Flickering sensation after cataract surgery

Hi

I can't explain what it is, but it happened to me after my cataract surgery. The flickering was very distracting (and worrying), and I also had a distortion of my vision on one side with vertical lines. It lasted for around 9 to 12 months and now both the flickering and the lines have completely gone.

Incidentally my surgeon couldn't explain why it was happening either but said it would go after about 12 months, which it did. It was so bad that I thought it would stay permanently, but thankfully it didn't!

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.

Hello fellow guests,

This flickering in your eyes after cataract surgery sounds exactly the same as mine and having read your comments it seems its all down to time, as in the healing process,Ive been very concerned about this and am seeing my optician tomorrow but Im sure I will get the same answer. My 1st cataract operation was 7 yrs ago so Im a lot older now, so dont know if this is a factor or not ? as some people take longer to heal the older they get,

Im 62 and dont class myself as old, but 7yrs ago my 1st eye healed much quicker than my 2nd and I didnt have this flickering, so perhaps Ive got to be more patient, and stop rushing things, Ive been off work for 6wks now, thats 2 more than I would have liked but the flickering was making my head ache besides driving me nuts and I decided to take the extra time off due to worry and was getting quite stressed which wasn't helping me, so after consultation with my optician and doctor I asked for the extra 2 weeks and my doctor agreed.

The flickering at present is still ongoing and is very tiring, and white reflective backgrounds I try to avoid as my eye is still very sensative to the brightness, but I plan to go back to work next week providing my company doctor agrees, being back at work will hopefully take my mind off the situation and give me something else to focus my attention on as in work related, rather than just worrying unnecessarily about my eye which is what I have been doing.

Five days ago I had phacoemulsification cataract removal/lens implant surgery on my right eye. Currently I'm experiencing the peripheral flickering/dazzling light sensation you described. Although I find it irritating, my wife reminds me the same thing occurred when I had this surgery on my left eye 11 months ago. At that time, I felt worried and wondered if the flickering light would go away. When I was outdoors, I found it helpful to wear sunglasses with covers on the sides. My surgeon--whose been performing these surgeries for 35 years--assured me the symptoms were transient and would go away. And yes, happily, the flickering lessened in frequency and intensity over the first 90 days until the symptoms seemed to disappear altogether. I'm optimistic this will happen again with my other eye.

I had cataract surgery 3 weeks ago and the fluttering or flickering is driving me nuts. I thought I was going to be amazed at how much better I could see, but in fact, the cataract did not bother me nearly as much as what seems like a slight obstruction at the outer edge of my iris, and that is where the fluttering is. It's like having a few leaves waving close to my eye. It is not constant but often enough that I regret having the surgery. My doc says she thinks I am seeing the outside of the lens and that "my brain will adjust to it." Well, so far, no go in that regard. I read online today that when people have this experience (the fluttering and being able to see the edge of the lens) it takes about 9 to 12 months to go away. It was bad enough that I can no longer focus and now need to wear glasses ALL the time, for reading or whatever. I have never worn glasses all the time and got the surgery because suddenly I could no longer read anything in the eye exam chart but the biggest rows with that one eye; I was otherwise not noticing it that much in real life. So I thought it was "time." I should have waited. I have taken lenses out of readers and other glasses and wear two pairs at once. The doc finally gave me a Rx for new temp lenses, which are costing an arm and a leg. None of this was explained to me in advance, just "we suggest a distance lens" and that was supposed to tell me I would no longer be able to focus that eye, ever. Also the slight obstruction and flickering were not mentioned as possible side effects, nor that they didn't want to give me a new Rx for a month or more, which totally didn't work for me. As you can see I'm upset! But it was heartening to read that eventually the flickering/fluttering does tend to go away... but a year of this? Holy mackerel.

Hi,

Sorry to hear you're having the flickering after cataract surgery but at the same time I'm relieved to know that I'm not crazy! I had cataract surgery on both eyes, in mid March and the first of April, 2021. I have not had very positive results of either eye. Both eyes are extremely dry and feel as though I've woke from a long night of crying. Both eyes are sensitive to florescent lights found in grocery stores and home improvement stores. My eyes feel like they are shrinking inside my eyelids when I encounter these bright lights. I find myself wearing my sunglasses inside these stores. The most annoying symptom that I am having is what I call a peripheral "fluttering" when I'm concentrating, such as in writing this email. The fluttering is not coming from my eyelid but is from light in my peripheral vision that is causing an ever so slight fluttering. Is is so annoying to experience and is impossible to get anyone to understand. My doctor said that he hasn't encountered anything like this but is confident it will go away. I certainly hope so because at this point in time there is nothing positive that I have to say about cataract surgery......

Hi Linda

I'm going through the same symptoms as you and more, I always had a slight sensitivity to fluorescent lighting in stores but now its much greater I also see a dark ring on the outside corner and I have one large dark floater and occasionally a clear slime like object that floats across my vision It's definitely annoying to say the leastIt seems like being in a room with a very fast strobe light I hope all clears up for you soonHang in there

Sorry but I can't seem to find the period on my keypad and my comma just disappeared too

Put me in the same boat. I have narrowed my flickering to an involuntary eye twitch. It seems to be some sort to neurological feedback that causes it. I get it in the morning when I open up the drapes and when I am in bright artificial light light in stores or looking at a bright white computer screen.

I lock both eyes in place lightly with fingertips and moving my head around while not focusing on anything and the problem stops. That tells me the Eyhance lens are not the problem. I can stop the flicker when I do spotting while dancing also. As long as I focus on an object or text on a screen the problem is not there.

I would speculate the surgery on the eye puts the eye/brain system off its homeostasis and it takes some time to settle back to normal. Some of us might be more susceptible for a yet undefined reason. I would be curious to find out if some lasik patients experience the same problem.

It is not fun however my eyesight (other than near vision) is spectacular.

I have had the same problem for over seven months! PLEASE EVERYWONE SHARE IF YOU HAD ACRYLIC LENSES IMPLANTED, WHO MAKES THEM, AND IF THEY ARE MONO LENSES OR THE PREMIUM MULTIFOCAL LENSES, AND IF YOUBSTILL HAVE ASTIGMATISM. I am trying to look for a pattern. Acrylic lenses can cause negative dysphotopsia in which you see a dark arc on the outsides of your vision or you see the arc of the sides of the lenses. People with positive dysphotopsia see halos, streaks of light etc., BUT that positive dysphotopsia is not what we are getting. There is also a term used called "glimmering". Alternatively, there is a rare situation in which the implanted lenses are actually moving due the zonules that hold the lenses being too weak. I am insisting that it be ruled out and you should too. The sensation of fluttering, quivering, flickering as you have os what I have (in addition to my having negatuve dysphotopsia and photophobia. When I block out light coming into my eyes from the top and sides and bottom by wearing in the house the glasses given to me after the surgery the probkem is better. If I stare straight ahead and do not blink it stops. It is worst when reading my phone and working on my laptop (even with blue light filters turned on on both) and when I am in a space with bright white light from overhead or lots of lamps. It is much better when I go outside with sunglasses or if I wear frames for reading or frames with no lenses when walking around the house. I immediately saw a neuro-opthomologist thinking like as did one person in this conversation that my bottom and maybe top eyelids are quivering, perhaps from constantly squinting and reacting to photophobia (extreme light sensitivity). And since I will shortly be checked for essential tremor, I thought it could be related. There is an illness in which people start to blink, but there isn't any blinking - and the neuro- opthomologist said essential tremor is caused in a different part of the brain. He wanted to give me botox shots anyway. Maybe my lids are quivering from having photophobia (sensitivity to light) or the way the light is reflecting into my eyes from the edges of the square acrylic lenses, but tI did not want to experiment and see if botox helped - I worried it might make my eyes worse maybe permanently affecting my eye muscles - the botox causes you to blink less which would certainly make my severe dry eyes worse.I had cataract surgery in Nov 2020 that had been delayed for five months due to the death of my father and the pandemic. After the second eye was done, a week after the first eye, I could see the sides of the lenses and when I look up the bottom. I was glad to read for a couple of people it went away. I do not know if I should be wearing sunglasses indoors, when I read my phone or PC or wear over my reading glasses the glasses that block light completely from the sides and top - in another thread of people with the same problem an expert opthamologist in Utah said to a patient not to wear sunglasses indoors. I am forcing the well known hospital in which I did my surgery to give me a doctor for a second opinion. Two private surgeons I saw are not interested in trying to diagnose or help since they do not get to make money by doing surgery. I have also been in contact with the lens manufacturers to notify them that there has been an adverse event. You can also report it yourself through the federal MAUDE system for problems with medical devices since that is what the impanted lenses (IOLs) are. It is possible that the surgeons are NOT reporting it and we are the tip of the iceberg.