Cataract Surgery: What to expect after surgery

@bobbyo - I had cataract surgery in both eyes last year. My eyes are sensitive to light before I had the surgeries and they are both still a little sensitive to light. I let my surgeon talk me into not getting the lenses that also correct my astigmatism so the IOLS that I had implanted were the standard ones which did a good job of correcting my vision so that I can drive without glasses but needed reading glasses to read small print. I recently decided to get new glasses that added the small correction for the astigmatism and also were progressive with correction for reading small print.

Now I'm wearing them daily and while driving but the sun and brightness/glare causes me some problems. I'm looking at getting some prescription sunglasses to use for driving.

I was not aware that the edges of the IOLS can make a difference. That would be a great question for folks to ask their surgeon when they have a consultation before the cataract surgery. Is this the article you read?

Dysphotopsia: Not Just Black and White: https://www.reviewofophthalmology.com/article/dysphotopsia-not-just-black-and-white

@bobbyo

I don’t know how much my input will help. I had cataract surgery…both eyes,,couple months apart in 2009. This was the round lens. Only just became aware of the square lens.
My left eye has a halo effect at night…not a full halo. This is noticeable with the lights of oncoming cars and street lights and it really has to be dark. I didn’t notice it several years ago when we’re in Broadway..NY with all the lights at night and notice it didn’t occur at an outside Christmas tree exhibit last year…at night…but if I looked off to a streetlight I saw the half halo. Nothing has ever happened like that during daylight hours.

I don’t drive much at night anymore but , to mitigate the halo effect, I can squint a bit….have even closed it on occasion. Other than that I consider myself lucky having read or known of other people with more complicated after effects. I may have mentioned it to my surgeon but didn’t consider it a big problem then. I was 68 when I had that done.

And, yes I would be concerned about having the other eye done with the sane type of lens.
In you position, I personally would not choose that type of lens again. There are no guarantees with either type.

Would be interested in knowing what you decide and hope you get input from someone with similar problems.

FL Mary

Thank you for your information and perspective! Yes, I believe the link to article is one of a few that I read.

Check out this excerpt:
“Positive dysphotopsia is characterized by undesired light streaks, arcs, and flashes that emanate from obliquely incident sources of light. “The literature is clear that the chief cause of positive dysphotopsia is square-edge IOLs, which became popular in the mid-90s because of their ability to reduce the incidence or retard the development of posterior capsule opacification. We really didn’t notice positive dysphotopsia until the advent of square-edge IOLs,” says Samuel Masket, MD, who is in practice in Los Angeles.”

So, my surgeon gave me the popular square-edged IOL to AVOID quick development of a posterior capsular opacification (aka PCO or secondary cataract)? As the article says, these IOLs became popular in mid-90s for that reason. Despite this, I developed the opacification within WEEKS of my cataract surgery. My vision in that eye deteriorated quickly with blurry halos around headlights and advance of overall blurry vision. In fact, I had to have the PCO laser surgery just LAST December. So, I, obviously, got no benefit from square-edge.

I will, certainly, be asking of other IOL options in effort of avoiding the same pitfalls with this second cataract. Thank you John and other responses

Hmmm...I had cataract surgery on both eyes, two days apart, in 2006 or 2007. I asked my eye doc why they did my eyes the same week. He responded that my vision was so bad I had nothing to lose! He was right in that all my adult life I had had 20/480 (20/500 is legally blind) vision in one eye, 20/420-440 in the "good" eye. I wore progressive lenses from the time they first came out (I was in my 30s then), but, even with glasses that degree of nearsightedness and the accompanying astigmatism means you really can't see well, even fairly close.

Following cataract surgery, initially I had 20/20 vision. OMG...buildings have windows and doors, trees have leaves! It's been years, but I still wake up thankful for the vision I now have. During the first year after surgery, my vision settled at 20/40 and 20/60, which is far better than I had ever had with glasses! It's legal for me to drive without glasses for the first time in my life. Because I have a great deal of astigmatism and Meniere's (affected by moving around with uncorrected astigmatism), I wear progressive lenses all the time. I do lots of photography for my job (graphic design), and that has been soooo much easier since surgery! I used to just guess at any distant scenes and even had trouble focussing with things only a few feet away from me. So, for me, cataract surgery has been just one huge blessing and improvement, every waking hour.

One thing that did not happen prior to surgery was loss of ability to discern colors, which many people report. After surgery I reviewed the work I'd done in the months prior to surgery, fearing that I might have cheated clients, but that wasn't the case. For some reason, I've always had a far better ability to "see" colors accurately than most people, and that wasn't affected either by the growing cataracts or since surgery.

I think that cataract surgery, like glasses, is most effective for those who really can't see well at all. When my husband needed to start wearing reading glasses (his distance vision is still nearly perfect), he had nothing but trouble. I think that was because the benefit wasn't all that great, while the glasses were bothersome. He now wears bifocals, but often complains about "how hard it is to see." I remember getting the first pair of no-line progressives: I had absolutely no problem getting used to them, as the benefit of greatly improved distance vision was great. Shoot, I learned then that those big green things hanging over freeways are SIGNS! I've notice the same thing with people who need to wear hearing aids: the ones who have smaller losses have the most trouble, make the most complaints: they just don't gain nearly as much as those of us who live in a nearly silent world without aids.

@joyces
What an interesting and undoubtedly accurate observation. I really appreciated your post especially being profoundly hard of hearing and having had successful cataract surgery in 2009 which gave me the far vision. I use cheaters for up close. I also, can drive without glasses but use them because my right eye had a retinal detachment in the 1980s. It makes things a smidge sharper.

FL Mary

I just had cataract surgery on one eye. The eye doctor had said I could put if off another year. Because I am in my 80's, I decided to do it now, even though my eyesight was good (distance). I had been wearing progressive glasses & also contacts. My other eye's cataract is only a 2-3. My doctor is planning on doing it soon. I like the way I see now, just 5 days after surgery, but am hesitant to have the other eye done real soon. I had no symptoms of cataracts on either eye before the surgery.

Welcome, @4health. Is there a rush to get the other eye done? It sounds like you're please with your vision since having the one eye done. Might you wait several months or more?

I had cataract surgery on my left eye July 29th. The first two weeks I couldn`t see my hand in front of my face. i did go and see another Dr. and he had me put a gel in my eye 3 times daily. I did see the operating dr the day after I got the gel started. He didn`t like I went to get another opinion. He said I should wait. and I said I wasn`t going to have the rt eye done....ever! The eye has improved where I can see images but they are still blurry. I got referred to a cornea specialist 2 days ago and he said the cornea is ok but said I should continue with the drops and gel and wait. I told him I have thousands of floaters in my eye....it`s like someone took a pepper shaker and sprinkled pepper in my eye....he couldn`t tell me for sure what would happen to these floaters. He said wait......it`s been 5 weeks now....it`s like a living nightmare....how much improvement will I get and how long will it take? I`m a Vietnam Vet and stopped at the vet hospital when I was returning from the cornea dr visit. They were, at least, sympathetic with me and said I should wait and see the operating dr again. To see the cornea dr it was a 200 mile trip....to see the operating dr it is a 100 mile trip....so none of these visits is easy for me as I live in the country in Michigan`s upper peninsula. I want to get a third opinion from the U of Michigan eye center at the end of September if my eye hasn`t improved. They have helped me in the past and I feel much more comfortable and safe with them..... the drs say wait and it is easy for them to say this, but it is my eye and my vision and I want to be able to see normal again. I feel if I had done more research( like here on Mayo clinic) I never would have had cataract surgery because my vision was good. Now all I can do is pray that I can find someone who can make it good again. My Aunt once told me,,,when you have good health you are weathy and .how true that is for me now

Oh my !! Make sure you ask dr

Dear Sir,

I can empathize with some of your after surgery symptoms, though my “slew of thousands of floaters” happened after I had surgery for a torn retina.

Here’s my experience:
I was hit hard in the eye with a ball while playing softball. For a few days, I thought I just had a nasty black eye till I saw a flood of small spec floaters a few days later. Quickly, I went to ophthalmologist and they diagnosed a torn retina and I had surgery (called cryosurgery) to repair my retina. Just after surgery, I saw MANY more floaters that looked like someone emptied a pepper shaker into my field of vision (like you)! It seemed to worsen to thousands of floaters and I inquired with doctor and many times in the first weeks after surgery. He described the majority of these to be red blood cells that happened during my retina surgery AND these floaters would dissipate in “a couple weeks”. Well, I visited him at two months and they were STILL there. In my mind, they were about the same as they had been, but, maybe they were down to hundreds instead of thousands. He, again, said, “give it a couple weeks or so.”

At that point, I was really frustrated and thought the condition would never improve. FINALLY, , another 4-6 weeks later, I looked into the sky and it was, mostly, clear of floaters. So, I assume, the majority of those thousands of floaters were the surgery-related red blood cells that, eventually, go away.

So, I pray that everything was done ok with your surgery and that your vision improves with your doctor’s treatment, healing and time.