Upon arrival in the hospital, and approximately 45 minutes before your surgery, a small pellet will be inserted into the lower lid, causing gentle dilation of the pupil. Following administration of anaesthetic eye drops, the area around your eye will be cleaned and a drape applied to ensure a sterile environment. The lens is gently inserted through a 2.2mm incision in the cornea, and the lens is positioned behind the iris and floated on the natural lens. As the procedure does not require any stitches, recovery is often very quick. The operation is usually performed under a topical anaesthetic (eye drops), is painless and lasts between 10-20 minutes in most cases. Should you feel anxious, then sedation or general anaesthesia are available.

After the operation you will rest for a while, have refreshment and then go home. You will be given a dressing pack to swab the eye clean the following day, and some antibiotic and anti-inflammatory eye drops to apply at home after the surgery. You will need to allow between 1-4 hours after your surgery (dependent on the anaesthesia) so that we can run through your treatment and aftercare with you. You will need someone to collect you or we can arrange transport home.

Whilst the risks of ICL surgery are low, no procedure is risk free. As safety is paramount, we only operate on one eye at a time. We often perform the procedure for the second eye 1-2 weeks later. As there is likely to be a large prescription difference between the operated eye and non operated eye between procedures, we recommend wearing a contact lens to correct the non operated eye between operations.

Laser Vision makes every effort to minimise any risks. Although uncommon, these can include: raised pressure, infection, lens exchange, cataract and retinal detachment.