Visian ICL
- Posted on: Dec 19 2013
My name is Gwen and I am a technician at Roholt Vision Institute. I started wearing glasses in the first grade. By middle school I was so nearsighted I couldn’t make out the “BIG E” on a vision chart unless it was 3 feet in front of me. I wore contact lenses from ages 12-20 but after 8 years my eyes couldn’t tolerate them, and I was forced back into wearing my coke bottle glasses. In 2005, while on an extended road trip, a friend accidentally stepped on and severely mangled my glasses. I had an INSTANT PANIC ATTACK. I had to beg someone else to help me straighten them because I couldn’t see well enough to do it! I wore crooked glasses with broken nose pieces for the remainder of my two month trip. Because of my high prescription I knew I wasn’t a LASIK candidate, but I vowed that day to find a surgery that would get rid of my dependence on glasses. My life was changed in 2006 when an ophthalmic coworker suggested I consider getting implantable collamer lenses also known as ICL’s. She explained it was like having a contact with my prescription put directly into my eye. After gathering more data and meeting with my doctor it was an easy decision for me to proceed with surgery. Having it done was painless and the results were miraculous. It’s the best thing I’ve ever done for myself. Seven years later I still see 20/20 without glasses and almost can’t remember what it was like to be so visually impaired.
The surgeons at Roholt Vision Institute are using the Visian ICL to change the lives of our patients who are the most dependent on glasses or contact lenses. If a person comes to us to have LASIK but isn’t a good candidate due to having a high prescription I am excited to explain that we can still help them! Thick nearsighted glasses make everything that the person wearing them is looking at appear smaller. For that reason many highly nearsighted people are not able to see the 20/20 on an eye chart even with glasses. Because the Visian ICL sits inside of the eye it functions differently and does not change image size. I recently did a study which proved that on average our ICL patients saw 20/25 (one row worse than 20/20) with their glasses or contacts before surgery and now can see 20/20 after surgery with their implants. Many of our ICL patients had vision that improved to 20/15 (one row better than 20/20). This study also showed that every patient could see as well or better after surgery than they did with glasses or contacts prior to surgery. Two of our recent patients were so nearsighted that they couldn’t get vision good enough with contacts or glasses to let them pass a driver’s vision examination. After having Visian ICL’s both were able to see well enough to be legal to drive! We are so excited about helping these people!! If you or someone you know has thick nearsighted glasses and would like to get rid of them please call and schedule a free consulation at Roholt Vision Institute (330-305-2200) to find out more about the Visian ICL.
Posted in: LASIK