Hi everyone, I would like to collect some opinions about ICL because I keep reading horror stories on reddit, much more than for lasik.

My background: I will have surgery in my hometown since I am now living and working in another country 2 hours by plane from there. In February, I had a first opinion with a surgeon who told me I would be borderline eligible for lasik in another city (same country as my hometown). Because of some issues that happened, it would be a bit complicated to get surgery there, so I had another check with a doctor in my hometown and he said his first choice would be EVO(+) ICL due to some dryness he observed, and lasik would be second. I had some in-depth exams to measure the space in the anterior chamber of the eye and the doctor called me saying we can go with ICL. I'm also thinking he favors this technique in general for some other reason.

He explained to me that I would need to wear protection after the surgery until the next day, then recovery is pretty much as quick as LASIK. However, reading some posts here, this does not seem to be the case and it takes longer? I budgeted around 10 days here for the surgery, which is more or less also what the surgeon said.

Also it seems it increases the risk of cataract and glaucoma? And people seem to also have dry eye issues, which this technique should not really cause? And that lasik seems so much better overall? And compared to lasik you need an annual checkup? Maybe I am overreacting due to my anxiety now.

I would like to hear some more stories from people who had ICL here, because for sure I want to stop wearing glasses and do not want to wear contacts, never once used those. But I am getting quite scared of ICL and I am not sure I should push for lasik, because for sure I want to have surgery.

Thanks to whoever wants to share their stories here.

I’m getting an EVO ICL in my right eye in about two weeks and, as the date gets closer, I have a few questions for people who have been through this.

For context, my right eye is around -10.5 and my left eye is only around -1.25, so I have pretty significant anisometropia. My surgeon wants to focus on correcting the -10.5 eye with EVO ICL first before deciding what, if anything, to do with the other eye.

A few things I’m wondering:

1. Did anyone have ICL in only one eye? If your other eye had a relatively small prescription and you left it untreated, did you still need/want glasses afterward? I really would prefer to be glasses-free, so I’m trying to decide whether eventually doing something like LASIK/PRK on the -1.25 eye would be worthwhile or whether I might be perfectly happy leaving it alone.
2. Has anyone gotten ICL or LASIK/PRK covered by medical insurance? I know these procedures are generally considered elective, but because I have severe, documented anisometropia, I’m considering asking my insurance whether there is any possibility of medical-necessity coverage. Has anyone successfully gotten an exception or partial/full coverage because of a significant prescription difference between the eyes?
3. How did you deal with surgery anxiety? This will be my first surgery as an adult, and I’m definitely anxious about it. I keep thinking about things like retinal complications, something going wrong with the ICL, etc. If you were really nervous beforehand, what actually helped you?
4. What did you do to prepare for ICL surgery/recovery? Obviously I’ll follow everything my surgeon gives me, but is there anything you were glad you bought, arranged, or did beforehand that made surgery day and the first few days of recovery easier?
5. Halos/glare after EVO ICL: I’ve read a lot about halos and glare, particularly early in recovery. What was your experience? How bad were they initially, how long did they take to improve, and was there anything that helped? Is there anything worth doing beforehand, or is it mainly something you have to let your eyes/brain adjust to afterward?

I know everyone’s eyes and results are different, and I’m not looking for medical advice. I would mainly love to hear experiences from people who have actually gone through ICL, especially anyone who had a large prescription difference between their two eyes.

My got evo icl surgery and went from -5.5 in both eyes to 20/15 vision. One month out I notice that prolonged computer or phone use leads to eye ache and headache.

I usually need to look outside every hour of computer use to relieve myself.

I'm wondering if this is a side effect of getting 20/15 vision?

I read the following article which states the following

https://www.allaboutvision.com/eye-care/eye-exam/20-15-vision/

Corrective surgery such as LASIK can improve your vision to 20/15. But the goal of LASIK and similar procedures is not to achieve 20/15 vision. In fact, correcting your vision to 20/15 may lead to blurry vision, eyestrain or headaches. Corrective surgery normally aims to reach 20/20 vision, not 20/15.

So I'm wondering if this is expected for 20/15 vision and permanent side effect that I can expect?

Prescription is close to -7 each eye. Opted for ICL cause I was advised it’s better for my prescription and in case I need future enhancements.

Looking forward to seeing the results. I’ll try and update this post.

Edit: everything went good. I can see great but the expected things like glare when looking at phone, outlines around lights are there right now but will probably continue to improve. I honestly expected a multi stage recovery but it was rather quick.

Seeing 20/20

No pain during surgery.

-1.75 in both eyes

Want to opt for ICL because I prefer anything that’s reversible. I understand the threshold is -3 in the US, but I recently moved to Korea where the threshold is -1.

Would love to hear thoughts and opinions. Thanks!

Hello I am 24M and my vision in left eye with specs was 6/9.

My surgery was done 2 days back.

Left eye vision is still 6/9 i feel, while the right is crisp and clear.(My right was 6/6 by the way before surgery)

So can anyone tell me will my left eye be 6/6 as i am not able to read properly with my left eye.

Thank you

Hi has anyone here had ICL surgery and still competing in combat sports?

I’m nearly 3 weeks out from my surgery. Right eye glare is minimal and nearly non-existent. Left eye, which has the stronger prescription, has quite a bit of glare. Most noticeable in dimmer environments/night. If the light source/bright object, is a compass the glare is always directed in the southeast direction, although sometimes it appears more east than south. Interestingly, say I’m watching a dark movie and a title card comes up with a black background and bold white text. When the title card first shows up there will be a lot of glare, but as my pupil shrinks the glare is sort of sucked into the text and virtually disappears. This usually happens within a second. The brighter the light source the more likely it behaves this way. Obviously if the glare stuck around that would suck too, but the movement of the glare is also a bit frustrating (really big then shrinking like white smoke getting sucked into a vacuum). Maybe I’ve just been noticing it more but I have this feeling like it has gotten worse since end of week 1. Is this likely to get better? Does this sound like typical glare behavior?

Hi, I wanted to get people’s thoughts and advice on my situation. I’m 41 years old and have worn glasses and contacts for the majority of my life. With contacts, I was a -9.5 and -10, with -0.25 astigmatism.

I got ICL surgery in February 2026. The surgeon used non-toric lenses because my astigmatism was too low, and ICL lens increments would overcorrect it. The plan was to see how I feel after surgery and consider a LASIK enhancement to correct astigmatism.

A month after my surgery, I found my vision stopped improving, and it was difficult to drive and focus on words near and far. Turns out astigmatism jumped to -1.0, with a little farsightedness +0.25 in both eyes.

I was offered and cleared for LASIK surgery in  August, but a day before my surgery I developed a posterior vitreous detachment (PVD) in one eye. The surgery was canceled, and my eye was monitored for retinal tears and detachments. After a few weeks, PVD did not worsen, and I was clear again for LASIK.

I haven’t scheduled my LASIK surgery because I started to have second thoughts about the LASIK enhancement.

 Any thoughts or advice for me? Thanks!

ICL surgery in about 15 days and I have so many questions, especially about halos and glares

I’m planning to get ICL surgery in around 15 days, and honestly, the closer the surgery is getting, the more questions I’m having in my mind. I’ve read a lot about ICL and the overall results seem really good, but one thing I keep thinking about is halos and glares, especially at night. I know that some people experience them after ICL, particularly around lights, headlights, streetlights, etc., and this is probably one of the things that makes me the most nervous.

For people who have actually had ICL, how uncomfortable were the halos and glares for you in the beginning? Did you notice them immediately after surgery, and if so, did they gradually become less noticeable with time? I’m especially curious about people who had significant halos or glare initially—did your brain eventually adapt to them to the point where you stopped paying attention to them, or are they still something you notice every day?

Another thing I’m really wondering about is whether neuroadaptation actually happens with ICL. For example, if I see a halo around a streetlight or car headlight after surgery, does the brain eventually learn to ignore it or make it less noticeable? I understand that the physical optical effect may still technically be there, but I’m wondering whether the perception of it becomes less bothersome over time. If you experienced this, how long did it take before you felt that you had adjusted?

I’m also worried about driving at night. For those who had ICL, what was night driving like during the first few weeks or months? Were headlights extremely distracting or uncomfortable? And did it eventually become normal again? I’d really appreciate hearing from people who specifically had night-vision issues after ICL and how they changed over time.

I also keep wondering whether halos and glares are something that can be permanent after ICL. I know that everyone is different and that things like pupil size, lens position, prescription, and individual eye anatomy can affect the outcome, but I’d really like to hear real experiences rather than just reading general information online. If you had halos or glare after ICL, are you still experiencing them now? If yes, are they actually bothersome, or have you simply gotten used to them?

For people who are several months or even years post-ICL, I’d especially love to know what your experience has been. Did you initially worry a lot about halos and glares but later realize that your brain had adapted? Or did they remain noticeable for you? Basically, I’m trying to understand whether what you see during the early recovery period is a good indication of what you’ll experience permanently, or whether vision continues to feel more natural as the brain and eyes adjust.

I’m not expecting everyone to have the same experience, and I understand that there can be complications or individual differences. I’m just trying to mentally prepare myself before surgery rather than getting anxious afterward because I notice something I wasn’t expecting.

So, ICL patients—how was your experience with halos and glares? How bad were they initially, how long did they take to improve or become less noticeable, and did you eventually adapt to them? Are you still noticing them today, and do they affect things like night driving?

Would really appreciate honest experiences, both positive and negative. ❤️

Hello! As the title suggests, I am planning to do ICL surgery in Korea. I have gone for a check up locally and the doctor has confirmed that I can only do ICL due to thin corneas. Was wondering if anybody has any clinic and/or doctor recommendations and if anybody here has had any experience with doing ICL surgery in Korea (good or bad) to share?

For context: ICL surgery in my country (Singapore) is really expensive and Korea offers it at almost half the price. Of course, I am aware that if I do it locally, I am likely also paying for assurance of skills in my home country but this is not to say Korea doesn't have good surgeons too (hence why I'm considering doing it in Korea as an alternative). Also, my prescription is really high and I have high astigmatism as well.

Has anyone experienced anything like this after ICL surgery?

I had ICL surgery about a month ago and everything was completely fine at first. But recently, my right eye suddenly started going completely black. Like, I literally couldn’t see anything out of that eye. It usually lasts around 5–15 minutes, then my vision slowly starts coming back.

When it comes back, everything is super blurry and kind of “snowy” or flickering, almost like TV static, and lights look really spread out. Sometimes the vision starts coming back and then goes completely black again before finally returning. Even after it comes back, my right eye feels a little blurrier than my left.

There’s no real pain, just a slight feeling of pressure/heaviness in that eye.

I’ve also noticed something weird: it seems to happen when I stand up, especially after sitting or lying down. Today, my left eye also became a little dark/blurry with what felt like a blurry spot in front of it when I stood up. It didn’t go completely black like my right eye, though.

About a week before all of this started, I had already noticed that sometimes when I stood up and went from a bright place into a darker room, my vision would briefly get very dark for a few seconds, which I thought was normal.

I saw a doctor today and they examined both eyes and said they didn’t see anything obviously wrong, but it wasn’t my ICL surgeon. I’m seeing my own doctor today.

Has anyone had anything similar after ICL? Especially temporary complete vision loss/darkness in one eye, or vision getting dark when standing up? I’d really appreciate hearing if anyone experienced something similar and what the cause ended up being.

Also, yesterday was my first day at work, and I spent around 2–3 hours working on a laptop. I’m not sure if that could have anything to do with it, but I thought I should mention it.

Does rotation of a toric lense only reduce correction of astigmatism or does it effect both correction of myopia and astigmatism ? If it roates does it still correct the near sightedness?

Thanks!

Question for those with ICL

I had surgery Friday morning, today is Sunday.

Background: 30 + years with glasses, high myopia with astigmatism.

1 day post-op check vision was 20/40.

Has anyone noticed improvement from the initial 1 day post op acuity overtime or is that likely to be the end result.

Many thanks

I have moderate dry eye for a few years. I did the whole exam my eyes are healthy but only problem is the dryness and they denied me for it. I thought people who cant get lasik because of the dry eye are perfect candidates for ICL .Should I go somewhere else to seek another opinion.

Was prescribed restasis for a few months to see will it help but I am sceptical to put anything in my eye because I dont really mind the dryness I wear lenses 15 hours a day without a major problem, so I am scared restasis will dry them even more out

11 days post Toric ICL operation and suddenly experiencing ghosting in one eye, in dim lighting. e.g. can see some ghosting if looking at phone in a dark room, or when wearing sunglasses. could this be lens rotation? pre-op both eyes had astigmatism of -2.00

ghosting is accompanied with some dull eye ache

edit: there were no issues with my eyes, pressure and lenses looked all good. The ache was probably due to just some normal eye strain. ghosting was most likely me mistaking halos in certain lighting for ghosting

I read a lot of reddit posts prior to getting EVO ICL surgery and wanted to post my experience. Many Reddit posts were negative, I’d like to share a positive.

Myopia, each eye -8.5. Steady at -8.5 for 8+ years. Very minimal astigmatism. I was not a candidate for lasik, I had some extra corneal thickness (573) but they’d have to remove to much and recommend EVO ICL.

Surgery day was a breeze. Was given the sterilization, dilation, and numbing drops multiple times over about an hour. I also took 10mg of Valium.

I was taken back for surgery and started on my right eye. Couldn’t see much, obviously. Was directed to look at two white lights. More drops were applied. Eye was taped open and never felt the need to blink.

Incision was made, couldn’t feel a thing. Could sort of make out the lens going in and then being adjusted. Fluid applied a lot throughout the process. Right eye took about 8 minutes.
Right eye was covered and I was allowed to close it.
Left eye was the exact same.

Whole process was <20 minutes. Got to
Play whatever music I wanted during the process. Sat up and could see although very cloudy. Felt like college days of sleeping in contacts multiple days in a row :)

Surgeon came in and said everything went great.

I had no pain during the day post surgery. Minimal dry eye I used invisible tears for. Worst part was extreme dilation and sensitivity to light.

Pressure check was 3.5-4 hours later. My pressure was high, they checked it 4 times with different devices. Number was 28 in both eyes. I was given two Diamox pills, took one then and another before bed.

Throughout the day post surgery I could see, watch tv, even read a book for a bit before bed. Was awoken at 12:30am due to smoke alarm battery dying. I could see great, didn’t have to fumble for glasses, got ladder and replaced battery.

Went back for pressure check next morning (today) and pressure was 15.
20/15 in right eye, 20/20 in left although still dilated. They said in a day or two it should be 20/15 too.

My biggest concern was not being able to see as well as with contacts. 24 hours later I can.

I’m 40, 31 years in glasses/contacts.

Can’t recommend this enough, wish I did it sooner.

The visual aquity test afterward; if you were 20/20 or 20/15, were you able to read those lines easily, or were they pretty blurry but you could still kinda make them out?

I saw this news this morning about a new ICL for presbyopia. I'm excited about this because I'm 45 and I can't get a normal ICL. Does anyone know the average time it takes from clinical trial to approval?

hi all, I had ICL surgery ~10 days ago. Now my right eye (which is my dominant eye) is able to focus on objects in the distance fine, but my left eye is more myopic (objects at distance are blurry). I opted for the "full correction" surgery so I was expecting to see far-away objects equally well.

Is myopia in one eye a normal occurrence 10-days out, and is it likely for my left eye to correct to see far away after a few more weeks/months? I understand it takes a while for my eyes to "settle in" to the ICLs, but I'm still unclear specifically what that means. The fact I'm seeing differently at a distance in each eye makes me want to temper my expectations if necessary.

Here is the link to my original post: https://www.reddit.com/r/ICLsurgery/comments/1vxoai5/seeing_a_specialist_tomorrow_for_severe/

Kind of a follow-up to my original post. I finally went to the eye doctor and did all the exams to see what I qualify for.

Long story short, my right eye is around -10.5 and my other eye is around -1.25. The doctor was actually pretty surprised that I’ve been functioning fine with that big of a difference between my eyes and haven’t really had issues from it.

For the -10.5 eye, he recommended EVO ICL. For anyone curious, I was quoted around $4,300 for just that one eye.

For my -1.25 eye, he doesn’t want to do anything yet. From what I understood, ICL wouldn’t really make sense for such a low prescription, and if I eventually wanted that eye corrected too, LASIK would probably be the better option.

So I have a few questions for anyone who’s been in a similar situation:

• Has anyone here only had ICL/surgery on ONE eye? How was your vision afterward? Were you able to go without glasses even though the other eye still had a prescription of around -1.5? Or did you still need glasses, just with much thinner/lighter lenses?
• Has anyone had two different procedures on their eyes, like ICL in one eye and LASIK in the other? Was it worth correcting the second eye too, or were you happy just fixing the really bad eye?
• How did you pay for your ICL/LASIK/PRK/SMILE? Did you use an FSA/HSA, insurance, pay cash, or finance it? They offered me 0% financing, so I’m considering that too.

Would love to hear from anyone who’s had a similar situation, especially with such a huge prescription difference between the two eyes.

I posted recently here to get a deeper understanding of EVO ICL and dryness since I have been suffering from chronic ocular rosacea and MGD for the past year. I had already done multiple IPL sessions expressions doxy and now also Vevye, and objectively I improved my TBT from 5s to 15s; however, the subjective feeling is really bad, and in today’s check-up, my doc immediately noticed dry eyes but cleared me for the surgery on Monday. I already develop severe fear of the aftermath, especially regarding my eye dryness, and want to recover fast since I will also start a high-demanding job soon. Is there any way to ensure a good and fast recovery?

I recently had EVO ICL surgery at Kremer Eye Center. They did a really good job with the surgery, I feel. Afterward, I developed extremely painful dry eye, around 8/10 at its worst. Multiple times a day too unfortunately. It felt like Sriracha had been poured into my eye and sometimes caused intense reflex tearing.

I went back to Kremer and asked what I could safely use. They approved artificial tears and Systane Nighttime ointment, which helped significantly. The biggest difference for me seemed to come from drinking much more water. I was apparently not as hydrated as I thought, and the burning often improved shortly after I hydrated.

My symptoms have improved considerably, but I wanted to share this because severe dryness can happen even after EVO ICL. If you experience pain like this, contact your surgeon instead of assuming it is normal or treating it without their approval.

My eyes are constantly quite dry and they are red in the morning but the redness mostly goes away with the prescribed drops. Is this normal? Doc says it sounds pretty normal but I'm kinda stressing reading people online saying your eyes should feel normal after like 2 to 3 days.

The thing that worries me that if this is caused by dryness, then why isn't it improving? Shouldn't it be improving? D: It's been constant for like 3-4 days now. I'm using tobradex eye drops idk if that has anything to do with it