Why SMILE laser eye surgery has been a game changer

In my last blog post, I spoke about new technologies which have fundamentally changed treatment for my patients. One is SMILE laser eye surgery.

For many years, the two laser eye surgery options have been LASIK and surface laser (ASLA). The success rates of both these procedures is really high- laser eye surgery basically has the highest satisfaction rating of any elective procedure. However, in patients with higher degrees of shortsightedness or myopia, the accuracy was not quite as good. This was because the higher the degree of shortsightedness, then the greater amount of laser required. The greater the amount of laser required, the longer the eye was exposed to the environment and it's variables.

SMILE laser eye surgery gets around this problem. The SMILE laser creates the 3-dimensional shape that needs to be removed to correct the vision in a closed environment. Furthermore, the laser takes the same amount of time to treat -1.00 as it does to treat -10.00. So this is what makes SMILE potentially more accurate in higher prescriptions than LASIK and ASLA.

Don't get me wrong, I still use LASIK and ASLA for lower prescriptions and depending on the eye and the person. And in these cases, SMILE would not be the best option. But for a lot of patients with higher prescriptions, it has really been a terrific advance in technology for them....and it does make them smile :)

* Information on this blog is general in nature and should not be taken as professional medical advice or as a substitute for a consultation with a medical professional.