What a cataract looks like from the inside....

[Dr Mordrid]

After reflecting on the events of last week I thought it might be instructive
for those with normal vision to see what a cataract looks like from the inside.
Might give you an idea why I was so exuberant after the surgery.

In general there is a loss of color saturation, sometimes some color tinting
(not with mine...it was gray), loss of contrast, blurring and tons of glare from
bright image regions. Note that I cannot duplicate in an image how much glare
there is. The brightness of this glare - mostly from the sky or light colored streets -
is almost painful, like when you're snow blind.

Now a few days post - op most of the initial discomfort (minor) is gone and all I'm
left with is the need to wear sunglasses due to a bit of photo sensitivity the doc says
will pass in a couple weeks. The sharpness of my vision increases daily and color
saturation is almost electric.

The right eye gets its 'bionic' lens on October 7th.

Using a split screen this shows about how it looked after the implant was done on
my worst eye (left) was and how it looked before surgery.

Anyhow...here's the pic

[Elie]

Man we can rebuild him, to be stronger, faster than ever before (insert bionic sound effect)

Awesome stuff Doc, what a difference. I hope this lasts a life time.

[Dr Mordrid]

Fixed focal length intraocular implants typically do last for life; they've been used for almost 30 years with excellent results.

Mine have a shorter test history since they've only been around since 2003. These focus like a normal lens using the original ciliary muscles and so far have an excellent record. That and the latest versions can deliver 20/20 or better in 80% of patients. Rather impressive and IMO fully qualifies them as "bionic". Dunno how else to describe them.

Also; there are two other such implants in FDA certification, one already approved in Europe.

Worth the minimal risk since they can be easily replaced.

[Evildead666]

WOW. That is a HUGE difference.

Just out of curiosity, did they mention any things that you couldn't do with the implant ?
I suspect underwater swimming etc should be fine, but is there a problem with air pressure (deep diving, or high flying), or impacts (accident or getting punched - not willingly, obviously) ?

[Dr Mordrid]

No limitations.

Life as normal after the healing period, 2 weeks. Since 2 hours post-op I've been living pretty normally save for wearing sunglasses outdoors (that pesky post-op photosensitivity) and limiting my lifting (can increase intraocular pressure and affect things) to <30 lbs. That and I wear a silicone-edged hard eye patch while sleeping to prevent accidental poking, which I discontinue at the end of this week.

The implants lens is a patented high-strength solid silicone, so its impact resistant and tough. Even has built-in UV filtration. Much of the rest of the implant is the same stuff, but softer so the focusing mechanism can move. Hard to believe that my vision is better every morning (takes a while for the eye to accommodate). That eye is rapidly approaching the vision it had in my 20's.

Wow...just wow.

Can't hardly wait for the right side to get done as it was always my better eye. That should be interesting.

If anything did happen to it all they'd do is repeat the surgery, but likely with a slightly larger incision so they could remove the old implant intact (the natural lens was shattered and suctioned out) after disconnecting the focus levers from the ciliary muscles. The original incision was only 2.8 mm and resulted in very little discomfort post-op.

[Wulfman]

do you get more floaters than before? that is something my friend is complaining about.

mfg
wulfman

[Dr Mordrid]

An increase in floaters isn't uncommon after eye trauma, and eye surgery of any kind is certainly traumatic. They're also more common in people with myopia. I haven't seen that many at all, but then I never did.

In extreme cases they can be fried with a laser.

There are also disorders that can cause an increase in floaters, so a checkup with an ophthalmologist might not be a bad idea. Make sure he mentions it at his next appointment.

[Evildead666]

good to know everything is going well, and that there are nearly only positive side effects.

Just don't go mad with adding bionic pieces

[Elie]

Floaters?

[Dr Mordrid]

Floaters are those little mostly transparent things in your visual field that appear to move when you try to look at them directly. The perception of floaters is known variously as myodesopsia (most common), myiodeopsia, myiodesopsia, or myodeopsia.

In reality they're the shadows of tiny artifacts within the vitreous humor - the fluid within your eye - projected on the retina. Most people have them to some degree or another.

[Elie]

Cool, thanks Doc!!! I have tons of them, they look exactly as illustrated, I thought I was able to see bacteria, hehe!
How annoying though, is there a way to clean them out?

[Helevitia]

Cool, thanks Doc!!! I have tons of them, they look exactly as illustrated, I thought I was able to see bacteria, hehe!
How annoying though, is there a way to clean them out?

Haha! I, like you, thought I was seeing bacteria that nobody else could see until I learned they were floaters a couple of years ago Nice Doc! Glad you have your vision improved.

[Dr Mordrid]

Cool, thanks Doc!!! I have tons of them, they look exactly as illustrated, I thought I was able to see bacteria, hehe!

How annoying though, is there a way to clean them out?

They can remove the vitreous fluid with a hollow probe then replace it with a mix of components that are clear. This will over time be replaced with natural vitreous fluid.

Another less dramatic option is to fry them with a laser.

The floaters may or may not come back depending on their original cause. If they're left over embryonic material (as most are in younger people) they may not come back. If they're a result of aging or other degenerative disorders, intraocular hemorrhaging (often due to diabetes) or from any number of other conditions they may well come back.

If you think the number of floaters are increasing then it's probably a good idea to have an ophthalmologist check your eyes out, particularly if you're young. Lots of diseases noticeably manifest themselves in the eyes first.

[Fat Tone]

Doc, do you have a good link to the info on your cataract procedure? I have a friend that I'd like to pass the info to without exposing him to the full horrors of murc

He's just been diagnosed with cataracts in both eyes. He's ~64 and has a very delicate heart.

[cjolley]

64 is young, no problem there.
My mother just had the surgery and she's 81! Delicate pretty much everything.



PS What horrors of MURC?