops gradually, which is exactly why it's so easy to dismiss. People adapt without realizing it — switching to brighter reading lights, avoiding night drives, or simply assuming it's "normal aging." Understanding the early signs can help you seek book your cataract checkup before it meaningfully affects your quality of life.
The natural lens of your eye, sitting just behind the iris, is normally clear — allowing light to pass through and focus sharply on the retina. A cataract is the gradual clouding of this lens, caused by a breakdown and clumping of its natural proteins over time. As the lens becomes less transparent, light entering the eye gets scattered rather than focused cleanly, producing blur, glare, and reduced contrast sensitivity.
While age-related changes after 50-60 years are the most common cause, cataracts can also develop earlier due to:
Cataract symptoms usually progress slowly over months to years. Watch for:
Tip: If you're over 40, schedule a comprehensive dilated eye examination at least once every one to two years — even without symptoms. Cataracts and several other sight-threatening conditions can be caught earliest this way.
In the short video above, I walk through how these early symptoms typically present and what patients at our Laxmi Nagar clinic commonly describe when their cataract is just starting to affect daily life.
Cataract-related vision loss is almost always gradual. Sudden vision changes point to a different, more urgent problem that should not be confused with cataract.
Warning: Sudden vision loss, a curtain-like shadow across your field of view, a sudden shower of floaters, or flashes of light require immediate evaluation by an eye specialist — these can signal a retinal detachment or other emergency, not a cataract. Our retina services team should be consulted the same day if you notice these signs.
Similarly, a painful, red eye with light sensitivity may point to inflammation or infection rather than cataract — our guide on when to see a doctor for red eye explains how to tell these apart.
Diagnosing a cataract starts with a thorough eye examination, including visual acuity testing, slit-lamp examination of the lens, intraocular pressure check, and a dilated retinal examination to rule out coexisting retinal or corneal disease. As someone who did dual fellowship training in cornea, cataract, and refractive surgery, I pay particular attention to differentiating cataract from other causes of blur — like early corneal disease or macular changes — since the treatment approach differs completely.
Patients with coexisting corneal conditions are evaluated jointly with our corneal transplant specialists so that both issues are addressed in the right order for the best visual outcome.
Cataract surgery is one of the most commonly performed and well-established surgical procedures in ophthalmology. The clouded natural lens is gently removed, most often using phacoemulsification — a technique using ultrasound energy through a tiny incision — and replaced with an artificial intraocular lens (IOL) selected specifically for your eye and lifestyle needs.
Choosing the right lens matters as much as the surgery itself. Here's how the commonly used lens categories compare:
| Lens Type | Best Suited For | Key Benefit |
|---|---|---|
| Monofocal IOL | Patients comfortable using glasses for near work | Excellent, well-proven distance vision correction |
| Toric IOL | Patients with significant pre-existing astigmatism | Corrects astigmatism along with the cataract |
| Multifocal IOL | Patients wanting reduced dependence on glasses overall | Functional vision at multiple distances |
| Extended Depth of Focus (EDOF) | Active patients prioritizing night driving comfort | A smoother range of vision with fewer halos than some multifocals |
If you're also considering spectacle independence through refractive correction rather than lens replacement, it's worth understanding how LASIK surgery differs from cataract-related lens replacement — they solve different problems and are suited to different age groups and eye conditions.
One of the most common questions I get asked is about the cataract operation cost. The honest answer is that it varies from patient to patient, depending on several factors:
Rather than quoting a generic number that may not apply to your eyes, we recommend book your cataract checkup at our Laxmi Nagar, Delhi (110092) clinic, where we can examine your eyes and walk you through a transparent, itemized estimate based on the lens and technique best suited to your lifestyle and budget.
Cataract surgery is typically a day-care procedure performed under local/topical anesthesia, so most patients feel little to no pain during the surgery itself. Mild grittiness or watering for a day or two afterward is normal. Vision usually begins improving within 24-48 hours, with full stabilization over a few weeks as the eye heals.
Patients are generally advised to avoid driving until their surgeon confirms their vision meets the legal and practical standard for safe driving — usually once initial healing is complete and glasses, if needed, have been finalized. Avoiding strenuous activity, dust, water exposure, and eye rubbing in the first few weeks protects the surgical outcome.
Lifeline has been a trusted name in east Delhi since 1991, when it was founded by Dr. S.A. Farooqui. Carrying that medical legacy forward, I started Lifeline Eye Centre to bring state-of-the-art investigative and surgical eye care under one roof in Laxmi Nagar, Delhi.
My own training includes a fellowship in Cornea and Anterior Segment at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, Australia, and a fellowship in Cornea and Refractive Surgery at Dr. Shroff's Charity Eye Hospital, alongside dedicated training in complicated cataract surgery. Earlier in my career, I worked with Orbis International's Flying Eye Hospital — the world's only ophthalmic teaching hospital on an aircraft — which took me to more than 20 countries to deliver eye care and train local doctors. This combination of advanced subspecialty training and hands-on global surgical experience is something I bring directly into every cataract evaluation at Dr. Javed H. Farooqui, our Senior Consultant Ophthalmologist performs.
If you're exploring advanced cataract surgery options in Delhi, our team can guide you from diagnosis through lens selection to post-operative follow-up, all at our Laxmi Nagar facility.
Cataracts don't cause true night blindness, but they significantly reduce contrast sensitivity and increase glare and halos around lights, making night driving and low-light vision noticeably harder — this is often one of the earliest noticeable symptoms.
Age-related cataracts most commonly begin developing after age 50-60, though early changes can sometimes be detected even earlier, especially in people with diabetes, prior eye injury, or long-term steroid use.
Cataract surgery is performed under local or topical anesthesia and is generally not painful. Most patients describe mild pressure or awareness during the procedure, with only minor discomfort, if any, in the days following.
Most patients can resume driving once their surgeon confirms vision has stabilized and meets the required standard, typically within a few weeks after surgery, once any residual glasses prescription is finalized.
Cataract surgery cost in Delhi varies based on the intraocular lens chosen, the surgical technique used, and whether one or both eyes need treatment. A personalized, transparent estimate is best obtained after an in-person eye examination.
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