00:01I'm definitely a little bit nervous because this is a big surgical procedure and has to do with my eyes.
00:07I wear my contact lenses from like the moment I wake up to the moment I go to bed and
00:13my eyes are constantly dry.
00:15So I'm excited to just wake up, open my eyes and be able to see.
00:26Hi, everyone. My name is Sarah Tan. I am the beauty director at Refinery29 and today I am going to
00:32get the Evo ICL procedure to correct my vision.
00:37I am currently nearsighted. I've been wearing contact lenses since I was in middle school and I'm really looking for
00:46an option where I don't have to wear my glasses anymore
00:49or my contact lenses. At first, I was really interested in doing LASIK.
00:55And then I learned that I didn't qualify because the size of my cornea was a little bit too thin.
01:01And then I learned about Evo ICL. It seems a little bit less invasive because it's not altering the shape
01:09of your eye.
01:11And basically, you can see the next day, it's almost like 20-20 vision.
01:17From what I hear, it's a pretty simple and quick and very safe procedure.
01:22And what I love about Evo ICL is that it's actually reversible.
01:26So if anything were to happen, they can remove the contact lens.
01:31I'm Dr. Rainy Wu. I'm a cataract and refractive eye surgeon at Laser Eye Center here in Los Angeles, California.
01:37Surgical vision correction can be done in two ways.
01:40One is a laser-based method and another is a lens-based method.
01:44Laser-based refractive procedures like LASIK or SMILE are performed on the surface or cornea of the eye.
01:50The laser essentially reshapes the cornea in order to correct your vision.
01:54With lens-based approaches like Evo ICL, we actually implant a lens inside of the eye to correct your vision.
02:00A patient may choose Evo ICL for a variety of reasons.
02:03They might want a surgery that is reversible that can be removed at any time if they wish.
02:07They might be worried about things like dry eye or already suffer from dry eye and don't want to worsen
02:11that with a laser-based procedure.
02:13Or they want a procedure that will preserve the cornea.
02:16Most surgical vision correction procedures aren't typically covered by insurance.
02:20But if you compare the long-term cost-benefit for a one-time procedure versus a lifetime of buying glasses
02:28and contacts,
02:29you're definitely going to come out on the better end by investing in yourself in this refractive procedure.
02:36Surgery day for Evo ICL starts with getting dilated.
02:40So you go through several rounds of eye drops so that your pupils get large enough for us to perform
02:45the surgery.
02:45We clean the surface of the eye and the eyelashes with a beta-dyne solution just to make sure all
02:51the germs,
02:52any bacteria are effectively removed from the field.
02:55This procedure is done in a sterile field.
02:57We want to avoid any risk of things like eye infection when performing the procedure.
03:01We then drape the patient and we insert a speculum.
03:05It's basically an eye-opener to keep the patient's eye open during the whole procedure.
03:10Then we get started by preparing the Evo ICL.
03:13We remove it from its vial and this 12mm lens is very small,
03:19but we have to fold it up like a taco in order to insert it into the eye.
03:23So the first step is just preparing the Evo ICL in a small cartridge for injection into the eye at
03:29a later point.
03:30We insert some numbing medication into the eye and then a solution just to keep the eye shape.
03:37The next step is creating very small microscopic incisions into the eye,
03:42some openings where we can insert the Evo ICL.
03:46We slowly inject the Evo ICL and watch it unfold,
03:49making sure that the positioning is in its correct orientation.
03:56And the next step is tucking each of the haptics, which are the four legs on the Evo ICL,
04:02underneath the iris.
04:04And from there, it's really just meticulous rearranging constantly,
04:08adjusting that ICL to a very specific location on the eye.
04:12That's really critical to make sure we can treat all of our stigmatism.
04:14And then rinsing repeatedly several times to make sure everything comes out,
04:19while maintaining that position of the ICL.
04:21The incisions that we make are very small, about 3mm,
04:24and we're able to just use fluid, a water-based fluid, to hydrate those wounds,
04:29and that completely seals them shut.
04:30So we don't need any stitches for this procedure.
04:33What's great about Evo ICL is you can have both eyes done on the same day,
04:37one eye right after the other, so you don't have to come back for the second eye.
04:41Immediately after the surgery, we placed some eye shields over the eye for protection.
04:46And what's really interesting is that you can start seeing almost immediately.
04:50Things are going to be still a little blurry, but you'll immediately begin to appreciate details
04:53that you wouldn't have been able to appreciate without your contact lenses.
04:57Yay!
04:58Oh my god.
04:59Yay!
04:59That was so weird, guys.
05:03I always recommend the first day after surgery just to rest as much as possible,
05:07sleep as much as you can.
05:09And by the next day at your post-op day one visit, you'll be able to see.
05:13And most of my patients are 20-20, even on the first day after surgery.
05:17But we do notice the vision continues to improve the quality of the vision.
05:20We'll continue to improve each day after that.
05:23Okay.
05:23It looks really good.
05:24Yay!
05:24How are you feeling?
05:26Good.
05:26Like, it's amazing.
05:28There's not a day that passes that I don't think to myself,
05:32oh my god, why didn't I do this sooner?
05:34The entire procedure itself probably lasted, like, less than 30 minutes.
05:38Dr. Wu was incredible, super quick, kept in touch with me, made sure I was comfortable,
05:43made sure I knew everything.
05:44Literally, like, right after the procedure, I could see, like, the next day I could see.
05:50And it has only gotten better.
05:52It's just been life-changing.
05:54I know that people say that, but it truly, it's just been the best decision I have ever made,
06:00and I wish that I would have done it sooner.
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