Did anyone here do the eye surgery where they make a cut and slide in a permanent contact lens? My eyes are too bad for lasering, but this method would apparently still work. The doc tried to sell it to me as the better method irrespective of how bad your eyes are, since it is reversible (you can remove the lens).
Yes I did. The result is perfect as far as I can tell. Not everyone is eligible to that method: you need to have enough space in your eye so that it is doable. So checking for that is a first step to be sure it is doable. The only serious risk is an infection, so each eye was done in a different operation room. I was also told that the result is better than lasik, it is more costly though.
I had EVO ICL done ~10 months ago. My contact prescription was -7.25 left / -6.75 right with thin corneas so I wasn't a great candidate for LASIK. Weighed costs of ICL vs PRK and opted for the former (mostly recovery time concerns + as you mention ICL can be removed). Dollar cost was ~9.2k USD, so it was significantly higher than other options.
Recovery was very quick. I was 20/40 a few hours after surgery and 20/15 the following day (could have worked at computer, but took the day off). Pretty intense dry eyes initially, but eye drops helped and this improved over next couple months.
10 months later, vision is still great (though I expect my eyes to continue their normal progression). Halo-ing effects at night are stronger than I expected (believe they're related to pupil size + hole in center of lens), but I've mostly learned to ignore it (I also now prefer not to drive at night). Minor dry eyes but might try NAC supplement as suggested elsewhere in discussion.
I'd do it again in a heartbeat (hated dealing with contacts on camping trips) but wish I'd been more informed of halo-ing risks.
Both my wife and I did. She went first, and had bifocal lenses inserted. I waited a couple of years and got trifocals instead. I think I've had mine for five years or more by now; I don't remember.
My wife went from "can't read the big E on the eye chart" to only using readers for very tiny print. She had different prescriptions put in each eye, for different distances. It took her brain a little while to sort all that out, but she doesn't notice it anymore.
We both see concentric halos around light points (a side effect of the bifocal and trifocal lenses, I think), but eventually your brain edits those out and you don't notice them unless you try.
I'm in the U.S. and insurance did not cover them. I think we each paid around $7K.
All in all, they were a good buy and I would recommend the procedure. They may not be cost effective, but the quality of life change is amazing.
