Visian ICL

Turns out my eyes are too near-sighted, corneas too thin, to qualify for LASIK. My only option is a corneal implant. Anyone do this? What can I expect?

• I had it done back in May 2010. I had the same issue as you, went in to see if Lasik would work for me and was told that one of my eyes was flat and not much surface tissue to have the procedure. I was told having an ICL was my only option. The procedure is basically nothing, I went in and was out in about an hour or so. Had to come back in later that day to have them check me out. The only bitch was having to have three sets of drops put in my eyes every hour the first day after the surgery. I had a friend take me for the surgery and stay w/me the rest of the day. Your vision clears up that first day and then it is time for the eyedrops again, and your vision goes all blurry again, lol. You have to administer drops every few hours for a few weeks but after that it is all good. In case nobody knows what an ICL is they cut your eye open and insert a contact lens in the eye then reseal the eye. You have a permanant hole in your eye above the cornea. From what I was told, it is safer than Lasik and thsi will more than likely be the preferred way for corrective surgery for the eye in the future. Any other question OP feel free to ask.

• How long did it take to heal, R1? Any weird vision issues?

• It took I think a month to heal, they told me to sleep w/eye shields on for a week so I didn't rub my eyes while I sleep or the such. Like I said, you use drops for a month but then everything is cool. My only problem was the hole the laser made above my cornea was not big enough so they had to laser the hole bigger in my eye w/o being under anything, that was freaky. The only weird vision issues is at night and halos around lights, but you get that with lasik as well, and from what I have been told w/lasik the halo issues are worse.

• Thanks R1! How much did you pay?

  OP

• DO IT!!!!! Did this six years ago and would happily do it all over again. More people need to know about this option. It's a lot pricier than Lasik, but far better. Feel like my vision is HD and I haven't had any variation. I paid around 3K per eye. Financed it on a student budget and happily sacrificed other expenses for a few years. Lasik is a permanent choice since it permanently alters your cornea. With ICL you can upgrade to any better technologies in the future. They're already making more advanced internal lenses to accommodate bifocal vision that develops with age. With Lasik, you're pretty much stuck with what you got. No reason to discount your eyesight of all things. Healing process is also shorter in comparison to Lasik since the incision is just a small puncture to inject the lens, rather than a whole slice to flip the top of the eye open. The procedure is pretty short, but hard to gauge exactly as they sedated me with Versed and that impairs short term memory on purpose. Felt like 15 minutes, but was probably more like 20-30. Personally, I felt the IV more than I felt the actual procedure. Also, the iridotomy beforehand was more intense than actually getting the lenses put in. A month after I got it done, I was swimming in clear blue seawater, able to see everything without worrying about contacts.

• R5, have you had any side effects? I'm interested in this myself, because I have severe astigmatism and I'm terribly nearsided, and my cornea is too thin for lasik. I wear contacts, but would love to be able to ditch them. But, I worry about night vision problems. That kind of scares me.

• I think astigmatisms might be a problem for it, but I think the only good answer on that would come from a good doctor experienced with the procedure. Most consultations for eye correction are free, so I would recommend following up with one if you're interested. You might also find out about new alternatives that are emerging. I think eye correction has been advancing very quickly. I went in for a consultation for Lasik actually and that's where I learned about Visian ICLs as another option. Had never heard of it before and they had already created the 2.0 version of the lenses at that point. Anyway, visit a couple good doctors and ask a lot of questions since it's very worth it and there may be some newer lens or technology that accommodates astigmatism. As for the night vision, I have really slight halos around pinpoint lights, but I kinda see through them and forget they're there. I can still see stars and it hasn't been a real annoyance in any way. My night driving is fine. When I was doing my research, I found out I would actually get a far worse halo result since I had extremely bad nearsidedness (People's faces were blurry about 2 feet away). From talking to my doctor afterwards, it seemed that halos were more rare among ICL and he didn't expect every patient to experience them. I think he said that the lenses were actually a different effect as well, like my halo was actually light catching the edge of the lens rather than an alteration from the changes in the cornea. Feel free to keep asking questions. I really think this is a great option more people should know about. Also wanted to add some financials for evaluation. My total was about 6K and I took 5k in financing extended over 6 years since I was a student, which was the worst overall rate, but the lowest monthly payments. I paid $120/month for a couple years and then paid off the rest in a lump sum.

• This thread is so helpful. I think I'm going to do it. I will have to pay $8000 all together but it's worth it. What were your prescriptions before the procedure? I'm -9.5 and -10.

  OP

• Any invasive procedure comes with risks. I've talked to my eye dr about this, he said that the ILC rubs on the iris and can cause cataracts and other issues

• Interesting

• I see a GP, an eye doctor, an ENT specialist, a dermatologist, and most recently an orthopedic surgeon. They all wear glasses. My GP told me that was my answer when I inquired about Lasik and ICL. There are risks, and risks that most medical professionals choose not to take themselves. Btw, I am not old, just have sports injuries and good skin.

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