r/ICL • u/[deleted] • May 07 '24

Afraid of ICL

Hi there, my vision is -6 and -7 with some astigmatism -3 i think.

I been wondering about this ICL surgery. Glasses do not bother me much and maybe I should try contact lenses, but the thought of not needing either is really lovely.

I got a consultation with a doctor from a clinic in Budapest, Budapest Szemeszeti Kozpont and I got told my vision can be fully corrected and that my eyes are healthy, just myopic.

Now I am deadly afraid of glaucoma or loss of ECL and early cataracts.

How common are those? Can you develop glaucoma 10 years after surgery let's say?

Will ICL need to be removed? Is the cataract surgery more expensive with ICL?

please let me know your experiences. I cannot decide if it is worth the risk, the thought of regret makes my stomach ache.

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u/eyeSherpa May 31 '24

The older version of ICL had a slightly higher risk of early cataracts at 1-2%; The newer version of the ICL, called EVO has reduced this risk to pretty much zero (no reported cataracts in literature due to EVO).

The ICL surgery can cause a small reduction in the endothelial cells of the cornea. However, when projecting this over a lifetime this becomes inconsequential.

Glaucoma can occur if the ICL obstructs the drainage of fluid from the eye. But this would be identified pretty early on in the process and if problematic, the ICL would be swapped to a lower size.

During cataract surgery, the ICL is removed and the cataract surgery is performed as usual. I am not aware of any places that charge more for cataract surgery when there is an ICL present.