Cataract surgery can be considered “too early” if lens changes cause little impact and the small surgical risks are not balanced by meaningful benefit.
Situations where surgery may be premature
Operating very early offers limited gain.
- Excellent vision with minimal symptoms in everyday life
- Ability to work, drive, and read comfortably with glasses
- Only subtle chart or slit‑lamp changes without functional problems
- High anxiety about surgery that outweighs current inconvenience
- Other untreated medical priorities that make elective surgery less sensible
Exceptions where early surgery is reasonable
Sometimes non‑visual factors favour earlier intervention.
- Cataracts interfering with management of retinal or glaucoma disease
- Rapidly changing prescriptions causing frequent imbalance between eyes
- Occupations with stringent visual standards where small declines matter
- Specific refractive aims, such as correcting high anisometropia
- Shared decision that advantages outweigh the low but real surgical risks
