Hey r/Tokyo!
I’m gonna be living in Japan for a few months and is considering fixing my vision(around -5 for both eyes, minor astigmatism). I did some research about all the different types of surgeries and the popular clinics in Tokyo, and **I’ve narrowed down my choices down to either SMILE or ICL at Shinjuku Clinic.**
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Between ICL and SMILE, I *was* leaning a more towards SMILE. It feels like a better version of LASIK with less dry eye and stronger contact/recovery. However, something that surprised me about the Shinjuku Clinic is that **it seems that 90% of people that get eye surgery there are getting ICLs**(according to [Google Review](https://www.google.com/search?q=shinjuku+lasik+clinic&sca_esv=d201d7626ec35994&ei=Tdg4Zt–EcmKvr0P5M2WiA8&ved=0ahUKEwifmYWUjvmFAxVJha8BHeSmBfEQ4dUDCBA&uact=5&oq=shinjuku+lasik+clinic&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiFXNoaW5qdWt1IGxhc2lrIGNsaW5pYzIHECEYoAEYCkikB1BoWOIGcAF4AZABAZgBggKgAaIIqgEFMC40LjK4AQPIAQD4AQGYAgagArcGwgIKEAAYsAMY1gQYR8ICBRAhGKABmAMAiAYBkAYEkgcFMS40LjGgB9kN&sclient=gws-wiz-serp#lrd=0x60188d28124500d1:0x329dbe295713b030,1,,,,)) The reviews are good, but never the less it was a surprise.
Partially because I’ve actually never heard that much about ICLs until very recently when I started researching corrective eye surgeries *specifically* in Japan. I thought it was smth for ppl with *very* bad eyesight, but apparently not? I did read that apparently there’s a new method that wasn’t approved by the FDA until pretty recently, so that may be why it’s so popular here. Compared to ICL, there seems to be very few SMILE operations in Tokyo overall. (Shinjuku seems to be 90% ICL and Shinagawa Clinic seems to be mostly LASIK).
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Since ICL is the most expensive at Shinjuku, it would also make financial sense for them to recommend it. And LASIK is the easiest/fastest, so it would make sense for Shinagawa to promote that as well. I’m planning on going in a couple weeks from now to hear from the docs, but **I’d also love to hear some experiences from fellow Redditors if anyone has some insights here**.
by Chesil
