Cataract surgery and colour perception

[absentblinded]

This may seem a little strange…

I have cataracts in both my eyes. The one in the left was removed and a new lens inserted 2 days ago. Since the op, when I look at anything which is red or blue with my unoperated eye covered, the colour seems incredibly intense. I first noticed it in our living room (which has a lot of blue) and one of my tops (reddish-maroon). There’s a cloudless blue sky today which looks absolutely stunning because of the intensity of the colour.

I've checked that I'm not imagining it by covering each eye separately - I can definitely see the difference.

Has anyone who’s had this surgery experienced anything similar?

My mum had this. She said that the cataracts had made her vision very warm coloured - like wearing yellow sunglasses all of the time. She didn’t like how cold everything looked, but the effect wore off.

I did walk into my work bathroom that has quite harsh lighting and a massive mirror and thought OMG why am I so pale, then realised that's what my face is like

The op was painless and I nearly fell asleep

I saw a lot more cobwebs. I thought i was pretty clean!

My astigmatism was enormously corrected.
My prescription was reduced so much it halved the cost- no more "extra thin" lenses needed.

It's totally painless and easier than a dental check up. You get a splendid light show too: you can't blink, can't feel anything and can talk to the surgeon throughout.

And i was very worried beforehand too.

When my friend had her cataracts done she had to replace almost all her wardrobe. She'd been buying progressively brighter and brighter clothes without realising it. When she could see clearly again was aghast and replaced everything with more muted colours..

@oncemoreuntothebeachdearfriends I drove my friend to her appointment and picked her up afterwards. She was nervous on the way there but chattered ecstatically all the way home saying how easy and painless it was. She made a really quick recovery with no problems whatsoever. It's really changed her life for the better.

The best bit is 24 hrs later when you can take the eye shield off, and bathe your eye.
My first eye did water for the first day, the second one didn't so much.

I asked the surgeon if he didn't get bored doing cataracts all day. He said it was the first question he asked his mentor when he started....but the answer is a firm "no"- every eye is different.

I found it very painful for a few seconds during the op but I'm sure that was because I have ME and feel pain very intensely. It was the bit where the pieces of the cataract (after being broken up) were being pulled out.

The light show was definitely fab!

Yeah, the new lens lets light in very differently. It's very clear. I have an artificial lens in my left eye and cataract in my right eye (and a vitreous detachment 🙄) and the quality of colour in my left eye is much more striking and bright. Cataracts make everything a bit foggy anyway so you're not seeing true colours with your cataract eye.

When my mum had hers done she said that before she felt like she was looking through a dirty net curtain. And after she said it was like seeing the world after a rain shower in the spring..
She only lived long enough to get one eye done but was always so happy she did.