What are Implantable Contact Lenses? (ICL)

If you have severe vision issues that can’t be corrected with normal contact lenses and you don’t want to wear Coke bottle glasses then an implantable contact lens might be the solution you are looking for.

Implantable contact lenses, also known as intra ocular lenses or ICL’s are a way to correct the more severe forms of bad vision that can’t be helped through laser surgery or normal contacts. Unfortunately this is a little bit more invasive than just popping a contact lens onto your eye. It involves micro surgery.

If you’re not an ideal candidate for laser surgery either due to corneal thickness or those who have already had cataract surgery then an ICL might work.

This surgery requires a little bit more recovery time than traditional radial keratotomy or Lasik. With this surgery an incision is made on the side of the eye and the lens is slipped behind the cornea. The patient then has to rest for about an hour before being released to go home. There isn’t instant vision improvement like with laser corneal shaping. Instead this heals up gradually over about two weeks. You’ll have to go back to the Dr. the day after surgery to insure that there are no complications.

One other concern is that for safety reasons you can’t get lenses implanted in both eyes at the same time. Instead you’ll have to wait a week or two after the first surgery to make sure there’s no risk of rejection or infection. The last thing you want is to have problems with both eyes.

So if contact lenses and laser correction aren’t available for your particular vision issue and you’re tired of wearing glasses then implantable contact lenses might be just the thing to restore your vision back to normal and free you from glasses.