Floater or what?
Posted , 11 users are following.
After 10 months of essentially perfect vision with my AcrySof IQ monovision IOL in my right eye, I now all of a sudden have one. I have this thing just off to the right of the center of my vision. When I try to look at it it moves off to my right. When I look left or up or down, it chases this thing in the same direction. It kind of looks like a small out of focus fly on my glasses lens, except that I do not have glasses on. The other issue is that at night when there are street lights off to my left I get vertical flashes of light on the very right of my eye.
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Has anyone had something like this suddenly appear and if so what the problem may be? Or anyone with a theory on what this may be? It is very annoying.
0 likes, 28 replies
RonAKA
Posted
An an update as of yesterday I now have this PVD thing in my second eye which had cataract surgery just over 13 months ago. The PVD in my first eye occurred at 10 months and I was starting to think I avoided it in my second eye. A few days ago I started to notice an occasional small flash of light and a small black section at about 11:00 in my second eye (left). I thought it was some positive dysphotopsia from the IOL, due to reflections off the edge of the lens. Then last night when I was driving home, I noticed the floater thing in my left vision, just like the one in my right eye. So, now I have been "blessed" with two of these fly like things darting around in my vision. And now with the fly thing in my vision when I look left and right and move my head I am getting the arc of light flash in my left peripheral vision.
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This time I have been watching it more carefully and I now do not think this is a positive dysphotopsia effect at all. I see it quite clearly with my eyes closed in a dark room. This would seem to confirm it is coming from the detachment process, and is not real light flashes.
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It would also seem to confirm that PVD is a delayed side effect from cataract surgery. One study found that when cataract surgery patients were compared to a control group without surgery they found that the risk of PVD was not elevated in the first 6 months after surgery, but by 12 months the risk of a PVD was 7 times higher in the cataract surgery group. I guess I fit into that group where the risk was realized. The comparison was normalized for things like just getting older. The summary from the study:
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"Conclusion
PVD progressed significantly faster in eyes after cataract surgery compared with eyes that did not undergo surgery, and the relative risk of progression to complete PVD was approximately seven-fold higher within 1 year, indicating that the risk for PVD-related diseases is high after cataract surgery."
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Nature Progression of posterior vitreous detachment after cataract surgery
Shunsuke Hayashi, Motoaki Yoshida, Ken Hayashi & Kazuo Tsubota
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Any thoughts on what happens during surgery that may initiate this accelerated risk of PVD. It is too late for me, but I wonder if there are any measures that can be taken during surgery to reduce the risk?
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In any case having these things is an annoyance, but really does not interfere with my visual acuity, which remains very good in both eyes...
RicG RonAKA
Edited
Ron,
the flashes might be caused by a retinal tear, which can eventually lead to more serious problems, if the vitreous creeps through the tear and pushes the retina forward.
https://www.aao.org/eye-health/diseases/what-is-torn-retina
You should talk to your your doctor asap about the flashes, and let him/her have a look at your retina. The retina can be easily reattached with a few laser pulses.
As for the reasons of PVD: the artificial lens is much thinner than the natural lens. I assume there is less pressure from the lens on the vitreous (resp. the vitreous can creep into the new space between artificial lens and capsular bag). Therefore less pressure on the retina to keep it in place. I gets worse with higher myopia, as the eye increases in length (and volume), but the vitreous keeps its volume.
RonAKA RicG
Posted
Yes, I am aware of the retinal tear or detachment issue. When the PVD thing happened on my first eye, I was travelling and phoned my optometrist. They said to "watch" it and if it got any worse than what I described to find a clinic or hospital. It didn't and I saw my optometrist when I got home. They did the exam and confirmed the PVD.
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This eye is behaving virtually the same, so I am 100% sure what it is. About the only difference now is that the first eye PVD had kind of faded and gone out of focus. The new one is darker and more easily visible. They told me it would get better over time and may fully detach and drop to the bottom of my eye out of sight. That has not happened, but it has certainly become less visible over time. I have a scheduled appointment for an annual checkup in the next couple of weeks and will deal with it then.
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One theory I read, but it sounds more like speculation, is that the bright light used during surgery may age the vitreous and cause it to occur earlier than it does normally with just age.
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Evaluation of posterior vitreous detachment after uneventful phacoemulsification surgery by optical coherence tomography and ultrasonography Cumali Degirmenci MD, Filiz Afrashi, Jale Mentes, Zafer Oztas MD, Serhad Nalcaci MD, Cezmi Akkin First published: 20 July 2016
valerio01538 RonAKA
Posted
Hello RonAKA
I'm sorry for what you're going through, but coming back to this forum, I realize that my issues are not uniquely mine. I'm experiencing a similar problem. It started to bother me in my right eye, like there were strands of hair from my fringe out of focus getting in the way of my peripheral vision. I reached out to pull them out, but there was nothing there. Sometimes it looked like there was something or someone moving to my right in my peripheral vision, but when I turned my head there was nothing there. Until I realized that it was some kind of stain and it is fixed in one position, unlike floaters, which I also have. With some calm, I manage to position my eye so that the stain covers my entire vision, leaving everything blurry, and I manage to move it up, down, left and right. Fortunately, it's disturbing my peripheral vision more, although with eye movement the blur is noticeable at all times, but I can still do my normal tasks. And I also have occasional flashes in this eye. Then the same thing started to happen in my left eye, but the stain is smaller and it's in a different position, a little higher up maybe. I also see occasional flashes in that other eye, but they are different, it's a kind of black arc with illuminated dots, as if they were LED's lit in a black arc. I have already booked my appointment with my ophthalmologist, and soon I hope to know what it is...
RonAKA valerio01538
Posted
Especially when you see flashes it is good to get it checked out. They can be caused by retina issues which can be serious.
soks valerio01538
Posted
if the stain is a grey or a red curtain, it could be serious but can be fixed if addressed in a timely manner. good luck.