Flickering light in multifocal intraocular lenses

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Hello, I have been implanted of two multifocal toric lenses Zeiss six months ago. I'm 42 years old. Since the first week I have this annoying flickering on the peripheral side of my eyes, especially where the light comes from one side. I don't understand what is caused by but I suspect it's the light entering from the rim of the lens causing light reflecting on the optic circles. It's been 6 months, am worrying that it wont go away. Any suggestions?

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4 Replies

  • Posted

    I had the same thing months after my surgery. I saw it (and sometimes still do) mostly when I would enter a dark room or at night.  I too was concerned and went back to the doctor for a follow up.  I was told that the vitreous beginnineg to tear away but that it was nothing to be concerned about.  That was about 4 months ago or so.  The symptoms have declined considerably and I while I do see floaters ocassionally in that eye, they're minor.

    • Posted

      Thank you dear for your quick reply! I had implanted toric multifocal lens due to my myopic astigmatism. My left eye had high corneal astigmatism so maybe (maybe!) the flickering in the left eye is due to this astigmatism? When am taking pilocarpine, all halos and glares are reduced by the flickering is the pretty there the same.

      Do you have multifocal iol?

    • Posted

      Most probably, your astigmatism is not the reason for the flickering light. My understanding is that it is essentially a reflection of the edge of the lens, which is most prone to happen if the optic diameter of the lens is smaller (eg 5 mm instead of 6 mm). My wife has had a similar issue with the Crystallens, which has 5 mm diameter. (I have a different lens with 6 mm optic diameter and don't have that issue). It may have gotten slightly better, but more importantly, she has learned to live with it because there is not much one can do about it.

      I noticed that there was another post on this site, by Rady about 4 years back with a similar title as your post, "Flickering light in eye after Cataract surgery." There was a long discussion on that topic, which may be of interest to you.

    • Posted

      My optic is 6 mm too. Maybe my pupils are too wide?

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