i had cataract surgery on my left eye on Tuesday, April 19, 2016.
i began to have a flickering light in the outer corner of that eye within hours after the surgery. I have read that several of you have had this problem. How long did it last?
Hi Pete, it's nothing to worry about. I had the same thing [I had mine done in 1992!]. You are seeing the edge of your new lens - the implant. You will have had the natural lens removed because you couldn't see through it anymore.
You will get used to it once you stop trying to look at it if you know what I mean.
Good luck!
Thanks for your response. Will this flickering or flashing of light go away?
Yes, you will stop noticing it.
Guess u could say I had the same surgery except not for cataract. I did it for vision and for the reason of never dealing with cataracts. I had surgery same day as u Pete, and today I check myself in to hospital because of eye spasm's and increased pain. Dr. FINALLY called. me back after all their lines were down and said all this crap is nornal. I will not do other eye and I wish I didn't do this eye
Do u have a ton of crusty discharge?
As I said before my Cataract surgery was a disasger and I had mine done the beginning of Feb. of this year and i still see flashes, but I wish that is all that happened.
No. The only crusty stuff I have is the drops crust in my eyelashes and the inner corner of my eye.
I am sorry. The only problem that I have is the flickering light in the outer part of my left eye.
Hi, Pete, I had cataract surgery on my left eye 2 years ago and on my right eye last year. Both times I experienced what you're describing--an occasional flickering light (particularly in sunlight or near a table lamp) in my peripheral vision. After the first surgery I was concerned, so I asked my M.D. and he told me it's fairly common and will go away--which it did, sometime in the first month. At least a dozen people--whom I talked to about their post-surgery healing-- in my city also experienced the flickering light. So, after the second surgery I wasn't so anxious, because I knew it would go away, which it did. Be patient with the healing process.
Hey, northcoastneil!
You have given me so much encouragement. I will just be patient and wait for the flickering light to disappear. My right eye is to be done in June.
Hi
I don't know if this will help or depress you (!) but I had cararact surgery in my right eye in mid september 2014. The procedure left me with vastly improved sight in that eye, by almost any measure going. There are three "down sides"
which I was warned about.
The first is that while I can see in stuning clarity and acuity anything from about eighteen inches from my nose all the way to the trees on the ridge line of the mountains eight or nine miles away, trying to eat a bowl of soup without first putting on my reading glasses (which bring the bowl intosharp focus at the cost of blurring everything further than two foot away) invites disaster and a laundry bill.
The second is that no lens is ever optically pefect over its entire diameter, and in my case that means in bright light I can read right to the very bottom of the eye test chart, but in dim light i lose two or three rows because the iris opens wider and collects light over the "imperfect" area which blurs the image on the retina. My optician carefully measures this in the two (12 mth apart) eye tests I've had since the surgery, I'm legally fit to drive and the degree to which this happens has remained unchanged since the op.
The third problem is again related to lower light levels. When the iris opens in dimly lit areas, or at night, or sometimes if I look sideways at something, light will hit the edge of the lens and briefly cause me to see a ring or partial ring of light. As you might imagine this is most often seen at night when I walk near street lights or have cars coming towards me with headlights on on unlit roads.
In my case, as with floaters, it scared the hell out of me the first time it happenned, but Ive got used to it as part and parcel of what for me is a huge improvement to severe myopia since birth. I'm sure other people have different degrees of experience.
I'll leave you with one cautionary word though. I've described the circular lines of light that I see. They are permanent, but your mind learns to ignore them.
But about a year before I had the cataract operation, I had strange flashes of light, like dots of light, flickering in the top corner of my sight. Remember that the image in your eye is inverted ... Those flashes turned out to be a couple of tiny holes in the retina that needed laser welding, nothing to do with the cataract at all. It MIGHT be worth a telephone call to the optician that referred you, or the aftercare number they gave you when you had the cataract done, because in my case anyway, the top outer corner of what you see is actually being focussed on the bottom of the retina nearest your nose, and THAT's where in my case anyway they ran the anaesthetic in for the op ....
The odds are very high that it will go away and so you should be optimistic. The issue seems to be rare and it seems that most who experience it eventually see it go away. In some cases the issue early on is related to the lens not having fully healed into the capsular bag yet and as it does the flickering subsides, in other cases the brain learns to tune it out. However I'd also suggest that the comments that assert certainty that it will go away on its own aren't being rational since the mere fact that it went away in their case by itself doesn't guarantee it will in yours. In a minority of cases people have needed to have additional treatment like lens exchanges or an added piggy back lens (as I'm sure you saw in the other thread on this site dealing with the issue, or on other pages around the net), so there is no absolute guarantee it'll go away on its own. In addition there seem to be different problems that can lead to the same similar but vague description of flickering light, so there is no guarantee your problem is exactly the same as someone else's. The thing to do is to be optimistic that in most cases it will go away on its own so not to worry too much. However its aslo good to be prepared in case it doesn't and try to have a doctor help you pin down the cause to figure out options in case it doesn't.
ihad cataract done March 9 i still have double vision in that eye when igetup in the morning it has been 6 weeks so far the doctor told me it will take time because i broka a blood vessel and my muscles in that eye needs to heal my eye was blood shot boy was i nervous. i had the left eye done in march noproblem i guess i will have to be patient a little bit long
Thank you for your response. I am going to remain optimistic that with more healing time, the flashing/flickering of light will disappear. I have good distance and good close up vision. My eye is still very sensitive to light, so I wear dark sunglasses. This is the 5th day after my surgery, so I will not get depressed yet! 😎
Thanks for your advice!
Being patient is probably the best advice!
I have this especially when I am in a dark place and there is a light to the side of me. This makes my pupil wide open. The implanted lens has a smaller diameter than my natural lens, so your artificial lens is smaller than the one you had since birth. When your pupil is large (because you are in a dark place, the pupil needs to be more open to let in more light), bbright lights shine on the edge of your implanted, artificial lens and causes "edge glare" (google this) - which makes your flickering light effect. My second lens was implanted 3 weeks ago and the edge glare was more when I only had one lens done, but I still get it. I can still see straight ahead perfectly well. I have got used to it and know I will always have it. If I am in a bright place it doesn't happened.
Overall I am overjoyed with my artificial, implanted lenses. I have my final check-up this morning and will get the assistant to confirm the above.
I have NEVER seen so well! I am so grateful to the NHS.
I hope this helps.
Thank you for your response! It is great to hear positive comments.
Yes, I had the edge glare problem confirmed at my appointment a couple of hours ago - this will never go away, but you will get used to it pretty quickly as the others have suggested. The floaters and little black specks that I am getting may, or may not, go away - she said I will get used to them anyway.
The important thing is we can see ! My right eye can see the bottom line so clearly - I could read smaller letters than the bottom line, but not with my left eye - the clinician said I had amazingly good sight - also that they will probably never deteriorate !!!
My pressure for both eyes is 14 - I thought they would be high, but that's very low. I hope it goes well for you too, Pete, all the very best !!! - nice chatting with you ...