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Positive Dysphotopsia after Cataract Surgery
I’m 62 and had my left eye cataract done in December 2019 and still have significant peripheral light streaks and night glare and starbursts while driving (positive dysphotopsia). Makes me a little “white-knuckled” when night driving and is maddening overall. Local surgeons are not inclined to consider an IOL exchange and neither am I, at this point.
With that, has anyone:
- experienced dissipation of dysphotopsia symptoms as time passed?
- tried photochromic contacts or glasses and had success?
- other actions that helped you?
Thanks for any input!
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I'm so very, very glad you have no PD Bobbyo. Going into the lens exchange I'd remind myself of your initially having PD with the second lens, and then having it resolve in 3-4 months. It was a relief that I had none, but your information would have helped me weather a similar situation. So thank you for having continued to write!
I failed to mention some things of significance. On my querying Dr. Fish, he estimated that he did 10-15 lens exchanges a year. That's in comparison to 5 over the entire career of a middle-aged surgeon I consulted who advised against it. Further, Dr. Fish guessed that of all those, about 15 had been for those with PD, all of whom had either had dramatic reduction or disappearance of all PD, and all had been happy they'd had the exchange. He is a relatively quiet person in my experience and didn't offer any of this information without being asked. Virtually everyone I came in contact with at this well-run clinic had praise for him, saying he gets the lens exchanges from all around. He is also a cornea specialist.
Yes. LAL is also a monovision lens - of silicon, vs the far more common acrylic.
Don't LAL and Vivity cost about the same?
Hi, I hope you have had improvement since June 2023. I did not realize that you could get dysphotopsias plus flickering with the LAL. I am scheduled to have LAL surgery in May in Kansas City. I am wondering if you would share who your ophthalmologist was that did your surgery. I have done so much research and I am not sure I am doing the right thing. Thank you for any help! There are so many questions about the LAL.
I had laser cataract surgery on one eye four weeks ago and still see a stream of light at an approximately 45 degree angle through led and other bright lights. I was given the impression that this would dissipate in time and therefore proceeded with cataract surgery on the other eye last week. I now see, at times. a horizontal streak of light and some hazing around some lights in that eye, although it's less bothersome and may be fading and I am only out a week from that second surgery.
Another surgeon who examined me the day after my second surgery, informed me that the J & J Enhance lens used was smaller than my natural lens and that the capsule holding the lens would likely shrink over the next few months possibly correcting the issue. But he also noted that there was or could be (not sure exactly what he said) of a wrinkling in the capsule (or maybe the lens, not sure) that was causing the light streaking.
In any event, he told me that if the 'light issue' didn't resolve within 3 months, the issue could be addressed by the Yag laser.
I wonder:
1. if others have had their 'light issues' whether due to wrinkling or otherwise self-corrected within months;
2. if not, whether they adjusted to it over time as opposed to taking a risk with the yag laser; and,
3. I wonder if this occurrence was due to having my cataract surgery done by laser as opposed to the more traditional manual method
Hello, I came across your post while searching for others who had developed a Maddox rod effect after cataract surgery 2 weeks ago. I noticed this on day 1 post surgery. Yag was suggested as treatment but I am currently in a wait and see pattern. Could you let me know if the silicon lens exchange was effective in alleviating your symptoms? Many thanks.
Elliott,
Which IOL do you have?
I had light streaks with my LALs (this month) - different axis for each (one was 10 and 4, the other 2 and 8 on the clock). At day five both artifacts went away.
Mayoconnectuser1,
In reply to your question, I had the J&J Eyehance lenses but my light streak is due to a wrinkle in the capsule, not the IOL itself. Glad to hear yours went away quickly.
Elliott
You might try Reddit.com/r/CataractSurgery for occasional input from cataract surgeons.
In answer to your question about laser assist vs blade, I have the maddox rod effect after bladed surgery. How are you doing now? I hope you have noticed some improvement with or without yag surgery. I was interested to read that your doctor suggested that glasses might calm down the streaks. Did you find that was correct?
After having the Bausch & Lomb L161A0 in your second eye, were the symptoms in the first eye improved as well?