Cataracts

[Ags]

A family member of mine has cataracts and I was wondering if anyone has experience of the surgery? What can you expect after the operation? How good is the vision post surgery? How does it affect stargazing?

[celestron8g8]

I've not had cataracts yet but I think they are making in the BG  . But have several friends that had the surgery and one brother . Brothers was about 10 or more years ago and now says he needs it again . Others I know had the surgery and no longer need to wear glasses and say they see just fine now . If your family member has it done you can just about say it will be several months before they can do any viewing especially if they have to hold their head downward .

[Uplooker]

Hi Agnes,

My mother has had cataract surgery in both eyes. Seemed a bit strange to me at first, but the surgeon fitted a short sighted lens in one eye and a long sighted lens in the other (not at the same time). Reason being that Mum likes reading newspapers, doing crosswords and also had the need of long vision for driving.The brain is a marvelous tool in the fact that it can make sense of it all. That is demonstrated by the fact that we see everything upside down, but he brain in its processing of the information makes everything look the "right" way up.

Unfortunately my Mum has never been into stargazing, so I am unable to say what impact it has on views at the eyepiece. However, I am sure that the surgeon would investigate what was the best course to take and may fit a short sighted lens in the eye that was to used by the individual for EP viewing

[carastro]

Quote

My mother has had cataract surgery in both eyes. Seemed a bit strange to me at first, but the surgeon fitted a short sighted lens in one eye and a long sighted lens in the other (not at the same time)

I have the same set up with my contact lenses.  I have a sight lens in the right eye and a reader in the left eye, brain works it out and works a treat.  Also I think when my husband had laser surgery they did the same with the treatment of his eyes.  Otherwise you would have to keep taking reading glasses on and off all the time.  

Carole

 

[Relpet]

I had cataracts removed from both eyes a few years ago.  The transformation was amazing.  Sufferers are rarely aware of the gradual loss of vision so when the mistiness is cleared away the  sudden impact of renewed clarity of everything around them can be astounding.  To make out every leaf on a tree again, every blade of grass on a village green can be quite wonderful.  The replacement, artificial, lenses replacing the clouded natural ones are fixed focus (under the NHS at least) and are slightly smaller than the natural lenses.  Driving at night can be a problem for a couple of years as oncoming headlights can strike the edges of the new lenses and defract across the eye causing dazzle but that reduces as the enclosing tissue grows to meet the edges.

I have glaucoma also which, if not caught in time, can cause permanent damage to the eye.  Treatment with drops or surgery can halt the degradation but my right eye, the one most convenient for observing, was the worst affected and I do have trouble focusing at times.  Without the treatment that I started about eight years ago, though, I would probably find astronomy impossible now.  Specsavers spotted the glaucoma in the first place and referred me to my GP.  A lot of opticians give free eye tests these days.  Take advantage of them!  What you may not notice they certainly will.

[DeepSkyBagger]

Can't reply from personal experience, but I can echo the comments made above with reference to my Mum. She'd worn glasses since being a little girl and then in her late 60s (IIRC), she had surgery to remove both her lenses, which had cataracts. She walked out of the hospital without glasses. The artificial lenses they put in were much better than the natural ones! That was almost 20 years ago, and she now has to wear glasses again, but with much less extreme lenses in them.

I found myself wishing that they'd do it for non-cataracted eyes!

[symmetal]

I had cataract surgery on both eyes about 20 years ago ( a few months apart) and the first thing you notice after the eye patch is removed the following day is how colours look super saturated as well as everything being sharp again. The higher contrast is also very noticeable. Black objects are black instead of diffuse grey. The colours go back to normal  after a few days and the brain readjusts. The only long term affect was 2 multi coloured diffraction spikes when looking at bright lights, streetlights in particular. These were from the slit cut in the eye to replace the lens. It gradually fades as the eye heals but lasted for a year or more. It was quite pretty actually.  I wasn't stargazing at the time so couldn't say if they were present when looking at stars through a scope.

[almcl]

I had cataract surgery on one eye about four years ago,  so now have one 'original' eye and one 'bionic' one.  Being able to see distant objects clearly again was amazing.  The difference in vision for stargazing is noticeable, too.  The 'bionic' eye (with the replacement lens) sees things much brighter, the 'original' eye sees contrast much better.  The focus points for both are quite different.

Different surgeons perform the op differently and it is definitely not something I'd do again for fun, but it was over within an hour.  There is a slightly increased risk of retinal tearing post surgery, and I did experience this, but this too was very quickly sorted by the NHS and  full vision is back again, with a bonus of slightly reduced floaters.

[DeepSkyBagger]

6 hours ago, almcl said:

<snip> with a bonus of slightly reduced floaters.

Now there's another advantage I hadn't thought of! Sometimes, especially in high contrast situations, I can hardly see past mine. Awful.

[Ags]

Aperture is the solution to floaters.

[Ceramus]

 I had my second cataract op 8 weeks ago, right eye this time which is my prefered obseving eye. My first  op, on the left eye, was 4 years ago and the diference to my eyesight was amazing. Colours became brighter and whites were much  more pure as the cataract imparts a light sepia colour to the vision. At first, a darkish crescent shape shadow was present at the very corner of the eye but soon disappeared. Rainbows were also present around bright lights. Recovery took about 2 weeks.

At  the telescope, after I got used to using my left eye instead of the usual right one, I noticed a substantial increase in colour perception and perhaps more contrast also. The right eye got progressive worse so I decided to go for the second  op as it was becoming more difficult to drive at night. This time a laser was used to do the initial incision and 'loosen up' the cataract. Recovery this time round was quicker and, so far, no side effects. I can now go back to observing with the right eye. Next time I'm in a dark sky location I'll do a star count to ascertain if  I can go half a magnitude fainter using both eyes...

 

 

 

 

[reddoss]

30 minutes ago, Ags said:

Aperture is the solution to floaters.

In astronomy.......aperture is the solution to everything!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Edited May 18, 2017 by reddoss

[Stub Mandrel]

I know several people who have had cataract surgery. They say it's life-changing and all wish they had it done sooner.

[Stub Mandrel]

45 minutes ago, Ags said:

Aperture is the solution to floaters.

My optician told me there is now treatment to remove floaters!

I said I've put up with these for over fifty years, why should i want to get rid of them now!

[RayD]

13 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

My optician told me there is now treatment to remove floaters!

I said I've put up with these for over fifty years, why should i want to get rid of them now!

There is.  I looked in to this as I have them quite bad, but it is a very intrusive procedure, and only recommended in very extreme circumstances.  They basically replace the "gel" inside the eyeball, which is where the floaters live, and which I suspect is nothing like as easy as it sounds.

Edited May 18, 2017 by RayD

[carastro]

Quote

I found myself wishing that they'd do it for non-cataracted eyes!

I think they do but you have to pay for it.  When my husband had his eyes lasered at Optical Express there was an option to have replacement lenses.

Carole 

[RayD]

2 hours ago, carastro said:

I think they do but you have to pay for it.  When my husband had his eyes lasered at Optical Express there was an option to have replacement lenses.

Carole 

Friend of mine just had this replacement lens treatment rather than laser and is really pleased. 

[symmetal]

4 hours ago, RayD said:

There is.  I looked in to this as I have them quite bad, but it is a very intrusive procedure, and only recommended in very extreme circumstances.  They basically replace the "gel" inside the eyeball, which is where the floaters live, and which I suspect is nothing like as easy as it sounds.

I developed a large floater in one eye about 4 years ago (had smaller ones for as long as I can remember) and had it checked as it can be an indication of retinal problems but it was just a floater and was told to live with it as they are not treated under the NHS. A year later a similar one appeared in the other eye which made reading or using a computer very tiring as every time you moved your eyes my vision blurred as the floaters drifted past. 

I researched treatments and laser surgery had had some success with certain types of floaters so I paid for several sessions of treatments but to be honest it made little difference.

I contacted an eye surgeon as to whether a vitrectomy (removal of the vitreous jelly in the eye) was a possible solution and he said it was if I was willing to pay for it. He said it's the only treatment that really works on removing floaters. I had one eye done and it was amazing having perfectly clear vision in that eye. I had the other eye done six months later so I'm now floater free. 

It's done under local anaesthetic as an outpatient and took about 45 mins. Three incisions are made in the white of the eye to insert three instruments, a light, an ultrasonic cutter incorporating a suction pump and a third tube to pump saline solution into the eye to replace the vitreous jelly as it's chopped up and sucked out, maintaining a constant fluid pressure in the eye. It's a bit uncomfortable while it's happening but that's all you feel. After a cup of tea and biscuits you're allowed home. The following day you go in to have the eye patch removed and given eye drops to put in for about six weeks. The only after affect from the surgery (apart from a very red eye for about two weeks) is the sensation of a bit of grit in your eye from the suture put in to seal the hole made for the cutter. The holes for the other instruments are small enough that they self seal. This sensation fades over a week or so as the suture dissolves. 

Hope that helps anybody who has wondered what's involved.

[Fypunky]

I suppose as my day job is in optometry for once I may maybe a little bit more qualified to answer (new to astronomy)!

On the whole cataract surgery is successful with only around 5% having problems after (last time I looked (all surgery has risks)), depending on prescription and one or two other factors they may do the monovision as someone said earlier, one for distance and one for reading (I use contact lenses to obtain the same vision when observing).

Cataracts actually start to form mid 20s but it is not until later in life do they get to a point where they have an impact on the vision and slowly you loose contrast sensitivity, similar to the misty window effect, once the implant is in place you then have a very clear window to look through, hence why colours are so much more colourful.

The choice of options with the implants is limited under the NHS, go private and you have a lot more to choose from.

One further point, you may even after surgery experience the cataract effect again, this is PCO, the implant is put in a sack which is original, the sack can become cloudy, the hospital will use a YAG lazer to clear it, once done that is it, it will remain clear there after.

[Tomnoddy]

I've got cataracts and now feel that they affect my night-sky vision a lot. When young, in the Highlands, the stars were an amazing site. Now, in dark sky areas, I can't see so many stars and the ones I do see are not that bright. I'm waiting for my optician to have a look. 

[Ags]

They creep up on you. My partner was unaware she was losing sight but was stunned by the improvement after the operation.

[barkis]

I'm waiting for my second procedure. I had my right eye sorted a couple of months ago or so, but had to re apply to have my left one done too.
Long waiting list unless you want to shell out a grand or more.  I'll wait thank you.
However, I'm absolutely over the moon with the difference already, My distance sight has improved immensely.
I felt uneasy about having someone poking around in my eyes, but  I was wrong to be nervous. These guys know what they are doing,
and they do it very well indeed. It took about 15 minutes and I was being wheeled out of the theatre for a seat in the waiting room to receive after
care advice, and  a bottle of eyedrops to be administered three times a day for two weeks., one bottle did not suffice, but I was given a prescription for another
Which I first had to produce to my GP's , who then  arranged a delivery of another supply.
So no one should fret over this, it's a doddle, and I can't wait to get back for number two.
Ron.

Edited May 8, 2019 by barkis

[Ags]

I think anyone who goes through the op is really brave. I struggle to get through a regular eye check-up, so I dread ever needing cataract surgery.

[Gina]

Same here!

[Victor_Tepes]

I'm preparing to have this surgery and I am trying to decide between a "premium" lens that promises to be multifocal and end the need for eye glasses, and a fixed focal length lens with which reading glasses would be necessary for near vision.  I have read that the "premium" lenses may cause starburst effects at night on such things as the headlights of oncoming automobiles.  I realize that this is a relatively old thread but I'm wondering if any of you would care to share any experiences you may have had with this.