Does retinal swelling make vision fuzzy?

Cataract surgery 2010-01-14 went fine.  Distance vision great next day.  Evening of Feb 4 could read OK.  Next morning couldn't read anything.  Cataract ophthalmologist looked -- lens fine.  Maybe some retinal swelling.  Retinal ophthalmologist looked and took photos -- some swelling.

Question -- might retinal swelling push macula toward lens thereby making len's focal point be "behind" macula?   Might this account for the fuzzy vision which came on suddenly and is slowly going away?

[Sandra M Brown, MD]

If you have cystoid macular edema, the fuzzy vision is due to disorganization of the photoreceptor light sensing cells - they are being pushed out of their normal rigid orientation by the swelling.  However you are also correct that in some cases the entire macula gets pushed a little forward, making you farsighted because the focal point of the lens implant is behind the retina.  If you are seeing improvement after only a few days of symptoms you are likely to recover well.