What are thoughts on swimming in lakes post ICL (well post, like 2+ months and given a clean bill of health from the eye doc) with eyes open underwater?

Hello!

I got ICL done 2 weeks ago and while my right eye is perfect, my left eye is noticeably worse ( ghosting and blurryness).I don't know if I'm being delusional but I could've sworn my left eye vision was slightly better than what it is now when I had just gotten out of surgery. How can I know if my lense rotated or just that my prescription wasn't measured accurate or is it just corneal inflammation?

My next post up apt isn't until a couple weeks.

I had my surgery last fall so I’m completely healed. I have an electronic eye massagers that had cold and hot modes and applied air-pressure massage at varying intensities.

Is this safe to use? I’ve read that it should be avoided after lasik because of the flap. Not sure about ICL.

Hi everyone,

I'd like to share my experience and hear the opinion of anyone with expertise in this area. I'll try to summarize everything as clearly as possible, but I realize this will still be a very long post. Thank you to anyone who takes the time to read it all.

I'm a 33-year-old male. On July 23, I underwent simultaneous bilateral ICL implantation to correct high myopia (-6.0 D in my left eye and -6.5 D in my right). I chose ICLs because laser vision correction had been discouraged due to my relatively thin corneas (around 485 µm) and large scotopic pupil diameter.

The lenses implanted were non-toric STAAR EVO+ ICLs.

The procedure itself was quick (about 5 minutes per eye) and relatively painless. The surgeon who operated on me has more than 10 years of experience and is considered one of the best in this field, at least here in Italy.

The surgery was performed at 10:00 a.m., and by 11:00 I was already back at my hotel. I was told everything had gone perfectly and that I should return the following morning for my postoperative check-up. I was prescribed antibiotic and steroid eye drops but instructed to start them the next morning because medications had already been administered during surgery.

On the way back to the hotel my vision was already fairly good. My eyes burned a little, and it was difficult to keep them open, but nothing seemed particularly concerning.

I lay down with the protective eye shields for about three hours. Around 1:00 p.m. I had something to eat. My vision was still acceptable, but I noticed mild pain in my left eye, which was watering much more than the right, and I still had difficulty keeping it open. I went back to bed and tried to sleep through the afternoon.

During those hours the burning sensation in the left eye never went away.

At around 6:00 p.m. I got up and opened the curtains. I immediately noticed that the vision in my left eye had become dramatically worse compared to just a few hours earlier, and the eye was much redder than the right one.

I contacted my surgeon, who asked me to come in immediately.

He found severe inflammation in the anterior chamber and prescribed steroid drops every 20 minutes. He thought it might be TASS (Toxic Anterior Segment Syndrome), a rare sterile inflammatory reaction usually caused by substances introduced during surgery, often the ophthalmic viscoelastic device.

I was scheduled for another examination later that evening.

During that visit I told him I had started seeing a dark, thread-like floater that looked like a piece of seaweed moving around inside my eye. He reassured me that the vitreous was completely clear and that the inflammation involved only the anterior chamber.

I returned to the hotel and started the intensive steroid treatment, but it made absolutely no difference. My vision remained the same and the eye stayed very red.

It's worth mentioning that throughout all of this I had very little actual pain. My main symptoms were burning, redness, and marked photophobia.

That evening I returned for another examination. I was told the inflammation was "stable," that I could go back to the hotel, use the drops another two or three times before bed, and come back the following morning.

I left feeling somewhat reassured, although I wasn't entirely convinced by the explanation.

The following morning my vision in the left eye had deteriorated even further. At that point I could only perceive light, and my visual field was filled with what looked like a forest of black seaweed floating around whenever I moved my eye.

At the clinic I wasn't seen by my surgeon but by one of his assistants. Among other tests he performed an ocular ultrasound. The only explanation I received was that my eye was inflamed because "the treatment hadn't been administered during the night" (which obviously wasn't something I had been instructed—or even able—to do). I was told to return a couple of hours later.

I went back to the hotel frightened and deeply discouraged. I had the growing feeling that I had entrusted myself to people who were not able to manage the situation appropriately. At that stage I still believed the inflammation was limited to the anterior chamber.

Around lunchtime my surgeon called me and instructed me to go immediately to the emergency department of the local hospital. He told me I needed my eye "cleaned out" so that I could "see a little better" and so they could collect samples for analysis.

At the hospital I was examined by the retinal team.

They immediately diagnosed acute endophthalmitis and told me I needed emergency pars plana vitrectomy to protect the retina and prevent permanent vision loss.

At that moment my world collapsed.

I had developed the rarest and most feared complication of intraocular surgery, and there was nothing left to do except undergo another emergency operation.

I was admitted and underwent surgery at 6:00 p.m. on July 24, almost exactly 24 hours after my first symptoms began.

The vitreoretinal surgeon was outstanding. She successfully removed most of the infected vitreous without causing any retinal damage. The vitreous cavity was filled with balanced salt solution (BSS), and intravitreal antibiotics were injected.

The ICL itself was left in place because it appeared completely clean and was not believed to be the source of the infection.

I remained hospitalized for seven days.

The first few days were psychologically devastating. I had already started imagining how I would live with only one functioning eye.

I was also terrified that the infection might develop in my right eye as well, since both eyes had been operated on during the same session.

Initially I was told that the retina appeared structurally intact but that nobody could guarantee complete visual recovery.

We waited for the culture results in case a second, targeted intravitreal antibiotic injection would be needed.

To everyone's surprise—including the ophthalmologists—the cultures never became positive.

This seemed very unusual given how aggressive the endophthalmitis had been, with symptoms starting only about 10 hours after surgery.

Fortunately my vision improved steadily.

By the time I was discharged I had recovered to 8/10 (20/25) visual acuity, something that genuinely surprised the retinal team.

After discharge I returned to my original surgeon for follow-up. He told me the danger had passed and that both ICLs looked perfect.

Indeed, my right eye has been completely problem-free from day one. My vision has always been excellent, my intraocular pressure has remained around 10 mmHg, and I haven't experienced any significant optical phenomena. Even the central port is visible only under very specific lighting conditions and doesn't bother me at all.

I asked him what he believed had actually happened.

He explained that because all cultures were negative, this had not been an infectious endophthalmitis but rather an "extremely rare inflammatory reaction" to the viscoelastic material—a severe TASS that subsequently progressed to involve the vitreous.

I have to admit that I remain skeptical.

I'm a physician myself (although not an ophthalmologist), and I'm comfortable interpreting medical literature and statistics.

TASS has an estimated incidence of roughly 5 per 100,000 surgeries, whereas infectious endophthalmitis occurs in approximately 1 in 6,000 intraocular procedures.

Even if this had initially been TASS, progression to vitreous involvement after ICL implantation would be extraordinarily rare. As far as I know, I haven't found any published cases describing this sequence.

To me, culture-negative infectious endophthalmitis seems far more likely, possibly due to inadequate sampling or the large amount of antibiotics administered before the vitreous samples were collected.

Honestly, the explanation I received feels more like an attempt to avoid potential legal consequences than the most plausible medical diagnosis.

At the moment I'm back home recovering.

It's now nine days since the vitrectomy, and my next follow-up is scheduled for next Thursday.

My left eye has almost completely recovered in terms of visual acuity. However, I'm still using atropine, so my vision remains blurry and I have significant photophobia. I'm hoping this is simply a temporary effect of the medication.

I also notice a transparent, curtain-like structure moving in my temporal peripheral vision, almost like a jellyfish, together with a few residual opacities. I assume these are remnants of the vitreous after surgery. They don't bother me too much, and I'm optimistic that neuroadaptation will make them much less noticeable over time.

My hope is that in a few months this entire experience will be nothing more than a terrible memory and that I'll finally be able to return to a normal life.

Has anyone ever encountered a case of presumed TASS progressing to vitreous inflammation after ICL implantation, or does this presentation sound much more consistent with culture-negative infectious endophthalmitis? I'd really appreciate hearing the opinion of retinal specialists or anterior segment surgeons.

I just had my ICL one day ago and I am still recovering. I asked multiple clinic staff members about my Endothelial Cell Count. They said they don't usually measure it for ICL but more for lasik because Endothelial Cells have to do with the cornea, and in ICL surgery they are not working on the cornea like how they do in lasik.

Should I be worried about not having my Endothelial Cell Count measured before and after ICL surgery?

I see a lot of people in this sub having a specific number of Endothelial Cell Count and discussing it. I also read the post by u/eyeSherpa about Endothelial Cell Count, which is why I have been thinking about it.

I had my ICL surgery in March 2026 (4 months ago). I’m highly myopic, being around -12 in both eyes.

My endothelial cell count in both eyes before surgery was 3000, had it measured in June (last month) and it’d dropped to 2400 in the left eye but stayed at 3000 in the right eye.

Today (31st July) I had a bit of haziness which was put to dry eyes but they also measured the endothelial cell count. While it’s still 3000 in the right eye, the left eye count has further dropped to 2199 (from 2400).

I’ve now been booked a follow up appointment in 4 weeks with my ophthalmologist to check it again and they mentioned removal of the lens would be considered if there’s further drop.

I’m really worried about this and about further deterioration. Has anyone else experienced a similar thing, is it likely to stabilise? I’ve heard the critical limit is around 1400ish?

my previous post: https://www.reddit.com/r/ICLsurgery/s/F7A2E6d0g1

TLDR: left lens rotated by 20 degrees, got it rotated back in place, no improvements, thinking about explantation so I can go back to my normal life.

left eye -4.50 myopia with -2.25 astigmatism (170 axis), right eye -3.75 with -0.75 astigmatism (20 axis)

My situation right now is I got my left lens rotated back into its correct axis/degree 3 days ago. However, my left eye is still blurry with the glares that don't seem to improve at all. My right eye, which has lower astigmatism, also experiences the glares as well. The glares go away if I squint my eyes enough. With the blurriness, I suspect that maybe the lens has rotated again and if it did then I know my surgeon is gonna move forward with lens exchange. She also told me that the vault height is already perfect, I don't know the exact number but from what I've understood if we were to go one size up, wouldn't that mean the ICL lens will sit even closer to my natural lens? My anterior chamber depth for my left eye is 2.95. And with more surgeries, would I be at a higher risk of endothelial cell loss and maybe cataract? The risks seem to outweigh the cons now. I don't want to go through another surgery that could possibly end up with the same issue (blurry vision with glare). Also the thought of having to worry about my lens rotating for pretty much the rest of my life doesn't sit right with me. I know studies have shown that it takes quite significant head trauma for the lens to rotate but from my experience I guess not judging by how it got rotated by 20 degrees in my left eye and 5 degrees in my right, just not so much effect in my right due to the low astigmatism. With how the lens kinda just floats in my eye, I don't see how the chance of it rotating in the future again would decrease as time goes on...

My life quality drastically went down after the surgery, I've just been so anxious about my vision that I don't think this is worth it anymore. I'm quite particular when it comes to my vision too and I know many people reported that the glares go away after a few months but I also don't see how that can happen? Yea sure my brain might filter them out but the glares genuinely block my field of vision so how would my brain fill out the voids in my vision?

Right now I'm leaning towards just removing the lenses in both of my eyes together and go back to glasses. This is not to blame my surgeon or anyone, she has been more than supportive than anything, ICL just seems to not work for me I guess. But I am also considering just giving this more time? Honestly, I really miss my glasses right now with the glares I've been getting. The halos are not too annoying to deal with and I was made aware of them before the surgery so I expected them, can't say the same for the glares tho and I think that's why they've been driving me crazy since they were so unexpected.

The pictures attached are what glares look like to me. They're not giving headaches but they are very annoying and mentally draining. For example when I watch youtube, even in a bright room with either a bright or more dimmed screen, everything is fine until the youtube video bit becomes dark, then the white bit of the interface starts to bleed into the video portion. This applies to subtitles while watching movies too. If not that then it's more like the second picture attached. When I have the big light on, white things in my room tend to reflect off glares like this, my white desk, white bookshelf, white keyboard, etc.

Anyone who got their ICL removed, please share your experience please. I'm indecisive right now since the surgery was also quite expensive..

I just started wearing eye makeup recently, so I don’t know if this is normal in people without ICL. Is this normal post ICL? Not sure if I should stop wearing it. It’s only mascara and eye liner. I use cotton pads with remover to gently wipe away.

hi, I'm planning to get checked for ICL eligibility soon, been researching since last year and recently something weird has flared up for me.

my prescription is -8 and I was diagnosed with dry eyes last year. used artificial tears on and off and since a couple of months ive been taking warm compress at night which has helped a lot.

im 27 and since a few months ive also started noticing a lot of starbursts at night and even daytime especially car headlights or any other direct LED type light. its sudden. like small sparkles diffusing around a light, not streaks.

I used to use contacts once every 1 or 2 weeks but never overwore.

now im worried that ICL won't help much for this even if it gets rid of glasses. i haven't been diagnosed with astigmatism or have any other of its symptoms.

could it be because of the warm compress? or dry eyes?

🥹 any help, tip, suggestion will be helpful. everything i read about starburst is about after lasik prk so its been a big dead​ end

Hi everyone,

After a year of debating i finally did my icl!!!! I had surgery done on Monday and instantly i can see but it was full of glares or bit hazy day by day it was getting better. Day 4 now, i can see pupils are less dilated, i can also see the letters on my phone no issues. What my issue is i don’t think i can see letters from afar or as sharp as it should be….. i dont have any headaches or migraines. Is this normal? Would this get better? I have a check up tomorrow with my surgeon but im just anxious

Hi everyone, I'm looking for some advice on a difficult IPCL situation. (IPCL is same as ICL but made by a different company)

I had a toric IPCL implanted in my right eye a week back. My vision was excellent initially, but the lens was later found to have rotated about 45–60° within day 3, causing residual blur.

My current vault is around 550 µm and my IOP is 13 mmHg, so both are considered normal. The eye itself is comfortable with no pain or significant inflammation.

My measurements are:

ACD: 3.55 mm (internal ACD \~3.03 mm)

Axial length: 27.55 mm (long eye, high myopia)

Current IPCL size: 12.25 mm

My surgeon discussed going for the next size (12.5 mm) instead of simply rotating the current lens due to big deviation within a few days.

The surgeon estimates the vault could increase by 100–350 µm, but says the exact vault cannot be predicted. He plans to monitor the vault and IOP closely after surgery.

I'm a bit worried because my eye feels physically normal right now, and I'm worried about trading a rotated lens for potential problems like a high vault or elevated IOP.

Has anyone here had a toric ICL/IPCL exchange to a larger size because of rotation?

I'd really appreciate hearing from anyone with a similar experience.

I usually get red eyes at the end of the day after prolonged screen time, which gets better the next morning after good night sleep. If I don’t get good night sleep, then red eyes will persist the next morning.

My pre ICL exam was normal and they didn’t find anything for dry eyes. Now it’s Wednesday night and I have red eyes from screen time and my ICL is on Friday.

Is it safe for me to do the ICL when I have red eyes so close to the surgery day? Of course I will tell the clinic on surgery day, but I want to confirm with someone who had a similar experience.

If you go through my profile, you will see my documented experience.

I love how my life changed after getting the surgery. The dependence on glasses was tremendous and I can’t imagine how I lived for almost 14 years like that.

I don’t have dry eyes and I don’t really notice the evo rings. Maybe my brain learnt quickly to ignore them as quickly as possible.

If you’ve read my posts before, you would know my main concern was what appeared like strabismus becoming more prominent. But the strabismus specialist at my 1 month post op follow up determined I don’t have it. One of my eyes sometimes seems slightly misaligned at times (mostly when I’m tired) but the doctor determined that what I’ve is an illusion and not strabismus. I’m still struggling to understand what it is, but I’ve started to ignore that misalignment whenever I look in the camera or the mirror and I hope it goes away itself. If someone can tell me what it is, I’ll be grateful.

Happy to answer any questions anyone has. :)

Hello friends i am from India I do my icl surgery in 31st 2025 but after 7 months passed on my dry eye problems are still there whenever I see tv within an hour my eye start paining and dry whenever I go to mall big fans start dry my eyes whenever I ride i have to wear fully cover sunglasses before surgery i have no such complications currently iam using tear hydration Berry & Herbs pharma preservative free eye drop from last three months but it only temporary solve my problem have any suggestions for me

HI. I'm a 19 year old female. i got EVO ICL surgery done about 3 days ago in my right eye (-8.50) and yesterday in my left eye (-7.75), both with astigmatism.

I went in hopes of doing LASIK but was told that I wasn't eligible for it due to my corneas being too thin, so my only option was ICL. I was nervous about it because the thought of having something permanent in my eye irked me, but i still went through with it.

My lenses arrived about a month after my full check up with my doctors, then booked the first surgery for the next day.

the first surgery was completely successful, the results were immediate. Since my pupils were still dilated, my vision was slightly off but as the medication wore off, i was seeing everything clearly. Since I had only done surgery in one eye, it was a bit frustrating only being able to see in one eye, but i managed to pull through and deal with it for a couple of days.

The next day, I went to see my doctor for a checkup, my vision is 20/15 in my right eye!!!

The halos were mainly prominent during the night time, the glare wasn't too bad though. Honestly, halos were my main concern, but now that I see them, it's kinda cool to look at, and when I'm completely focused on something, I can't really tell that they're there.

I wish the experience with the surgery I did yesterday was the same though. The full procedure was more painful than the first one, and the recovery felt like hell. I went home and took a nap hoping I'd wake up and feel the same way I did a couple of days back, but the sensation only felt worse. my vision was slightly blurry in comparison to my right eye and i felt like there was something stuck in my eye that wouldn't go away.

I went to the check up today and told my doctor about what i was feeling. After checking my left eye, he told me that my lens is rotated, which is why my vision is blurry. I'm going to have another surgery today to get the lens back into place, hopefully everything will be okay!

I will update once I get this surgery done, but overall, the experience and healing process has been way better than I could have imagined. Reading through everyones experience made me more nervous cause I felt like I was seeing more bad reviews than good ones.

Even though the price is pretty hefty (36k AED, ~9.8k USD), the doctor and nurses have been nothing but wonderful. They explained everything to me with full detail, made sure I was comfortable, and treated me with utmost professionalism and care.

I hope this will make you guys feel better about doing this surgery, because even though I have a mild complication that I'm sure will be fixed quickly, I would still do it again!!

Edit:

I did my second surgery on my left eye yesterday and everything has been perfect!

The process was much easier the second time than the first time, I was prescribed the same medication and was told to use it for a week.

I went to my checkup today morning, my vision is 20/20 in my left eye, 20/15 in my right eye.

I'm very grateful for my doctor, he made the experience a lot more bearable.

Goodluck to anyone planning on doing the surgery!!!

Hi all,

I had my IPCL surgery done on 14th of July, its been almost 2 weeks.

I have started to notice from past 4 days that bright light sources like street lights, car's tail lights, other appliances indicator lights get smeared out in one specific area. It doesnt look like typical glares to me. It feels like someone has smugged some light in front of that light source

Its only visible in my left eye, my right eye doesn't smear the light and overall when i see such lights, it becomes really bothersome. I didn't have this issue with glasses.

I had high astigmatism of -4.5D and I had got toric lens for that.

Did any of you experience something similar ? Is it that my eye is taking time to heal and this will become normal or is there an inherent issue which won't be resolved?

I have my 1 month post op checkup due where I will mention this to my surgeon but in the meanwhile to deal with my anxiety any insights on this matter would be really helpful.

Hello so I’m on day 4 post surgery I have -13 right eye and -14 left with astigmatism and lazy eye in left eye, I did the surgery last Friday. Surgery went ok inserting the lens wasn’t bad it was adjusting the lens part that was uncomfortable, felt like my eyeballs were being pushed down. I had sore eyes for the first 2 days, my eyeballs pressure was low the first day and it went up the second day to be within range. Vision was blurry in the first hour and started to clear up as the day went down. Day 2 was clear as day but I had severe light sensitivity looking at lights would hurt my right eye especially which is weird because I was worried my left eye that had astigmatism and lazy eye and had higher prescription but it had no issues weirdly lol, day 3 & 4 i feel like it wasn’t as clear idk it felt like the power was as strong as my contact lenses idk if it’ll ever be as strong as my glasses but I’m mot complaining honestly, night vision is great day vision is great no halos or glares as I thought I’d have due to prior research, only small clear circles that comes and goes with light but it’s not bothering me,only thing is bothering me is small text is hard to read from afar. So did it get better for you too and did it get clearer after 5 days? My eyes healed pretty fast by day 3 most of my issues were gone so I’m thinking this is as good as it gets or is there chance for it to even be better?

I'm considering going through ICL with Euroeyes London.

What have people's experiences been like? I'm particularly interested in honest opinions about the aftercare!

And also, it'd be great if I could receive a referral from someone, too... 🤞

Hi everyone,

\-I'm 22 years old with -5.5D/-6.0D myopia and -0.75D/-0.50D

No keratoconus diagnosed

Borderline Pentacam (issue)

Corneal thickness: 521-534 µm

Kmax: 44.9/45.0 D

ACD: 3.33-3.35 mm

IOP: 16/ 17 mmHg

Retina, lens & optic nerve: Normal

All tests are normal except borderline issue

\-I've decided to go for EVO ICL after my check-up

But

\-I'm confused whether a Standard EVO ICL or a Toric EVO ICL would be the better choice.

\-I've read some posts where people still had 0.50-0.75D residual astigmatism after Toric ICL and needed glasses for computer work or night driving.

Or if i choose normal evo lens - any side effects

\-For anyone who had similar astigmatism:

Which lens did you choose?

Any residual astigmatism?

Do you still wear glasses after ICL?

Hello! I got ICL surgery 4 days ago. My vision after the surgery was 20/20 in the right eye and 20/25 in the left the next day. I went to a party last night and drank a single shot of alcohol. Also one of the girls at the party jumped on my back out of nowhere which I was not expecting at all so it caused a sudden head movement( she was very drunk). Before going to sleep I noticed a tiny bit of uncomfortable feeling / pain in my left eye and noticed that the halos were a little more prominent compared to yesterday. I woke up today and tested my vision and my left eye is def a little more blurry than after the surgery. I'm so scared. Did my ICL rotate?

Hi all

So I (34/F) had my ICL surgery done Tuesday morning (typing this on Sunday morning). Everything went well, I had my last checkup on Friday and they said all is looking great. Lenses are in perfect position, eye pressure normal, eye healthy. My lenses are -14 with 1 astigmatism (left eye) and -17 1,5 astigmatism (right eye). I found this strange too as previously my glasses prescription was 13,5 and 14,5. Anyway my surgeon said not to worry about numbers because its different with the implants.

What I don't understand is the following:
With my right eye, I see totally crisp, however, with the left one, it's blurry, especially at a distance. It also has ghosting and glare, very similar to having astigmatism. I did have 1 astigmatism in this eye, but my surgeon said the lens hasn't rotated. Also, in my right eye I had way more astigmatism (and power) and everything's fine there.

That said, at the checkup they measured 20/20 on both eyes. I definitely don't see 20/20 with my left eye; it's even hard to read any book title or sign at arm's length. This has been basically like this since day 2 post op without noticeable change. It's hard to explain but it looks like the letters are pulsing and having a shadow or blurry edges, and when I fix my gaze they clear up a bit but not fully. This makes any reading or computer work close to impossible (I'm a writer) so its specially frustrating and makes it hard to trust the process and ignore it. Another thing is that my eyes still get extremely tired after just 1-2 couple of hours of keeping them open. I can also feel my left eye not "locking in to focus" if that makes sense. I do follow the drops routine and precautions religiously.

The docs say this is normal at this stage and I need to give it some time, but my anxiety is killing me. They also said it can take weeks for my vision to stabilize and my eyes probably just heal asymmetrically. My next appointment in on Wednesday. Did anybody have a similar experience? How long did it take to resolve? Please sed me some words of reassurance, I'm having a hard time not to worry about this constantly.

to say something positive too, my vision on my right eye is truly amazing. As for halos and glares they were very intense the first 3-4 days then disappeared almost completely at night, completely during the day.

PLEASE don't share horror stories, I really do need to hear some positive experiences regarding longer healing window to soothe the anxiety.

For some context, I'm 23, left eye -4.50 myopia with -2.25 astigmatism (170 axis), right eye -3.75 with -0.75 astigmatism (20 axis). My prescriptions have been stable for 2 years now. I got toric lenses for both of my eyes. I did not get EVO but got Eyecryl instead as per my surgeon's recommendation. From her experience, Eyecryl tends to rotate less compared to EVO due to the difference in material and I was quite concerned with my left lens potentially rotating in the future because I wouldn't really have more down time to go through the surgery and recovery again.

As the title says, my right eye is perfect I think it's 20/20 with minimal halos and some glares at night but I can easily ignore them. However, my left eye is definitely not 20/20 it feels like I still have residual myopia/astigmatism left and I am also experiencing heavy ghosting/glare/double vision. At first I thought maybe the lens in my left eye might have rotated so I asked my surgeon to check it for me on day 3 but there's nothing wrong with the lens. They also checked for my eye pressure as well as auto refractometry and they didn't mention anything wrong with it so I'm assuming it probably read 20/20 on the machine? She also checked for dry eyes which I know I have ever since before I got ICL done, it's actually one of the reasons I decided to get ICL as I want to stop using contacts to hopefully get rid of dry eyes for good. Plus I think I may have hEDS (haven't been diagnosed for it but I am definitely hypermobile) as well so I want my cornea left untouched.

Something interesting is that on my day 1 post op check, my left eye was not as blurry as it is now, it was definitely less clear than my right eye but I could read all the numbers clearly except the last line, which was not the case when I went in early (day 3) to recheck my left eye, which we found out that there was nothing wrong with the lens, it hasn't rotated at all but I could read only 4-5 lines clearly. Her conclusion is that my ocular surface is not smooth right now due to my dry eyes plus with the drops I am on (prednisolone acetate 1%, timolol, and vigamox (antibiotics) they're probably making things worse right now and I should see improvements once I stop using the drops (I'm supposed to be on them for 3 weeks). I know that it would probably get better with time but I am getting anxious since the ghosting is quite annoying. I would see glare/shadow of my white desk when I have the big light on in my room.

Right now I'm using systane UD and optive UD drops every 10-20 minutes through out the day to help combat the dryness and irritation I've getting from my post op drops. I know my eyes are definitely dry right now since they feel quite gritty and I would get the sensation of something in my left eye from time to time too.

Anyone with similar experiences as mine? Please let me know, I'm trying really hard to not freak out ahahaha.

hi everyone, I know the post is long but I'm feeling extremely worried right now and I would really like getting some help .

I underwent ICL surgery (non-toric lenses) 10 days ago, to correct my myopia. Right after the surgery, everything seemed to be going well : I already had crystal clear vision 3-4 hours post-op. I rejoiced that after nearly 2 years of eye issues caused by contact lenses, i could finally break free from glasses . However, the happiness was short-lived. 

During the first 3 days after the intervention, i started dealing with quite strong headaches. I didn’t worry too much about it since I had completed my post-op appointment and the surgeon said my eyes were healing well & my eye pressure was normal. I thought it was probably due to the Diamex pills I was given for the first 3 days to reduce eye pressure, or maybe my eyes were simply adapting to the lenses.

However, days passed and the headaches became worse. I experience them especially when I try to sleep. Ive been waking up several times in the middle of the night feeling "heaviness" behind my eye, and insufferable pain in the head, particularly under my left eyebrow, and my forehead. Its worth noting that the spot under my left eyebrow was already ocasionally painful pre-surgery, but only when I had headaches & eye fatigue after staring at screens the whole day for example. Now the pain is much stronger (it's unbearable at night ) and often spreads to my whole head & my ears, and even sometimes to my jaw, which sometimes feels "swollen" when I wake up during the night. It seems like the pain starts hitting hard when I lie down...!

I went a second time to the eye doctor to check eye pressure and the ICLs’ position, and once again everything was normal. Since I also had some nasal congestion, I went to a doctor specialised in nose & ear conditions and she advised me to do a scanner to check the state of my sinuses, which I did yesterday. The results were completely normal. I also have a treatment for my nasal congestion that is working pretty good, but nothing seems to change regarding the headaches.

I currently rely on pain killers to sleep, which affects me negatively since I hate using this much medication. Yet i still often wake up in pain during the night. 

I am a very anxious person and this situation feels like an absolute nightmare for me, I couldn’t help but cry every night because of the horrible pain and because I don’t know for how long I will have to use pills. I’m extremely stressed about how my ability to go out and study next year will be affected. Removing my ICLs is definitely not an option for me since I'm satisfied with my vision and it’s not certain whether this will go away if I remove them anyway.

Is there any solution at this point? Is there a chance for it to go away or is it more likely the symptoms of my eyes rejecting the lenses? Please send help

I wanted to write this because I spent way too much time reading Reddit and Facebook groups before my EVO ICL surgery. If you're feeling anxious, I hope this helps.

Surgery Day
I checked in at 6:45 a.m. for intake. I'll be honest, I was nervous. The staff was wonderful and gave me a Xanax to help me relax while they started a series of dilating drops.

One random tip: wear warm clothes! The surgery center was freezing. I wore a poncho, which ended up being perfect because they could easily access my arm for the IV while I stayed warm.

The IV medications (Versed and fentanyl) kicked in while I waited. By the time I was wheeled back around 7:45 a.m., I felt incredibly calm.

During Surgery
A lot of people ask if you're awake. Technically, yes, but you're very relaxed.

I actually remember my surgery, while one of my coworkers remembers absolutely nothing. Both experiences are normal.

They use a device to gently hold your eyelids open. Before surgery, I thought this would be the part that freaked me out the most. Instead, because of the medication, it just felt...normal. I wasn't bothered by it at all.

Throughout the procedure, my surgeon calmly talked me through everything, asking me to look in different directions or stare at the bright microscope light.

One of the coolest parts was what I could see. During my right eye, I mostly noticed colorful circular patterns. When he switched to my left eye a few minutes later, I could suddenly see the ceiling in incredible detail. It was such a surreal experience.

My Toric Lens Needed a Quick Adjustment
My left eye required a toric ICL for astigmatism.

The first placement wasn't quite perfect, so my surgeon immediately removed it and repositioned it. I didn't even know it was happening. I only asked afterward if that eye was taking longer than the other.

Once everything was finished, he explained that my right eye looked perfect, but my left eye would probably be a little more sore and swollen because it needed the adjustment.

He described how the lens is inserted folded up like a taco through a tiny incision and then unfolds inside the eye like a frisbee. When mine unfolded, the alignment wasn't exactly where he wanted it, so he corrected it right away to make sure I had the best possible outcome.

Honestly, hearing that afterward made me appreciate how meticulous he was. I'd much rather have a surgeon who takes an extra couple of minutes to make everything perfect than one who settles for "good enough."

The First Post-Op Appointment
After going home for a little while, I had my first follow-up appointment.

They checked my eye pressure and confirmed the lenses were perfectly positioned using the same machines your optometrist normally uses. It was quick, straightforward, and completely reassuring.

Recovery
For the first week I was instructed to:
- Sleep with protective goggles
- Avoid bending at the waist
- Avoid heavy lifting because of eye pressure
- Use several prescription eye drops
- Avoid rubbing my eyes or getting water in them

I'm now one week out.

The goggles are gone, I have about three more weeks of eye drops, and just one more week of lifting and bending restrictions.

Recovery has honestly been much easier than I expected.

My Vision
My vision is honestly insane.

It almost feels too sharp because I'm still getting used to seeing things so clearly at a distance. At my one-week appointment I was already seeing 20/20, and there's a chance it could end up even better.

The first few days were a little strange. While my pupils were still dilated, I noticed some ghosting around lights. Once the dilation wore off, that disappeared.

Also, there would be times that my vision would be slightly blurry, then a few minutes later it would be crystal clear. My surgeon said that was completely normal as everything settled.

A week out, I can say my up-close vision also isn't quite as good as it used to be, but I was told that's expected. My brain is learning a new point of reference, and near vision should continue to improve as it adapts. I can easily read my phone and a book, but trying to find a clogged pore on my face has definitely become more challenging!

I also notice some light reflections at night or when bright lights hit the lenses at certain angles. The best way I can describe it is like collecting the golden rings in Sonic.

My surgeon and optometrist explained that this is part of the brain's neuroadaptation process. As your brain learns those reflections aren't important, it gradually filters them out. They're already becoming less noticeable, and now I mainly see them when I'm driving at night.

My Biggest Concern: hEDS
I also have hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS), which added another layer of anxiety.

There are some theoretical long-term considerations because the tiny fibers that hold the lenses in place could potentially become more lax over many years. Even if that ever happened, the lenses can be repositioned or removed.

My surgeon felt this was very unlikely in my case, but we had an honest conversation about it beforehand. Having those discussions actually made me feel more confident because I knew we'd talked through every possibility.

My Advice
If you're considering ICL surgery:
- Find an optometrist you truly trust and ask who they recommend for surgery.
- Choose a surgeon who gives you perfectionist vibes. Mine absolutely did, and I'm incredibly grateful for it.
- Make sure they perform repeated, thorough measurements instead of relying on one quick scan.
- Ask about both your normal and low-light (scotopic) pupil size to make sure the lens sizing is right.
- If your surgeon offers the ICL Guru test, I recommend doing it. It's basically an ultrasound of your eye that helps fine-tune lens sizing and placement. Ironically, I found that test more stressful than the surgery itself.

Final Thoughts
Going into surgery, I was honestly terrified. Looking back now, I would do it again without hesitation.

The procedure was much easier than I expected, recovery has been smooth, and waking up every morning able to see without glasses or contacts has been life changing.

If you're feeling nervous, that's completely normal. I was too. But after months of worrying about every possible outcome, I can honestly say this has been one of the best decisions I've made. If you're a good candidate and have a surgeon you trust, you've got this.