r/ICLsurgery

So Im a little concerned my vision isn’t as sharp as I’d like it to be (compared to how it was with contacts and glasses). Had my 1 week post op and i was able to see 20/20 with each eye but it was really fuzzy and hard to see (i think ghosting). Hasn’t gotten much better now after week 2. Doctor seemed to have no concern when i brought it up, and said thats normal and it will sharpen once your brain and eyes adapt.

When taking my preop measurements, my dilated prescription was much different than my regular prescription. We tested it again a few days later and the doctor went with that new one that i didn’t think was as clear but he said it was closer to dilated prescription and would be better for my eyes long term. I noticed when i was at a wedding last weekend and was drinking alcohol and my eyes were a little dilated, that my vision was so clear and crisp. Like everything was perfect and crisp, but the next day once my eyes went back to normal, things were fuzzy again.

2 weeks in and my progress has stalled expect for that night i was drinking. Will my eyes adjust and become closer to my icl prescription? Or will it always be this way?

Travel doesn’t pose any major issues for ICL. And technically you could even fly the day after ICL surgery without any issue. But there are a few considerations and you may not want to plan a ton of travel immediately after ICL.

After ICL surgery, you will have a follow-up schedule with your surgeon. Typically this means a visit one day out, one week out and one month out to ensure that the pressure inside the eye looks good and that the ICL is sitting in an appropriate location with a good vault. Traveling is fine between those visits, but you’ll just want to ensure that you won’t be skipping these important checks. If you do travel, you’ll also want to ensure that you have access to emergency medical care in the rare event that it is needed.

When flying, the biggest issue is that the airplane cabins are very dry environments. Your eye will be more dry right after ICL. So on the plane, you’ll want to use preservative free artificial tears frequently to keep them from drying out.

Travel involves suitcases. And it’s important to pay attention to restrictions on heavy lifting and exertion after ICL which are typically for a week or two. Because of this, you’ll want to use rolling suitcases and don’t be afraid to ask for help to put your bag in the overhead bin.

Perhaps you are planning a vacation to enjoy your newly corrected vision. Be aware that there will be some restrictions on swimming after ICL. The incisions with ICL surgery heal up quickly, but most surgeons will recommend avoiding swimming for at least two weeks after ICL surgery to reduce the risk of infection. And even after the two-week mark, it is often recommended to wear goggles for another month just to reduce irritation from chlorinated pool water or ocean water on the healing eyes.

With some precautions, travel can be done after ICL. But often it may be better to wait a little further out for your big planned vacations.

Hi,

I'd love to connect with anyone who has done their ICL surgery and I want to understand is it really worth it? I've watched plenty of videos on YouTube and found that halos and glares continue for a longer time period. Hence, I am looking forward to connect with anyone who can share their real life and more practical experience of ICL. I want to know what challenges they are facing post ICL. Please please please do connect with me. I am a bit confused if I should get it done or not!

My prescription is around 6 spherical and 1.25 cylindrical both the eyes and I want to get rid of glasses. While my screen time is way too high as it is the part of my occupation.

Thanks in advance.

Planning to get ICL surgery, complications are that I have had retina Detachment surgery in my right eye in year 2013 and a laser to remove lattice in my left eye. After Retina detachment my eye power became -9.50 in my right eye and -6.50 in my left eye. I also have minor cylindrical eye power in my right eye. I am 37 years old and have high screen time due to my job. I want lead an active life without spectacles, swimming, underwater diving etc..which I couldnt do because of my specs. Tell me if ICL is good option, what about cataract and short sightedness after 40 years.

Had EVO ICL surgery recently and one thing I noticed is that I now prefer bright screens/light mode instead of dim screens or dark mode. Before surgery I always kept my phone dim and used night mode comfortably, but now brighter screens actually feel easier to see with.

Has anyone else experienced this after EVO ICL? Did your eyes/brain eventually adjust back to being comfortable with dim screens and dark mode again? If so, how long did it take?

I'm 26, work as an analyst in Gurgaon, and I've worn glasses since I was a kid. My power is around -6.3 / -4.8 in the right eye and -6.9 / -5.6 in the left. Pretty high

After all the tests, the doctor told me LASIK is not an option for me because my corneas are too thin for my power level. Instead he's recommending something called IPCL — basically they make a custom lens and implant it inside your eye, behind the pupil, without touching the cornea. He said it's reversible, 10–15 minutes per eye, and I'd be able to ditch my glasses the same day.

Sounds amazing on paper. But I have real concerns and I want honest answers from people who've actually been through this — not the hospital's sales pitch.

My situation:

• I drive an Activa to work every day, 30 minutes each way through Delhi traffic
• I have a desk job — I'm in front of a screen for 8–10 hours straight
• I go to the gym 3–4 times a week and I'm in the middle of a weight gain phase

My actual concerns:

• Has anyone here done IPCL or ICL specifically at Sharp Sight Karol Bagh 
• Has anyone done IPCL or a similar procedure at Sharp Sight Centre specifically? How was the experience — before, during, after.
• For people who've had this surgery anywhere, what did nobody warn you about?Something the counsellor downplayed?
• How long did it actually take you to feel "normal"? 
• Screen fatigue — did your eyes feel worse sitting in front of a computer all day for the first few weeks? I can't really take time off work.
• For people with very high power — did you get the result you expected? Or were you slightly disappointed?

I've done my research, I've read the medical stuff, I'm not looking for "consult a doctor" replies. I want to hear from real people who've lived through this — the good days and the bad days of recovery. 

Long post, but my eyes are kind of important to me. Thanks in advance for any honest input.

Hi, I am having ICL surgery on the 26th and 27th (my surgeon does one eye one day and one eye the next). I have been in touch with the clinic and they will give me wrap around glasses to wear, but I like to air on the side of caution (as a person with kids, a toddler and cats) and buy something to wear at night and another thing to wear in the day. Any suggestions? Amazon links are ok. Thanks!

Hi everyone,
I’m planning to have ICL surgery soon, and I would really like to talk with people who have already done it. I want to hear real experiences and honest advice.
How was your vision during the first few days?
Did you experience halos or night vision problems?
How long did full recovery take?
Are you happy with the results now?
Is there anything you wish you had known before the surgery?
Any personal experience or advice would really help me. Thank you 🙏

A nice benefit of having ICL surgery over laser eye surgeries such as lasik is the significantly lower issue of dry eye. Because ICL doesn’t involve any corneal flap or removal of any corneal tissue, the corneal nerves responsible for triggering tear production remain largely intact. But this does not mean that ICL is “dry eye free”. There will still be some post-operative dry eye with ICL.

Dilating drops and antiseptic used prior to the surgery irritate the surface of the eye. On top of this, during surgery, the eye is held open while the surgeon places the ICL lens. This causes the eye to dry out a little more. So immediately after ICL, the cornea is more irritated and dry just from going through a procedure.

Additionally, ICL involves a small incision in the cornea. This incision does disrupt a small localized amount of nerves within the cornea. These nerves within the cornea are important to signal tear production when the eye is drying out. So until these nerves regenerate, the cornea is a little less sensitive and less capable to responding to dry eye.

But the biggest contributing factor to dry eye after ICL is the post-op eye drops. After ICL, many of the prescribed antibiotic and steroid eye drops contain preservatives to prevent the eye drop from going bad. Preservatives are known to irritate the cornea. And so the use of these drops after the surgery will cause some additional corneal irritation and dry eye. (But not enough to outweigh the benefit of the medication in the drop. Still continue to follow your doctor’s instructions).

Fortunately this post-operative dry eye after ICL surgery is usually very transient and once the post-operative eye drops are finished, the cornea heals up and the dry eye improves. In the meantime, however, using preservative-free artificial tears can help with the recovery to minimize this post-operative dry eye as much as possible and allow for the quickest healing.

I went in for my second consultation for EVO ICL yesterday, and left with some questions, so I figured I could ask here. For reference, I am myopic with OD -13.25, -4.00/4.25 (cant remember for sure) x 129 & OS -13.75, -3.75 x 34. I won't be naming the locations I visited here, but for some reference to cost/income ratio it is in the state of Kentucky.

1. The cost difference was pretty staggering, the first place I went to was around $8900, while the second location was only $5800. This is for both eyes. The notable difference is that the second location uses a separate surgery center as opposed to doing the surgery in their own space. The second location also does not use full sedation, instead opting for a partial sedation with local numbing. I don't know if anybody knows the typical cost for the lens, anesthesia, surgeon, etc, but is $5800 too low?

2. I never got to speak with the surgeon at the first location, which kind of surprised me. I've never had a surgery, so that may be standard, but I sort of thought he would want to see the eyes he'd have to cut open. The second location I actually got a full dilated exam with the surgeon, which felt more normal. He answered a lot of my immediate questions about side effects and what to expect after surgery which was very nice.

3. The second consultation surgeon told me outright that he would need to call someone to check if he could get a lens that would actually remove all of the astigmatism from my right eye. He explained if he couldn't that the procedure would still work, but he would want to do LASIK afterwards to clean up the remaining astigmatism. He also did tell me that I had a decent bit of dryness in the right eye, and that it might get worse afterwards depending on the anatomy (SPK 2+ on exam). The first consultation did not do any dilated exam, mostly the same machinery was used for measurements in both.

4. Lastly, the second consultation has me scheduled for a POD#0, POD#1, POW#1, & a POM#1. Whereas the first place had a POD#1 & POW#1 only. The second location also has a 4,3,2,1 taper of prednisolone & ketorolac eyedrops over 4 weeks with an antibiotic injection (I think ofloxacin or some variant), while the first uses compounded prednisolone/ofloxacin eyedrops tid for 3 weeks. Does this actually make a difference?

All in all I am just wondering what others who are either also searching or have already had ICL done think of these factors. I don't want to make a mistake with my eyes lol. I can also answer any questions for anything I left out if that helps. Thanks in advance!

31F

R

-8.75 -1.25 Axis 003

L

-9.00 -0.75 Axis 178

I'm considering ICL Surgery in the next few years and trying to absorb as much information as I possibly can.

How do I find the most qualified surgeons close to me?

What are the important questions that I should be asking when I go for my consultation?

I live in Lansdale, Pennsylvania so if anyone local can recommend a great surgeon that would be awesome.

I had ICL surgery about 2.5 weeks ago and I’ve been having a pretty stressful recovery, so I wanted to see if anyone else has gone through something similar.

Right after surgery, my eye pressure shot up to 40. They gave me oral meds and by the next day it dropped to 20, so I thought the issue was resolved. Over the next two weeks my vision was honestly amazing - super clear and I was really happy with the results.

Then at my 2-week post-op appointment, after being on steroid drops the whole time, they found my eye pressure had gone up again to 48. The surgeon said I might be a “steroid responder,” but I’m still worried the ICL itself could be contributing somehow.

They gave me Combigan and my pressure dropped to 13 within about an hour. But after leaving the clinic, my left eye suddenly became extremely blurry. I went back immediately and they found a corneal abrasion (not sure if this was caused by the pressure or dry eye).

Now it’s been about 4 days and my left eye is still very blurry. The doctors say:

• the ICL looks well positioned,
• healing otherwise looks good,
• and my optic nerves look healthy.

But I’m still really anxious about the pressure spikes and whether there could be long-term damage from pressures getting that high twice in such a short time.

I’m also struggling mentally with the fact that this was elective surgery. Part of me keeps thinking I should have just stayed with contacts instead of taking these risks.

Has anyone here:

• had major pressure spikes after ICL?
• been told they were a steroid responder?
• had blurry vision from a corneal abrasion after surgery?
• gone on to recover fully?

Would really appreciate hearing other people’s experiences because I’ve been spiraling a bit over the possibility of future glaucoma or permanent vision problems.