Is the incision from cataract surgery visible after the operation? Where is it located, just above the iris? Does the cut/scar disappear as it heals over a few weeks/months?
Regarding the post-op series of antibiotics and steroids, most take many drops per day for weeks after the surgery. But there are a few doctors I've read about that avoid all that trouble by injecting a special mixture into the eye one time during the surgery that last for weeks so no eye drops are needed by the patient. Has anyone gotten this "dropless" intracameral injection of antibiotics/steroids approach for cataract surgery instead of having to take lots of eyedrops per day for weeks?
Incision on the cornea from the cataract surgery is not visible to a lay person. I have never noticed or seen it in my wife's eyes, my eyes, or anyone else's eyes.
However, my opthamologist can spot it when he examines my eyes closely.
Personally, I would feel more comfortable using eye drops (only the steroid drops need to be used for more than 1 week after surgery).
Fortunately, the allergic reaction to drugs don't happen often. However, it will be much easier to switch the eyedrops to a different type in case of a reaction compared with undoing the effect of the intercameral injection.
Many surgeons offer combination of eye drops so that only 1 eye drop needs to be used 4 times a day instead of 3 eye drops four times a day.
I had my second eye done in March & couldn't see the incision the same evening.
As for drops, I had drops to use for 2 weeks. I forget now, how many I had to use but not the 'many' that you talk about.
I have a chronic eye contion, which I have had for over 30 years, requiring the use of steroid eye drops, hence the cataracts.
The first couple cataract consultations I've had the doctors prescribe 3 different types of eyedrops, 4drops of each per day, so thats 12 eyedrops/day plus I already take several eyedrops a day for lowering eye pressure and for dry eye - so could add up to "many" for me! Hence why the single injection and avoid extra eyedrops option sounds good to me. My 3rd consultation in a few weeks is at an eye surgeon that I've found online articles where he has commented on the single injection approach, so I'm hoping he may offer that option.
Thanks for the info on the visibility of the incision after surgery.
Is the incision always done at the same location?
Where is it - just above the colored part of the eye?
There is probably some location and size variation depending on whether the surgeon uses a scalpel or a laser to make the incision, bit it is not that important.
The incision is within the colored part of the eye.
Hi I had a cateract done last October time and had to go back the next day for another as i had a dropped nucleus (every surgeons nightmare i read) i was given several lots of drops and found them very painful. had to go back after a couple of days so i asked for dfferent ones, i still found it very painful and i wasnt very good at putting them in, i felt very unwell with the stress etc so after 4 days i gave up! i had to go back several times and they just said keep up with the drops you are doing well. My eyesight is fine and all is well. Obviously this isnt for everyone but thats my story. Good Luck
I had surgery July 10 and This past Monday I am now drop free. Compared to my husband who has to take many pills per day for various things - my drops are a breeze. Just had 2 kinds and one was finished one week post op and last 2 weeks was on 2x a day with steroid drop. Really no big deal. I am sure each opthamologist has their own preferred regiment- at least when I asked that was the response.
As far as incision site I couldn't see anything. Just don't touch your eyelidbfirstb2 weeks - very sensitive and sore. Even couldn't put a face cloth on it. Only other visible sign was a small bruise under my eye that came out. My family thought it was make-up smudge. That and my family says one eye is brighter.
🤓I'm of no help to you on this topic. Sorry!🤔
I read the incision is the size of the tip of a ballpoint pen.
That's with the regular cataract surgery, not the laser surgery.
My right eye after surgery even the day after wasn't sore or sensitive at all!
I also looked closely at the eye in the mirror with a flashlight and a magnifying glass and I couldn't see any sign of the incision.
Nobody I've asked to look at my two eyes could see any obvious difference between them either.
I thought you had the intracameral injection? Anyway, the incision size is tiny (like the size of the tip of a ballpoint pen) and I think they usually do it on the side of the iris (colored part of the eye), but I think it depends on whether or not you ever had other surgery like people who had radial keratotomy for vision correction a long time ago may need the incision to be done at the top to do a different procedure than normal since their corneas have cuts on them (it's called a tunnel procedure I think).
I thought this was a new question (so hard to follow the answers on here sometimes).
There are two small incisions made into the cornea during the surgery and they are self healing and do not need stitches.
When I had both my cataracts done I was given one bottle of a combined steroid/antibiotic eye drops. As they are steroids, they are a reducing dose, so 4 drops for a week, then 3, 2, 1 and nothing, so for a month.
No problem, but the drops did give me a headache sometimes.
Yesterday I tried to look for the incision on my right eye in the mirror with a flashlight and magnifying lens, but it all looks like it did before surgery to me.
My surgeon did a one time injection into the eye during the surgery with the steroid, antibiotic, etc that will keep working for a few weeks. That reduces the eyedrops I have to take myself to just a steroid 1drop/day and an NSAID 1/drop/day for four weeks.
You won't see anything like that yourself with a magnifying glass - you need dilating eye drops and a slit lamp to see that.
I think they usually only make one incision, Sarah, but maybe you needed two.
Now 4 weeks after the cataract surgery on my right eye I had an optometrist eye exam today to get a new eyeglasses Rx and see where the right eye ended up. Of course the right eye could still change a bit over the coming weeks and months, but one month after surgery was recommended as when I could get a new eyeglasses Rx.
The diopter step is 0.25D between each lens the optometrist uses in the refraction process where they switch between two lenses and ask you which one is better or worse or about the same. This means there is going to be +/-0.25D accuracy at best and some of it is subjective based on your own choice too.
The final eyeglasses Rx for my right eye (with the toric monofocal IOL) she came up with was:
sph= Plano(0.00D) cyl = -1.00D axis=115
She mentioned that I thought the vision with the astigmatism cylinder value of -1.00D and -0.75D was virtually the same, and I picked the -1.00D as better, but I recall some of my choices were really like a coin toss, so -0.75D cylinder might be close to the actual residual astigmatism. I believe the surgeon was shooting for around -0.50D cylinder since he said he leaves a little due to as the eye ages it will tend to reduce the cylinder, so that means it ended up within the expected range, within 0.50D of the target.
The target sph power for my right eye was -0.25D and so it ended up right on or very close since the refraction test error is at least 0.25D, and the IOL steps are 0.50D giving at best +/-0.25D accuracy as well.
This does make sense since I suspected some residual astigmatism was causing a little blurriness at all distances compared to my well corrected with eyeglasses left eye. I'll find out how close this Rx ends up working with real eyeglasses that I will order this week, probably get them within 2 weeks from now. At the eye doctor exam with the final lenses that you look thru for the testing both eyes seemed very close and reading the 20/20 line well, so thats what I'd expect with the new eyeglasses.