Smile Surgery: Understand The Techniques

The SMILE technique, or Small Incision Lenticule Extraction, is a high-precision technique using the FemtoSecond laser. It performs a cut with nanometric precision, allowing faster recovery, better healing quality, and great postoperative comfort. The technique best suits myopia, astigmatism, or a combination. It is not yet a treatment option for cases of hyperopia. Know if is lasik covered by insurance here.

PRK

PRK is generally similar to LASIK, except a corneal flap is required. In this technique, the first layer of the cornea, the epithelium, is scraped off, and then the laser is applied. At the end of the surgery, a therapeutic contact lens is placed.

Procedure Risks

When well indicated, it is an extremely safe surgery. In a detailed preoperative consultation, several parameters of the eye are evaluated, such as corneal thickness and curvature, retinal health, and the presence of grade errors with and without pupil dilation, in addition to criteria such as grade stability for at least 1 year and the minimum age for whether or not to indicate this surgery. Thus, complications rarely occur, with only 0.1 to 0.4%. Even so, rare side effects such as worsening dry eye sensation, nighttime glare, and photophobia can be reported and properly treated when they occur.

The Recovery

In techniques involving using 2 different lasers (LASIK and SMILE), recovery is very fast: the patient feels a few hours of discomfort the day after surgery and can return to work the next day with clear vision. In the more traditional technique (PRK), recovery tends to be a little slower, with a little more pain in the first days and vision improvement gradually in the first months, and you can return to work about 4 to 5 days later. The procedure.

For all techniques, it is important to take postoperative care, such as not swimming, not practicing impact or contact sports for at least 30 days, and not wearing makeup or scratching your eyes for 15 days. Using the prescribed eye drops correctly, paying attention to the correct frequency, and using sunglasses in case of photophobia are recommended.

After refractive surgery, it is common for the patient to think it is no longer necessary to consult the doctor. However, surgery only modifies the outside of the eye (cornea). The retina is still that of a person with 4 degrees of myopia. Therefore, it is important to continue with the follow-up, as directed by the specialist such as discover vision center for example.