I had a -7 prescription in both eyes, and for years I juggled between glasses and contact lenses — neither of which ever felt truly adequate. My glasses were constantly dirty, scratched, or expensive to replace. Contacts came with their own set of frustrations: switching them out for sports, remembering to remove them before sleep, carrying cleaning solution everywhere, and if I'm honest, not always keeping up with the hygiene they demand. I also couldn't easily wear sunglasses with glasses, which was its own small but persistent annoyance. LASIK wasn't an option for me since my corneas were too thin, so ICL was the natural path forward.
Six months ago, I underwent my first ICL surgery at Charité in Berlin. Shortly after, I noticed that my left eye had significantly worse vision than my right, which led me back in for a revision surgery about a month later. While the repeat procedure was frustrating — especially the numbing injections, which I found particularly uncomfortable — I came to understand it was necessary. It turned out that the wrong lens size had been selected initially. The surgeon confirmed this with confidence; in fact, upon making the incision she remarked that I have unusually large eyes, which explained the sizing error.
The recovery process was manageable, though having two surgeries meant a combined three months of downtime, which left me feeling restless and unmotivated. Following recovery, it took roughly another three months to fully adjust — my left eye had a subtle difference in its field of view, most noticeable when stepping into bright sunlight in the morning.
There was no single dramatic "wow" moment of clarity. Instead, good vision just quietly became my new normal — and in many ways, that seamless transition is the best outcome I could have asked for. It was only once I stopped noticing my lenses entirely that my appreciation for the procedure truly set in.
I also experienced halos around lights initially, but once I understood what was causing them, they stopped bothering me. They've diminished significantly over time, and wearing sunglasses has helped both reduce them and better protect my vision overall.
Six months on, my vision is essentially perfect and all follow-up appointments have gone smoothly. The total cost came to around €3,400 — and given what I was spending on glasses, contacts, and solutions over the years, not to mention the daily inconvenience, it was absolutely worth it financially. If you're considering ICL, my honest advice is straightforward: if you can comfortably afford it, it's worth serious consideration. The road isn't always perfectly smooth, as my experience shows, but the destination is more than worth it.
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I wrote this using claude, I chucked in my points and read this, agreed and copied it here.
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