What eye conditions can implantable contact lens surgery address?
Have you ever been rejected for LASIK surgery due to high levels of myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism (refractive errors), irregularly shaped cornea or thin cornea? Chances are that an alternative refractive surgery known as implantable contact lens (ICL) surgery has been recommended to you. ICL surgery is usually offered if the refractive errors are out of the treatment range for LASIK surgery or if the cornea is thin, steep or irregularly shaped.
Refractive Errors
ICL surgery can correct all forms of refractive errors. Below, we will give a simple explanation of what refractive errors are:
Myopia
- is colloquially referred to as short-sightedness and its prevalence in Singapore is amongst the highest in the world. Sixty-five per cent of Singaporean children and 83% per cent of young Singaporean adults are short-sighted. In the presence of short-sightedness, one can see near objects but is unable to see far objects clearly.
Hyperopia
- or more commonly known as long-sightedness is another type of refractive error which is less prevalent in Singapore. Those with long-sightedness can see far objects but are unable to see near objects clearly. Long-sightedness is often confused with presbyopia. The former can occur in all ages from young to old while the latter only occurs in those 40 years and above when the eye muscles weaken as we age, hence, the inability to see near objects clearly.
Astigmatism
- occurs when the eyeball is shaped like a rugby ball instead of a football. Hence, light is focused on different places in the eye which causes one to see things in a blurry or distorted manner.
Presbyopia
- occurs when the lens in the eye gets less flexible and hardens as we age causing light not to focus correctly on the retina like it used to. Those who are 40 and above will start to find difficulty in seeing near objects clearly and hence will need reading glasses. For this age group, the monovision technique is usually recommended for ICL surgery – the dominant eye will be corrected to see far while the non-dominant (reading) eye will be corrected to see near. This way, one will not require glasses for near and far vision for most activities post-ICL surgery.
Unlike LASIK surgery which uses an excimer laser to remove corneal tissue to reshape the cornea, the ICL surgery does not remove any part of the eye. It is a 20-minute day procedure for 2 eyes. Prior to surgery, eyedrops will be used to dilate the pupils. Thereafter, numbing eyedrops and local anaesthesia are given to provide comfort during the surgery. The ICL surgeon will fold the ICL and insert it in the eye – between the natural lens and the iris. Lastly, he will unfold and position the ICL in the eye, and that completes the surgery.
Vision recovery is quick; most are able to recover about 70% of the vision the very next day after surgery and resume most activities except no rubbing of eyes the first 2 weeks and avoiding water and contact sports the first month.
If you have been previously told that LASIK surgery is not suitable for your eyes for the various reasons stated above, ICL surgery may be viable with the following benefits:
- Provides a better quality of vision (than LASIK surgery) for those with high levels of eye prescription.
- The eye structure remains the same as nothing is removed from the eye.
- It is a reversible procedure – if need be, the ICL can be exchanged or removed.
- Reduces the incidence of dry eye and seeing haloes and starbursts at night compared to LASIK surgery.
Please contact Lang Eye Centre at +65 6684 1000 or [email protected] to schedule the 3-hour ICL evaluation to ascertain your suitability and to understand the benefits vs risks of ICL surgery.
