EVO ICL

Say Goodbye to Glasses and Contacts. Enhance Clarity with Freedom.

A small lens is added to your eye without touching your cornea. Nothing is permanent. It is there when you need it, and just as easy to take out.

If you have been told your prescription is too high or your corneas too thin for laser surgery, this is the page you have been waiting for. The EVO ICL is a soft, biocompatible lens placed gently inside your eye. Instead of reshaping or removing any corneal tissue the way laser surgery does, it simply adds a lens, and it can be removed if your needs ever change.

Ideal candidates

You might be a great fit if any of this sounds familiar:

Your nearsightedness runs moderate to very high, even well beyond what LASIK can safely correct
Your corneas are thin or irregular
Dry eye already makes you wary of anything involving your cornea

If you have been turned away from LASIK before, you are not out of options. Most patients who come to us after hearing “no” elsewhere leave with a real plan, and more often than not, that plan is the ICL.

Benefits

The benefits you will notice:

Your night vision stays remarkably clean and sharp
Your cornea is never touched, so your dry eyes will stay the same
Built-in UV protection works for you around the clock, every day, without you having to think about it
If your eyes or your life ever change, the lens can be exchanged or removed. Nothing about this choice is permanent

The procedure

The ICL, or implantable collamer lens, works with your eye instead of changing it. It rests quietly behind your iris, in front of your natural lens, taking over the job your glasses have been doing all along.

What happens, step by step

We start with you. Your lens is custom made, sized and powered from your own eye’s measurements. Nothing about it is generic.
On the day, numbing drops and a gentle relaxant help you settle in. Through an opening smaller than three millimeters, your folded lens is gently guided into your eye.
It unfolds on its own, and Dr. Thornton carefully positions it behind your iris. Once it is there, it stays, invisible to you and to everyone else.
The opening seals itself, usually without a stitch.

Nothing is removed, and your cornea stays exactly as it is. EVO ICL can correct prescriptions far beyond what laser surgery reaches. Because it is removable, this is not a decision you are locked into forever.

Recovery

The same day. Most patients notice their vision improving already. Take it easy and enjoy a quiet celebration.
The next morning. A quick pressure check, and most patients feel comfortable driving themselves home.
The first week. You will keep up with your drops on schedule and skip swimming or rubbing your eyes.
Ongoing. Your lens needs no maintenance, no cleaning, no thought at all. A yearly exam is all it takes to keep an eye on it.

Questions, answered

Will I feel the lens in my eye?

No, and this is the question everyone asks. The lens rests behind your iris, beyond the point where your eye can feel anything at all. You will not feel it, see it, or need to think about it.

Can other people see it?

Not to the naked eye. It is invisible in every mirror and every photograph. Dr. Thornton can view it during an exam with the right equipment, but otherwise, the only evidence is that your glasses stopped showing up in them.

Is it really reversible?

Yes. The lens can be exchanged or removed by Dr. Thornton if your prescription or your life changes. Almost no one asks for that, but knowing you could is part of what makes the decision easy.

How high a prescription can it correct?

Even if your prescription is far beyond what LASIK can safely treat, two or three times higher, EVO ICL can likely still correct it. And if you have astigmatism, there is a version made for that too.