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.
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.
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
did u get both eyes operated and this happened in only one eye?
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.
Thanks
Thanks
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!
Nizza,
Thanks for the reassurance. Are you in the states or UK?
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.
I’m in the UK Jim!
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.
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
I had two eyes done last year using monofocal lenses. One in early 2019 and the other in the later of 2019. Both operations went well but I too ended up with Negative Dystopsia. After the operations I would notice it almost everyday. But as time went by my brain just seemed to adjust and tune it out in both eyes.
I had thought about getting another surgery to have the lenses “taken out of the bag”, but my doctor suggested I wait. So if I were you I would wait a while because it can be tricky even for a good surgeon to replace the lens. You should be able to wait at least a year before you need to decide. Good luck to you whatever you decide to do.
Hi Jim,
I had my operation more than two years ago and I still have negative dysphotopsia. I also found it irritating and it took a while to find out about it. I was told, by the surgeon, that it is possible to add another lens on top of the existing one, or to remove it and have a different on inserted.
As most disappear within months I have left it. Rarely do they remain, though mine has. Mostly I do not notice it though this article made me more conscious of it!
From what I learnt most do disappear within months and only a small percentage remain. Yours is therefore likely to go. I hope so!
Hi Dennis,
Thanks for your comment. I’m hopeful that it’ll resolve in a few weeks. Going in for the right eye this afternoon.
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.?
I had right eye cataract surgery on 21.6.2021. I have a black arc at temporal vision. Driving me mad already. Good to read that it can disappear. Guess I’ll have to give it 6 months before I will know myself. Wearing reading glasses (unnecessarily) to detract from seeing the arc. I think I may have got this ‘gift’ as a result of having extremely small pupils plus the new lens that are being used. My lens was ‘Johnson & Johnson’ Model PC800 Diopter +23 0 D 13mm x 6mm. I won’t chance the left eye being done for fear of a matching arc. I had chosen NHS rather than private because I stupidly thought that ‘if anything goes wrong it will be easier to get to the NHS’ try getting them to answer the phone… they don’t. I haven’t had a follow up yet. So I am living in hope that my ‘arc’ will disappear over time; knowing my luck it won’t.
Hi Jim59 et all.
I have had my surgery done recently and I have negative dysphotopsia in both eyes. I am very concerned of course.
I’d like to know if your resolved ifself after a while.
Thanks,
John
so the larger pupil causes the shadow? does the pupil,actually become as large as an iol?