Glare following cataract operation

Eye care
1

I have had a cataract operation in my left eye - the iol is a Rayner lens.  I am getting considerable glare, especially noticeable when out of doors during the day, which makes everything appear cloudy.  

At night I get a "fringe" around car headlights and other bright lights.   I also get some general mistiness for the first 30 minutes or so after waking up (I think this may be normal after the eye been closed while sleeping and am not sure sure if this is related or not).

I was previously very myopic (-15 / 0.75 x 170 6/6+).   The prescription in my left eye is now +0.50 / 0.75 x 10 6/6+

One of the eye doctors at the hospital said the glare is due to my now having a crystal clear lens in my eye, which is letting through more light than the natural lens would.

I have a pre-op appointment with the surgeon who is going to operate on the cataract in my right eye in April or May.  

I have previously posted concerning the prescription, but the glare is a different issue.

 

2

Does the day time glare or the cloudy vision depend on whether you are wearing corrective glasses or not? How much difference wearing sun glasses make?

3

Thank you. I have noticed the glare when I am not wearing glasses - I will check if (over the counter) corrective glasses and/or sunglasses helps. 

4

I had the same issues but trust me it does get better. It took over a year for the visual anomalies to subside. I still see the halos around headlights at night but the daytime problems are completely gone. Stick with it, it's well worth it. Good luck.

5

Many thanks - this is very reassuring !   (I had been wondering if I would need slightly tinted or light-sensitive glasses).  

Are the halos around headlights you get like a fuzzy, lighter area with a few fuzzy lines radiating out from the headlight ?    Do they ever spread outwards to make it difficult to see the curb / cyclists, pedestrians etc ?  

6

Did the anomalies include halos.i have them bad during the day. They want to do a piggyback lens but I am very afraid of another surgery. If they will go away I will wait. Let me know if that was your anomalies.

7

I would say that they resemble a big perfect spider's Web. At first they were quite distracting and did hinder my night driving but as with the daytime issues they did lessen and I barely notice them now (2 years post surgery). If I really think about it they are still there but I think your brain just learns to ignore it. Hope this helps.

8

Hi donna

Yes I did and still do to a certain extent get halos through the day as well as night. Anything white or light coloured against a dark background would produce a halo or ghost image. Movie credits were particularly noticeable but as with the nightime halos they definitely subside. I don't know how long it's been since your initial surgery but l would give it a year at least. I can't see a real downside to waiting but I can see a downside to rushing in to further surgery that may or may not help.

9

It's been almost 7 months. Thank you your story gives me hope. At least maybe I might get use to them. I was diagnosed with Bell's palsy so it gave me an excuse to wait. But with your history it gives me hope to give it time. Thank you👏

10

FYI, The Rayner comes in both multifocal and monofocal versions.  

The bottom line is that multifocal IOLs are more likely to let you get along without glasses, BUT have more glare/halos, and they cost more (all US insurance crummy, don't cover extra lens cost.)

Monofocal IOLs generally have less glare/halos and are sharper at any particular point -but only with glasses.  Almost everybody will need glasses for the uncorrected vision range (eg, reading glasses w IOL optimized for distance.)

Some people get one eye corrected for distance and the other for close-up ="Monovision."  Some people can't stand monovision.

Then there are 'accommodating' lenses like Crystalens Tetraflex, Fluidvision, !CU, etc., that let you change the focus (a little bit) like your natural eye. (They also cost more.)

Toric lenses correct astigmatism better than limbal relaxing incisions, but cost somewhat more.

More people get lens exchanges with multifocals than monofocals, usually because of glare, but many people find the glare less noticeable as time goes on.

Cataract replacement overseas is much less $ than in the US, and the special IOLs additional cost is less too. (Mexico, Cayman Islands, Czech, Thailand, Turkey, India, etc.) 

Consider what's most important to you when choosing lenses.

11

Thank you for this information.  I would have considered multifocals, but the optician said there less contrast than monofocals, so I didn't want to take the risk !    Likewise with mini-monovision - but this could perhaps be achieved using glasses instead. There is some glare with monofocals, but apparently this gradually reduces over the first year or so (or can be corrected with photochromatic specs).