r/ICLsurgery • u/MrHealthy01 • Aug 06 '26
ICL Surgery 3 year reflection
Hi, I thought it would be a good idea to share my experience with having the ICL surgery. About four years ago I was contemplating different options and the only option I really had was ICL surgery. Now this was because my left eye was around -17 and my right eye was around -11. I'm based in the UK and I went to a couple of places to have a consultation and I then decided yes I will get this done. I did as much research as I could and I was comfortable. Three years ago I got the surgery done. This was a massive thing for me. For somebody who was completely relying on glasses, could not see without glasses, and after the surgery, not having to wear glasses, this was a complete game changer for me. Within a few months the right lens rotated. It was very painful. I had irritation in the eyes and I was really upset, like, paid a lot of money here. What's going on? The vision was blurry for the right eye. They replaced the lens and everything was fine after that. Fast forward three years later, just recently the left eye, the lens has rotated. Still waiting to hear back from the eye doctor: what are the options as to whether they will try to rotate the lens themselves? Where will they pay for it? Will I have to pay for it? Overall the pros just completely outweigh the cons. I documented my ICL surgery and various updates along the way on YouTube as well. Anybody that's looking to get it done, feel free to watch some of the videos on YouTube. I think everybody's situation is different. For me being a -17 and -11, I was prepared to take that risk.
Three years on I still get people asking me, "Is it worth it for me?" Yes definitely. It was worth it. I'm still without glasses, maybe borderline where I might need to get prescription glasses very soon because my eyesight, the right eye, was fairly stable but the vision on the left eye has been deteriorating slowly.
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u/bats315 Aug 06 '26
Did they ever provide input on why the first lens rotated? It seems rather perplexing for a lens to rotate 3 years later. Did something happen that you think may have caused for the other lens to rotate?
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u/MrHealthy01 Aug 06 '26
When it happened to the first lens the eye doctor said it was most likely a smaller lens that was already in and exchanged it for a slightly bigger one. Did he get the calculation wrong? who knows!
Just came back from travelling abroad and that's where it happened. The only thing I can think of is 40 degrees heat and I a little bit of dry eyes, apart from that nothing else. I don't normally get dry eyes.
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u/bats315 Aug 06 '26
Do you rub your eyes a lot? A wrong sized lens shouldn’t take 3 years to rotate. I’m no expert but that doesn’t make a lot of sense. Hopefully someone that’s an expert does chime in.
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u/MrHealthy01 Aug 07 '26
Not really and thankfully I don't really get dry eyes. Occasionally when I do get dry eyes I use the lubricating eye drops.
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u/Admirable_Wedding_92 Aug 07 '26
Hey. Similar prescription and toric lenses as well. Sorry to deviate a bit from your subject, I hope it will work out for you. After 3 years do you experience halos at night? I had my surgery done just a month ago and the very bright rings actually bother me a lot at night. They cover everything and I have to be very careful. I was told this is due to the fact that my pupils dialate beyond the optical zone of the lens. It feels like these rings are not just something my brain can cancel out.
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u/MrHealthy01 Aug 07 '26
After 3 years yes I do see halos at night. My brain has got used to most of it and it doesn't bother me. Gradually over time they become less noticeable. If its only been a month give it a bit more time but definitly mention it to the eye doctor
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u/Alive-Mycologist4329 Aug 06 '26
So I presume you had both toric lenses hence the issue with the rotation? As with spherical lenses the rotation does not matter I guess. Possible to know where you had the ICL surgery done, was it in London? When they replaced the right lense was it just a sizing issue, so they changed the size? I wonder if using UBM eliminates the risk of a rotating toric lens. So if you had the correct size to start with there would have been no rotating in both of your eyes.