Flickering light in eye after Cataract surgery
Posted , 58 users are following.
Hi all
I'm recovering from cataract Implant surgery in my left eye, It''s been nearly a month since my surgery, I've found in the early morning that the light in the partial darkness of the bedroom is not an issue with my eye, but as some of you have already talked about bright light then I have to agree with you all.
In bright light I to have this flickering which comes from the left side of my periferal vision and then spreads from left to right and yes its very annoying, as I type this comment I'm having to shield the light with my left hand against the side of my face to somewhat stop the side dazzle it doesnt however stop the flicker when I move my eye left to right, when I'm looking straight forward I dont get the flicker.
I had a cataract operation and Implant in my right eye done about 7 years ago and cannot recollect having these flickering problems then ? my optician said its possible that the light reflection is coming from the implanted lens and radiating around, she said my eye needs time to settle. I hope as others have said that time is a great healer and that it eventually disappears on its own, as it is driving me nuts at present, perhaps using sunglasses with a side cover on might help me, well its something I'm going to try.
5 likes, 155 replies
diane27113 Guest
Posted
sam333 Guest
Posted
yesterday and he said my eyes are 20/20 and sees no retinal tears or problems. He said he thinks its a refraction occurring from the installed lens . Had no answer as to why it was starting up now after 7 years. My symtom is faint and doesnt bother me or my vision and I hope it doesnt get any worse. However, Ive made an appt with the Dr. who did the implants just to get his opinion. Good luck.
chhs1982 Guest
Posted
t29013 chhs1982
Posted
I so understand how this feels - Well, I'm not sure quite what to make of your Dr. When I took the same thing up with my own dr. he was able to assure me that it wasn't retinal detachment which helped put that out of the picture, but.... eventually when it was clear that neither it nor I were going to disappear out of his consulting room any time in a hurry, he said that it would go in several months. I took this to mean that either it would or it wouldn't (I am really quite distrustful of what I am told by doctors / surgeons, etc -). However, when I had the second eye done several months later, exactly the same thing happened, so now I had two flickering eyes. I also had to have yag laser treatment for my first eye. Several days after the cataract had been done, my vision which had really hugely improved (despite the flickering) suddenly deteriorated - I couldn't believe it. That (apparently) was caused by scarring which happened to the back of the capsule. Seventeen zaps of laser and my vision was perfect again, except for the flickering.
When it came to my second eye, yes, I now had two flickering eyes - it was exhausting, but again the surgeon wasn't overly interested. I learned more from reading online about complications. However, it was several months later that the vision in that eye seemed really weird again - so back to the ophthalmologist. Oh yes, he says, it has got much worse since I saw you last time (now this was a couple of weeks after the previous visit, so no time at all) - more of the capsular scarring or whatever it is called. This time it was 37 zaps. My vision again was cleared... except that after a few days there was intermittent blurring crossing my eye several times a minute, with little gaps, but then back again. Dementing. Completely dementing, plus the flashing at the edge of my eyes.... This time when I went back he told me that a fragment of the scarring had fallen off but instead of fragmenting into tiny dispersed bits it had come off and hadn't dispersed.... oh, so now the explanation as to my future is that 'gravity' may - note the may- take it lower down my eye out of my field of vision, that this will take 'a long time' (- erh? how many years?). Right, jolly good. When I asked is this common - it's more common if it has already happened in one eye. Anyway, the upshot seems to be that the flickering at the edge of my eyes has now diminished / disappeared - except that I now have the joy of the constantly inconstant shifting blur across my field of vision in my right eye. But I still see an awful lot better than I did before. The whole thing really has been a lot more complicated than I would have wished for. I guess communication between the surgeon and myself has been annoyingly insufficiently informative and that has been a concern. I really hope things will get better for you - and not take too too long for the disappearance of the flickering to happen. It is such a disappointment when it happens and is such a private thing going on that no one can tell from the outside - and is very tiring and trying.
chhs1982 t29013
Posted
My surgeon is a really caring Dr. He even gives you his personal phone number to call him if you have any problem the night after your surgery. Never had a Dr. do that before. Have used him for many years. It's just you expect the same outcome you had from the surgery you had on the other eye a few years ago and when this problem of a flickering and also it's like a slither of the outside of my left eye has a shade over it it just disheartening. I guess I should feel blessed that I can see because I know many would love to see with the flickering. Guess if it doesn't get better I will just have to learn to live with it but really hope and pray it goes away. Hope your eye problem resloves also!
Scapergal Guest
Edited
I had both eyes done 8 weeks ago, along with LASIK and there are times when the flickering is so bad it makes me nauseous. I was shopping in a WalMart supermarket about 2 weeks ago and it was so bad in the store I had to leave.
I'm seeing my surgeon next Wednesday and will discuss it with him. Hopefully he will have an answer. In the mean time I carry wrap around sunglasses as there are times when I have to block the light as much as possible.
I'm a healthcare professional (Nurse) but I've never heard of this phenomenon until I experienced it myself and I worked in surgery for almost 40 years where I worked with eye surgeons.
I'm not sure if this is limited to one specific brand of IOL (lens) or if it happens with all of them.
My lens is an ACRYSof iQ Toric which is made by Alcon
I will try to contact Alcon and ask if they know about this happening and share what they say.
If anybody wants to update their post and mention the type of lens you have, that may prove helpful. You can find the information of the little card the surgeon gave you after your surgery.
Scapergal
Posted
I've spoken with a Healthcare Professional at Alcon (the company that made my lens) Each company has a department where you are able to report any kind of side effect so my suggestion is to find out who makes your lens and call the company and ask to speak to the person that handles adverse events. You will need the card with the details of your lens and the date you had surgery and who your surgeon was.
That is routine as they cannot create a database of people with adverse events unless they have those details.
If you have an ALCON lens and you live in the USA please call this number and give them the details... 1-800-757-9780 extesion 3
trudy05943 Scapergal
Posted
im in the UK under the NHS but i also had the ALCON LENS but not toric, dud you hear back from them at all?
jacqblue trudy05943
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I am in UK also Trudy and have the same an Alcon lens from NHS but not toric,no improvement on my flashing,glare etc,had my surgery five and half months ago.I have finally got an appointment for what they call a second opinion though because I was discharged after nine days post surgery I felt I never had a first opinion as operating surgeon dismissed all the symptoms I was saying I was experiencing and could n't wait to get rid of me.
Scapergal Guest
Posted
Good morning everyone. As promised a follow-up after talking to my cataract surgeon on Wednesday.
His comment was a new question... am I seeing the flickering in both eyes or just the eye with the lens?
Of course for me it was both eyes as I had both replaced.
He said if it was both eyes it could be a spasm in blood vessels, most common in people who have migraines - which I do. He asked if wearing sunglasses stopped the symptoms and for me they do.
I've reported my symptoms to the maker of my IOL (intra-ocular lens) and I told my surgeon I had done so. He was fine with it.
Suggestion:-
My symptoms only happen is I am in the presence of very bright fluorescent lights.
It does not happen in natural light or the old fashioned light bulb lights or when I am working with LED lights.
Best of luck.
Guest Scapergal
Posted
Hi
I got the At Lara in one eye 10 days ago, I do not really have that exact problem, but I have changed the fluorescent lights in my garage with led, I felt like the fluorenscent lights was kind of stressing, it gave me some sort of a weird feeling, I feel more relaxed with the led lights.
My surgeon told me before the surgery that I might would have flickering from fluorescent lights, so for him it is a very known side effect with iols.
He also said it often goes away, but I did not to wait for it, I changed the lights instead, and the led gives much better light anyway.
So I am not bothered now, but I can see it can be a problem for some, I hope for you it goes away as time passes.
john20510 Guest
Posted
l got vivity a month ago, when l am underneath a light at night l get flickering light in my eyes whenever l move my head