Showing posts with label lifestyle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lifestyle. Show all posts

My ICL (Implantable Contact Lens) Experience // Recovery, Cost, better than LASIK?

I never really thought about getting anything done to my eyes; I've been successfully using regular contact lenses for probably a little over 10 years but for whatever reason, summer of 2022 my eyes decided to freak out. My right eye was red for probably two months, it kept getting worse and then I also got a stye in my right eye so I finally decided to go to the doctor. My eye doctor said I'm not allowed to use contact lenses anymore and that I had gotten a hole in my cornea from an infection in my eye. It took several weeks for my cornea to heal but the stye just wouldn't go away, so they brought me to the hospital and surgically removed it. It was a whole entire process to get my right eye to look and feel fine again. But I've been stuck wearing glasses ever since and I just had enough. 

I went to see a specialist to get LASIK (which is what I initially wanted to do) but after running all different kinds of tests on my eyes, he said he'd never do any type of laser surgery to my eyes because my cornea is extremely thin, and it would be very risky. He told me about ICL and said it would be the better option for me so I decided to do that instead.

The Cost

As I went there originally to get LASIK done which would've cost around 2.500€ depending on the exact doctor you go to, I was quite shocked when he told me an ICL would come up to 5.700€ but at the end of the day, I just wanted to get rid of my glasses. I'd have done anything to finally get to see properly again. Depending on how bad your eyesight is, you might be able to get some money back through your health insurance though, be sure to check that in advance.

Finding a Doctor

If you've read my rhinoplasty post (you can read it here), you'll know how much research I did on different surgeons, I also booked an appointment with a few other doctors to get a feel for their work, their personalities and if they understand me and my vision. But when it came to eye surgery, I kind of had this vision of "It's a laser doing the work, the doctor only has to program the machine right.. does it even matter who I go to then?" so I only ever booked one appointment and decided to go with that doctor right away. If I had felt anything negative at my first appointment, I'd have checked out a different eye doctor. But overall I felt very welcome, the woman running all these tests on my eyes was very sweet and so was the doctor. I explained to him my experience in the last 6-8 months, he checked out my eyes and told me right away that he wouldn't laser my eyes. He explained how LASIK and ICL are both not necessary for my health so I should take my time to think about it; he also said that if I'm not 100% healthy and fit on the day of my surgery, he'd send me home and book another surgery date for me later on because he'd just never risk it to perform any kind of surgery on a patient if it's not absolutely necessary. I just got really good vibes from him, he made me feel like he actually cares about his patient's health rather than just performing surgery on as many people as possible to make money.

I cannot stress enough how important it is to have a doctor/surgeon you feel good with. If you don't vibe with them, please don't go through with it. Everyone has their inner instinct, we can feel it if something is weird or off with someone, and usually, that instinct is right. There are hundreds of different doctors out there, you will find the perfect one for you if you just take your time and don't stress about it.

He also told me one of the girls in his office had ICL surgery done several years ago, he recommended I go down to her desk and have a chat with her, ask her whatever questions I have about the surgery, she should tell me all about her experience. So that's what I did. I had a lovely chat with that girl as well, it felt very genuine. Also, I later on found out that my surgeon was actually the first doctor to bring ICL surgeries to Austria, which is kinda cool.

The Surgery

Quick sidenote for my surgery story, I did get sent home on the original day of the surgery, which was March 29th because my right eye had an infection and that had to be treated with antibiotics before the doctor would even touch my eye for an ICL surgery. A week later I ended up getting a new surgery date which was May 3rd. So yes, May 3rd was the day. I'm officially a month without glasses :)

Anyway, when I arrived at the hospital on the day of the surgery, the first thing the nurse did was put something in my eyes to get the pupil to expand as wide as possible because the bigger the pupil, the easier it is for the doctor to perform the surgery. They also gave me pills to calm the eyelids and as for sedation, you'll be awake during the entire process. Eyedrops are used to numb your eyes, they probably used the eyedrops on me like 20 minutes before the actual surgery and just kept on adding and adding more eyedrops to make sure everything is numb.

As for the actual surgery, it only takes around 10 minutes per eye. I did watch a few Youtube videos on ICL surgeries to see what exactly is happening during surgery, which made me think it would be so much worse than it actually was. I went in there thinking I'd be able to see everything happening, as it's an eye surgery. But obviously, you don't really see anything really. All you notice is a blurry light right in front of you. It kind of feels like you're watching tv while falling asleep; you know when your vision just gets blurry as your eyes keep closing and all you see is the lights of your tv? That's what I would compare the vision to. I didn't feel anything at all, it was so quick. As for my right eye, the contact lens kept flipping whenever the surgeon would put it under my cornea; so he had to take it out again and re-insert a new lens, which happened twice so for my recovery later on, I did notice my right eye having a little bit of a harder time.

After the surgery, I got some bandages over my eyes as well as little clear "cups" over them to protect my eyes from any dirt or me accidentally scratching my eyes. Basically, I was completely blind for the first 30 minutes after surgery. I had to stay in the hospital for around 1 hour after my surgery, the doctor did check on my eyes to see if everything settled nicely, which is also where they removed the bandages and only put back on the clear cups. After that, I already went home.

One thing I do want to mention to anyone thinking about ICL surgery is the fact that depending on the light incidence, like the angle the light hits your eyes, you might be seeing little blurry circles. I'm obviously not a doctor but I'm trying my best to explain what my doctor told me. An ICL lens is not like a regular contact lens that is completely round, an ICL lens is more rectangular; right in the center of the lens is a tiny little hole that is there to regulate the intraocular pressure (so basically the eye pressure), as inserting a lense under the cornea can increase that pressure (high intraocular pressure is not good, don't ask me for the exact health risks though). Anyway, depending on the angle of the light hitting your eyes, the light can hit right on that edge of the tiny hole and then it reflects off of that edge, projecting little circles for you to see in front of you. It's really strange and hard to explain but I personally don't mind it. It barely happens and I think the more it does happen, the more you just get used to it, and with time passing, you probably don't even notice it anymore. 

Recovery & Healing

Recovery was actually so quick and easy. The first day I could barely see anything because I just constantly had to put in several different eyedrops as well as an ointment for the eyes; also the clear cups had to stay on for the first day which also made my vision a little blurry. The very first night was also the only night where I did feel just a little scratching pain in my eyes (which is completely normal for this kind of surgery) but it was just super minor. The next morning I had my first checkup with my surgeon. I was allowed to remove the cups already, but he did recommend putting them back on in the evening so I can't accidentally rub my eyes while sleeping or anything. My eyes were looking a little dry for my first checkup, but with all the eyedrops and ointments, the doctor said that would quickly be fixed. 

Actually, as for my recovery, I could see completely fine the next day already. Depending on the light, sometimes my vision would get just a little bit blurry and my eyes were (and still are) very sensitive to light. I wore sunglasses and a baseball cap for the first week whenever I left my house. Even now, one month after surgery, I still notice how extremely sensitive my eyes are to the sun. But other than that, everything is great.

Like I said earlier, I did notice just a tiny bit of trouble with my right eye, where the lens had to be removed twice during surgery. My left eye was completely fine right the next day but with my right eye, I did notice my vision being a little more blurry for the first few weeks, also sometimes I would get that scratchy feeling as if I had something in my eye. It was really minor though, nothing I worried about to be honest. The right eye also had a lot more redness which stayed for probably a week or 1,5 weeks post-op. Now, one month post-op, both eyes seem completely fine. I'm also already done with all my eyedrops and ointments I had to use post-op.

Was it worth it?

Absolutely. I'd do it again and again without even thinking twice about it. It was one of the best decisions I ever made. Yes, it is extremely expensive but it was worth every single Euro for me.

Here are a few post-op impressions for you, just for the giggles:


First picture is me with the clear cups on my face to protect the eyes from basically anything; right picture is me with my red and very sensitive eyes the next day after surgery. The redness did stay for a while, especially on my right eye (as you can see).

A Day in Venice, Italy

Last week my parent, my fiancé and I went on a short beach vacation in Italy and decided to make a day trip to Venice while we were there. I'm not the biggest beach person on earth, I get bored very easily and I have a severe fear of fish so let's just say the beach is not my favourite place on earth haha. Luckily my fiancé is a very spontaneous person and doesn't mind long car drives so we went to Venice.

Louis Vuitton Agenda MM // REVIEW


I'm big on writing in any sort of form. I've written daily journals pretty much my whole life, I remember when I was just starting to go to school at the age of 6 and having my daily journal, writing down the boys I had a crush on and how they smiled at me one day. As I got older, I didn't really have a plan as to what I'm writing, I just took my time each evening to write down my thoughts. But one think I've always been kind of bad at is planning.

Personal Christmas Present Ideas for your Partner


The holidays are right around the corner which means it's time to think about christmas presents. I've been really struggling to find a perfect gift for my fiancé because I'm not a fan of traditional gifts that most of the time are just materialistic things. I love putting a lot of thought and effort into my presents and make them something personal.

Today I want to share with you a few ideas on christmas (or any occasion, really) presents that have more sentimental value.

My Top Tips on Stress Relief // Pamper Yourself

It's important to take care of your own self from time to time, we all get stressed out and caught up in things and forget to actually take some time and relax. I know from own experience, that stress can be the cause for problematic skin and can cause acne, it can impact your overall health and of course you'll feel bad mentally too.

Over the years I have come up with a few different things that I like to do to pamper myself and relief the stress I might have had the days before so I can start motivated and relaxed into the new day.

A Weekend in London

A few months back, me and my fiancé spent a weekend in London, May 26th to the 28th to be exact. It has always been one of my biggest dreams to go see London, it's been my favourite city for years and years. I don't know what it is, but the United Kingdom totally has my heart and probably always will, even though I had never been to the UK before this trip. 

10 Things I'd Tell My Younger Self

I've always lived off of the mentality that I don't want to regret anything in life. I don't want to miss out on any chances that might never come, I wanted to live life to the fullest. But regretting certain things in your life is just part of growing up. Today I'd like to share 10 things that I'd tell my younger self if I had the chance to.

Supplied by Lily - Desk Planner // REVIEW


Hello beauties!

I know I have been MIA for a long time now but I am trying to get back to blogging. I have been lacking inspiration and haven't done any blog worthy shopping either so there wasn't really anything to blog about. Also, I haven't really had a proper home for several months, I was kind of living with my fiancé, kind of living with my parents so I had my things all over the place, didn't really know where or when to even shoot pictures or anything. But finally I have settled in with my fiancé so hopefully I can snap good photos and take some time out of the day to get back to blogging.

What's on my iPhone 6 // TAG


Hello lovelies!

The past couple of posts have all pretty much been strictly beauty or fashion related so I thought it was time to do a tag for todays post. When I got my iPad Mini 4 I showed you what was on it, so today I wanted to share with you what is on my iPhone 6.

The Perfect Planner // Mein-Taschenkalender


Today is a bit of a different product post. You know I absolutely love beauty products but another thing I absolutely drool over is stationary. And one thing I always struggle to find is a good planner. I can never find my perfect planner so when I stumbled across this website called mein-taschenkalender.com I got way too excited. Since the new year has just begun I thought this is the perfect time to share this with you!

My Fall & Winter Reads // 2015


Hello lovelies!

Since the colder months are upon us, I'm getting a lot more into reading again. In the summer I don't particularly have enough concentration to read/finish a book and enjoy it. To me, summer is quite exhausting and I do not want to have anything in my sweaty hands (tmi). So when fall and winter come around, I just want to snuggle into my fuzzy blanket on the sofa, light some candles and relax reading a book.

What's On My iPad Mini 4 // TAG


Hello lovelies!

Today I thought I would show you what's on my new iPad Mini 4.

To be quite honest, I have never been a tablet kind of person because I found them to be unnecessary, if you have a smartphone and a laptop, why would you need a tablet?! But since I'm planning to start university again, I thought instead of carrying a big, bulky and heavy laptop around with me, I might just invest in an iPad.

Staying Strong // A different kind of Blogpost

Just yesterday I saw a video of a little boy, Jonathan, diagnosed with so called Epidermolysis Bullosa which causes his whole skin to blister and peel off of his body. It looks like he's been in a massive fire but he hasn't. If you want to know more about Jonathan and his story, here is the video (x) I saw and if you want to donate money to help Jonathan and other people diagnosed with Epidermolysis Bullosa, you can do that here (x). 

UNIVERSITY // Should I Go?, Tips & Tricks and More

Today I wanted to make a blogpost about university, since I do study as well and I did have quite some struggles to be honest and I wanted to share my experience, my thoughts and also tips and tricks with you to help you out if you're starting uni yourself or just need a bit of advice.

Living with (Social) Anxiety

Today is going to be a different kind of post, no beauty, no make-up, no hair - just me talking to you about a serious topic, (social) anxiety.

It seems that the past few years, anxiety has becoming more and more present and a lot of people suffer from it or know somebody suffering from it. Loads of people on youtube have been "coming out" and telling the world their story of anxiety, panic attacks or depression to raise awareness and let other people know that it can get better - it will get better.