Sidwalkastronomy Loc: New Jersey Shore

Flashes of light can be retina issues. Let your Dr. Know

sb Loc: Florida's East Coast

And it is a relatively simple surgery with minimal down time. I went walking at the wetlands the following morning. No physical exertion for a month and no swimming for a month. Walking, biking, etc are all OK. For anyone considering the surgery: Medicare and your coinsurance (if you have that) will cover a traditional cataract procedure - done with a scalpel and using a standard implant with is a simple lens that gives you distance vision. Medicare will also cover the cost of glasses if needed after the surgery (I am sure with limitations...). Medicare will NOT cover the upgraded lenses that allow you to see better close up and will not cover the use of a laser in the surgery. Some consider the laser to be less damaging and to result in better, faster healing. Many consider the laser to simply be another way of cutting tissue. The two most common upgraded lenses, according to my reading, are the Vivity and the Pan-Optix. The Vivity gives far-vision and mid-range vision, whereas the Pan-Optix has three planes of vision - roughly 15 inches, 30 inches, and distant - but it takes 2 weeks to 2 months for the eye/brain to adjust to this lens. The Pan-Optix may also cause a little more flare or halos with bright lights, especially at night. It appears to be more of a fresnel-type lens. I had that implanted a few days ago, so can only say that things are much brighter and sharper. I can read with it, but my far vision is still a little blurry.

Jack 13088 Loc: Central NY

I asked my daughter who is an OD when I had both eyes done 9 years ago. She said it is a well known that the color shift with age does effect the the color tone of art work and is used by art historians to date art work of a given artist.

I had both eyes done a week apart. I had pretty decent astigmatism so I chose toric lens. Why not? They were less expensive with a “family discount”. By the way, the optical system of your eye is not a simple lens. The cornea and IOL form a doublet and both can contribute to the measured eyeglasses Rx. Determining the Rx for the new IOL is not trivial. My son in law is an OD working for a large surgical practice in the Northwest. He makes those measurements hence the discount. The result was the astigmatism in one eye was too small to be corrected and I wound up with only one toric lens. That manufacturer of the toric lens has a slightly different tint from the lenses they normally use so they switched manufacturer for the non toric lens.

At any rate the novelty of the return of the blues wears off quickly so you return to the new (or is it the old old) normal.

BobHartung Loc: Bettendorf, IA

Absolutely. My color processing improved dramatically after my 2nd lens was done due to my ability to better judge the true color.

TKT Loc: New Mexico

Yes, I had similar problems. I had both eyes done about 2-3 years ago. Had to recalibrate the color vision because of brighter and more intense colors. A new problem has recently surfaced - I can't see colors in darker shadow areas of an image or print. My wife and others can see the coloration but I can't see it at all! How do I fix it if I can't see it? This has become a show stopper. One solution is to convert all color images to black and white which eliminates all colors at the start of post processing leaving only the greys and black and white. This works well on images suitable for black and white compositions but not all images work in a B&W monotone.
So far this is the only fix I have come up with. Any ideas anyone?
TKT

TKT Loc: New Mexico

After thinking about this for a while it may be due to my Parkinson's Disease rather than the eye surgery. I'm not sure - will ask the docs.
TKT

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

This could be anything from normal age-related vision decay to the effects of glaucoma to the result of exposure to intense light like welding arcs. May or may not be a concern, but I'd suggest discussing with your opthalmologist (not optometrist) in the near future.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Yes, when I worked in a PHOTO LAB in 2008, I had cataract surgery done in both eyes, two weeks apart. It was shocking to me. But while I noticed a perceptual shift, I didn't see any significant difference in my color adjustment skills or biases. I even adjusted an image with my unaltered eye, then came back the next day and adjusted it (from its unadjusted original state) again with the other eye (one eye closed in each instance). They were very close. I expected a yellow-blue cast shift, but got a slight magenta shift to the second image (maybe a -2 green or +2 magenta if that).

I didn't believe it, so a month after my second surgery, I found a folder of raw files and adjusted them, comparing them on a calibrated reference monitor to the same images adjusted several months earlier. There was no obvious trend in any direction — just minor 2-3 point variations in worst cases.

Your mileage may vary...

BobHartung Loc: Bettendorf, IA

Perhaps because you were already skilled in color correction. Also I would guess you were comparing to standards which would have been a great benefit.

sgt hop Loc: baltimore md,now in salisbury md

i had both done about 14 yrs ago...saw everything brighter and ended up with 20/20 vision....all i need now are reading glasses......

Jack 13088 Loc: Central NY

It is clear that most cataracts develop slowly over years so that you are looking through an increasingly dirty window and you just don’t notice it until your acuity deteriorates noticeably. All the while those of you who are capable (I am pretty sure I am not.) are successfully making subtle adjustments to color renditions. Then when you clean the window surgically and get over the shock of the cleansing shouldn’t the effect of the filter (or not) just cancel out?

I think that a big part of the shock is that when first remove the tape closing your eye it is still very much dilated and actually IS brighter. I was told that when I could blink I should remove the tape and if I didn’t like what I saw just put the tape back and wait. When I get out of the chair the nurse took my arm and said she was doing that to keep me from running into things. Well, we went immediately to Panera Bread for lunch and when the thing went off to get our order I got up and almost took out a guy crossing from the right! After the second eye I took off the tape too soon and found out the eye was not tracking the other eye. The brain doesn’t like that at all. It very nearly took me to my knees! So I put the tape back and waited a long while.

Toby

So am I

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

I looked at several of your most recent image posts and for the large part they appear fine. One of the "Chilean volcano" images looks a little too saturated, but even that's not all that bad (top image, color of the sky seems unrealistic to me). I'm viewing your images on a calibrated monitor and am using a color managed browser.

Some of what you are seeing may be "mental". It takes a while after your vision is changed in any way for your brain to adapt. For example there was an experiment done where people were given glasses to wear that turned their view of the world upside down! After a few days wearing those 24/7, their brains "flipped" the image right side up. After that happened they stopped wearing the glasses and once again the world appeared upside down for a few days until their brains re-adjusted. Probably the same thing happens with color.

Some years ago my Dad had cataract surgery on both eyes (not at the same time). After it was done and fully healed he no longer needed glasses to drive, even at 90 years old! He still wore reading glasses at times, but didn't need them for anything that wasn't close. (P.S. My sister and I sort of felt he needed to stop driving for other reasons... but his vision wasn't one of them. He had some interesting driving techniques!)

GrannyAnnie

This result is called "chromatic aberration." In my case, after one replacement, when I look through the "new" lens and cover the non-operated eye, the colors are not brighter. It seems like the "white balance" is off. Everything has a slightly blue cast. With the non-operated eye (and the other covered) the colors come back vividly. The ophthalmologist said this occurs in a small percentage of patients and can be attributed to the type of replacement lens implanted. Over time the patient can become less aware of the color changes but, he noted, that is difficult to assess why this happens. Do we just "get used" to the changes over time, does our brain "re-train" to the new lens, or were we not seeing true color before the surgery because of the cataract? It's fascinating but frustrating to those who work with color.....artists, tailors, designers, painters etc. So far, I am able to discern the differences between black and navy, etc. but I would love to look at the world with the vividness I remember. At least I can see, so I am thankful!!

GrannyAnnie

My doctor mentioned this as well....it's fascinating....and that's why this "color" issue is so hard to evaluate.