Intraocular lens implant

[NobbyButtons]

At my last eye test my optician suggested that I look into having intraocular lens implants. I'd never heard of these before. It's when your lens is replaced by an artificial lens, meaning you have vision correction and will never need cataract surgery.

I am very short-sighted (-16 in one eye and -11.25 in the other) and currently wear gas permeable lenses. My dad has a similar prescription to me, and now in his 70s he has to wear reading glasses at the same time as his contact lenses.

Just wondering if anyone has had this done and if so was it worth it? I never seriously considered laser eye surgery as I was always terrified of having an operation on my eyes and the risk of something going wrong either during or after surgery.

My sister did a few years ago and struggled a lot with dry eyes. She always had and still has artificial drops in her bag and was putting drops in her eyes ALL the time. It also made her extremely sensitive to light, so even on cloudy days, she couldn't go out without sunglasses.
Four or five years down the line, she doesn't have to put that many eye drops, but still wears sunglasses a lot.

She argues she is happy, but then she would never admit to be wrong on anything ever, tiny or big.
I wear glasses and sometimes think about vision correction, but I would never do the implant. Laser all the way.

I had one eye done 4 weeks ago
I have cataracts but the procedure is the same
I am/ was -10 so couldn't see anything without glasses
I'also wore contacts for 25 years so I had an idea how it would feel
I can honestly say it's been life changing It's amazing to be able to find my clothes and the kettle in the morning!
Without the cataracts and if I could afford it, I absolutely would do it.
I have had no problems with dryness soreness or glare at all
Exactly the same as contact lenses without the hassle
I'd certainly make an appointment with an opthalmic surgeon

My Mum had it done. She was -13 in both eyes and she was pleased she got it done, she said it was amazing to see without glasses for distance. But she still needed reading glasses and found that a bit of a faff.

Thanks for all the replies - lots to consider, both positive and negative. I've booked a consultation next month.

The chance of getting dry eye is actually far higher with Lasik compared to with the IOL. 95% of people have dry eyes following Lasik (which usually resolves) compared to around 29% following refractive IOL surgery.
Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9587946/

OP I would certainly look into it, there are pros and cons, the lens they implant doesn't work in the same way as the natural lens, so you may need reading glasses afterwards or to have a varifocal lens implant.
As you're very short-sighted, the surgery caries more risk than someone who isn't - however, you could argue that you'll need to have cataract surgery anyway eventually.

I would definitely look into it if I have your vision. Long term gas permeable wear eventually causes slight drooping of your upper lids.