Recently, a number of people wanting to improve their eyesight have opted to have implantable contact lens surgery instead of laser eye surgery. But what are the differences between these two methods?
Implantable contact lens surgery, also known as ICL surgery, is one in which a contact lens is inserted inside the eye by a surgeon. No permanent alteration to the eye takes place. The laser eye surgical technique is one in which the cornea of the eye is cut to produce the corrective vision results required by the patient. The laser surgical technique is a permanent alteration of the eye.
In traditional laser surgery to the eyes, a laser is used make one or more small incisions in the eye. The cuts to the eye cause it to be gradually reshaped until the desired corrective results are achieved. Laser eye surgery is much more accurate than the old method of using a scalpel to make incisions in the eye. By contrast, the surgery in an ICL procedure involves the surgeon making a couple of small openings near the cornea base through which he can position the lens. An ICL is often call a permanent contact lens. But it is called that because it remains in the eye, not because it can’t be removed.
There are a number of people who would love to have laser eye surgery but who, for some reason, are just not a good candidate for the procedure. For example, in certain cases, health problems such as diabetes or high blood pressure can make it risky for them to have such a procedure. Or they may have a thin cornea, which while it doesn’t necessarily rule out laser eye surgery, does make it more risky. For these people, even though ICL may not be the perfect solution to their vision problems, it may be a good second choice.
The nice thing about implantable contact lenses is that they function almost exactly like normal contact lenses. They reshape the eye just as normal contact lenses would. The only difference is that at the end of the day you don’t remove these lenses from your eye. So, if you feel comfortable wearing normal contact lenses, implantable contact lenses should not provide much of a challenge to you. In fact, once the operation is over with, many patients don’t even feel the lenses.
The main benefit of ICLs are not that they are perfect, as no technique can be 100% effective or safe. No, the primary benefit is simply that it gives people who don’t want to wear glasses another option to consider than laser eye procedures.
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