Posted , 18 users are following.
I have the classic black arc in the left side of my left eye post op. Id be interested in the experience of others. How long did it take to go away, did it go away? Its extremely annoying at this point.
0 likes, 22 replies
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pat80248 Jim59
Posted
I had this as well. Had mine done exactly one year ago. It is gone...I don't recall when it was totally gone but it was at least six months. Other issues but that was my biggest concern, and patience was the answer. good luck.
Jim59 pat80248
Posted
Thanks
julielyn Jim59
Posted
hi jim, i have a little bit of that in my right eye. for me, i believe my pupil is still larger than the iol under certain conditions, low light, upon awakening. im 50 years old, and as we age our pupils will get smaller, so thats something to look forward to
Jim59 julielyn
Posted
Thanks
Dapperdan7 julielyn
Posted
so the larger pupil causes the shadow? does the pupil,actually become as large as an iol?
RonAKA Dapperdan7
Posted
In a younger adult the normal range of pupil size is up to 8 mm in dark environments. The standard size of an IOL is 6 mm.
julielyn Dapperdan7
Posted
i suppose it depends on the persons actual pupil size. what i believe is its the edge of the lens that i see. it was pretty obvious in the beginning but now, years later i rarely notice it...could be that my pupil has now become smaller, or ive learned to ignore it
i believe the guy below me answered the question too
Dapperdan7 RonAKA
Posted
that makes sense thx
soks Jim59
Posted
did u get both eyes operated and this happened in only one eye?
Jim59 soks
Posted
I had the left eye done 5 days ago, right eye next week. This seems to be very common; the surgeon should have mentioned it.
Nizza594 Jim59
Posted
Hi Jim!
Had my surgery 3 years ago in July. I also had the same crescent black shadows and as a rough estimate I'd say it took somewhere between 4 and 6 months to go away. I remember being anxious about that and a couple of other side effects but you just got to be patient and it will sort itself out.
Best of luck!
Jim59 Nizza594
Posted
Nizza,
Thanks for the reassurance. Are you in the states or UK?
Nizza594 Jim59
Posted
I'm in the UK Jim!
assia99778 Nizza594
Posted
Hello nizza 594!
Did all other things sort out for you in the meantime? Did you have LASIK for touch-up? How about spiderwebs/concentric rings around pointlight sources, headlights etc.?
RonAKA Jim59
Posted
My understanding is that this effect can be frequently seen right after surgery but 70% of cases resolve themselves in a few weeks or months. Persistent issues with it are low, and reported to be around 2%.
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As best as I can understand it one of the issues is that the IOL is thinner than the natural lens it replaces. There is too much room for it and it tends to sit further back in the eye causing the effect. The more open the pupil the worse it gets. Just guessing but potentially over time the excess space goes away and the lens moves more forward. As a result the issue goes away.
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Silicone lenses have a lower refractive index than acrylic lenses and are thicker. Apparently silicone lenses have less of an issue with it. Surgeons of course like thinner more flexible lenses however because it can be inserted through a smaller incision and with less disturbance to the eye. The movement has been to acrylic lenses, and they seem to have about 90% of the market. Silicone lenses are more likely to be used in exchange surgeries where the issues do not self resolve and are not tolerable.
soks RonAKA
Posted
hi Ron
what you are talking about is positive dysphotopsia. i suffer from it. that is where it is worse when the pupil is large. it happens when the pupil expands beyond the lens edge. silicon lens is supposed to help it. i use miotic (pupil constricting) drops to manage it. positive dysphotopsia is associated with glare, lens edge arcs, flares and circles.
the poster is talking about negative dysphotopsia. in that condition there are two dark shadow on sides of the eye. they condition gets better when pupil is large. if it doesn't go away the can fix it by reverse optic capture where the haptics are in the bag and the lens is positioned outside the bag. the reason you describe does cause negative dysphotopsia which is the space between iol and the retina.
RonAKA soks
Posted
I believe I understand the difference.
I think basically the ND effect is a shadow caused by some light from the side partly missing the lens and part being refracted by the lens. The area between the two paths becomes a shadow. This is aggravated mainly by the position of the lens. And the position of the lens tends to be further back, worse, when the lens is thinner. A thicker silicone lens tends to sit a little further forward.
The PD effect is an edge effect and tends to be made worse with sharp square edges, and by a higher refractive index material. It seems to be less influenced by the lens position. A certain orientation of the light can also cause a shadow that may look like ND, but it is not true ND.
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I had to look quite a while to find a good article on the issue of dysphotopsia. I did find one, that seems credible and is reasonably easy to understand. That is the basis for my explanation above. The purpose of the article is to promote a new lens design that addresses the issues in a new way. Don't think this lens actually exists.... In any case a google search of the following should find it.
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THE SOLUTION TO POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE DYSPHOTOPSIA AFTER CATARACT SURGERY RELIES ON NEW IOL DESIGNS Dr. H. Holden October 2017 PDF