The relationship between sense of body, balance, and vision is very deep...
Older people with visual impairment can report feeling dizzy and falling. A new study found that after routinecataract surgery, the improved vision led to patients experiencing significantly less dizziness, although they did not experience fewer falls.
"Dizziness is caused by lots of factors, but the results indicate that cataract surgery removes symptoms of dizziness for some people, so it is an important intervention to consider," said Professor David Elliott, senior author of theOphthalmic & Physiological Optics study.
Switching to multifocal glasses after cataract surgery may be the reason that cataract surgery did not decrease rates of falling as much as might be expected. "Multifocals are very convenient, but the results of the study suggest that older, frail patients--who are at greater risk of falling--shouldn't wear multifocals after cataract surgery if possible," said Professor Elliott.