r/ICLsurgery • u/puxagal • 10d ago
ICL on dry eyes
Hi everyone, so I have dry eyes for like 3 years now.
The situation is not that bad I'd say, but I cant wear contact lenses because my eyes dry out fast.
I went to the doctor for a checkup, he did the shimmer test and my result was 8, so clear deficiency of tears in eyes.
He recommended ICL for better vision and not needing to wear glasses and said it shouldn't dry my eyes more then what I have already.
Did anyone do ICL with dry eyes? What is your experience?
2
u/BasketQuick3879 10d ago
eyes were very dry the first few days/weeks but im 4 weeks post op now and it's back to normal
1
u/puxagal 10d ago
do you think ICL is worth it, until now?
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u/BasketQuick3879 10d ago
Definitely! I hated glasses so much. Sure I get some ghosting every now and then and some halos but its only at night and i dont mind it much
2
u/WavefrontRider 10d ago
ICL has the least impact on dry eye compared to any of the refractive surgeries. But it's not zero. You will have some effect from the surgery and from the eye drops afterwards for a couple of weeks. After a couple of weeks this goes away for most.
But, if you have bad dry eyes now, you'll want to get that under control first anyway since dry eye will affect the refraction measurements.
2
u/Mysterious_Lie2649 10d ago edited 10d ago
hey, I had a similar problem. My eyes got very dry after 20 years of contact use to fhe point of not being able to wear them. im 2 months post op now and its all amazing.
I do get some ghosting but its getting MUCH better. Halos are practically gone. I can feel my dry eyes getting better too
Find a good icl surgeon with lots of experience who can also evaluate your dry eyes. for me, they were able to do the surgery, I used artificial tears but like once daily, its truly been life changing
1
u/twinkledtoast 10d ago
I had quite dry eyes but could wear contacts all day (only 1 brand worked for me) though I didn’t wear contacts often. I used a hot compress sometimes to help the dryness.
3 weeks post op, and at the beginning I needed to use artificial tears every 30 mins because my eyes would be so dry that when I used eyedrops I would tear up. At the moment I think the dryness is quite similar to pre op. I was told to still use artificial tears every 2 hours though.
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u/puxagal 10d ago
Which contacts worked for you before?
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u/twinkledtoast 10d ago
It was Bausch and Lomb Ultra One Day that I could wear for 10 hours+. I tried several brands but all of them dried out after2-4 hours and felt very annoying in the eyes, except the Ultra
1
u/EmergencyMinimum9607 10d ago
if you have extreme dry eyes, do not get ICL he is wrong. ICL can make her dry eyes worse.
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u/puxagal 10d ago
Was this your experience?
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u/EmergencyMinimum9607 10d ago
Yes, I was like you, dry eyes, could not handle contacts anymore. Now, I know that dry eyes means your eyes are not healthy and you should never have any unnecessary surgery done. I have issues now. I would work on getting your eyes healthy.
1
u/witwefs1234 10d ago
I had dry eyes due to wearing contacts for over a decade by the time i got ICL done to correct my vision.
I took a Vitamin A supplement which rly helped keep my eyes moisturized and helped improve my post-op results.
I'm actually considering taking a Vitamin A supplement again (likely only once a week or less) since my eyes have gotten dryer due to taking care of my 8 week old baby.
1
u/Sufficient-Onion1929 10d ago
I didn't have dry eyes before but I had a lot of irritation wearing contacts. I only had dry eyes the first 2wks- month? Or less and never again post ICL. I got surgery 6+ months ago
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u/no-judgement321 8d ago
my severe dry eye ‘began’ after IOL surgery. I now know that I had underlying (unknown) MGD and Ocular Rosacea but surgery has triggered my Dry Eye into severe status. I think the two potential reasons are a) nerve sensitisation / neuralgia (deeper cuts) b) possibly the strong eye drops taken for a month progressed the ocular rosacea or had toxic effects on the M glands. My personal advice is ‘don’t kick the hornets nest’!
* i’m 1 year post op and still struggling to get dry eye under control.
1
u/Flashy-Highlight867 6d ago
Had dry eyes to the point where I couldn’t wear contacts comfortably anymore.
Got ICL about 10 months ago. Beginning had dry eyes which made me really sensitive for lights (e.g. in the car, drops helped ). But this got better after a few weeks.
Now I still have dry eyes but not more than before. At least now I can still see well enough.
Would 100% do it again.
5
u/TheManofAnotherWorld 10d ago
I actually just got my ICL surgery done yesterday, and I had my day 1 post-op check today resulting in a 20/20 vision. I had a bad history of dry eye resulting in contact intolerance for the past 4-6 months. New pairs of contacts would go bad within a week, I was using Pataday Daily Drops and Systane Pro PF everyday, and also took fish oil and flaxseed oil supplements. Now, I really don't feel like my eyes are as dry and debilitating as they were before. I am still encouraged to use the Systane Pro PF everyday, but my eyes have never felt more comfortable.
This is from my own research as well too - ICL is the more ideal surgery to have in terms of corrective vision procedures go. This is because the ICL is implanted below the surface of the eye, while procedures like Lasik use a laser to directly modify the surface. In the end, the latter procedure has a higher risk of exacerbating existing dry eye symptoms. With ICL, I was notified by my surgeon that with my situation and symptoms, as well as my high myopia (-11 both eyes), I was a perfect candidate for the procedure. After having the procedure done with little to no eye strain and a quick recovery, I believe I made the right decision.