SMILE means Small Incision Lenticule Extraction, a refractive procedure designed to treat many refractive errors myopia or nearsightedness, hypermetropia or farsightedness, astigmatism or blurred vision at all distances, and presbyopia or an inability to focus your eyes up close. Every person’s vision depends on the cornea and lens they use to focus the clear image of the world before the person’s retina. The refraction or bending of light is required to form a sharp image in the vision. The cornea and lenses perform the refraction. When the retina is unfocused then, the vision gets blurry. It is caused due to the alternation in the shape of the cornea. The clear image people get of the world before the retina depends on one’s cornea and lens as the cornea and lens perform the refraction.
Is SMILE eye surgery for you?
SMILE also has some requirements, as all other surgeries have to make it safer and increase the ability to get a good result:
The patient must be 22 years old, and most importantly, the patient’s vision must be stable. The prescription needs to be constant for the past few years. Also, the patient’s eyes and corneas must be healthy. Myopia of the particular patient must be between -1 to -10. If the patient has astigmatism, it must not exceed three dioptres.
How does SMILE eye surgery work?
The procedure of SMILE laser eye surgery work as follows:
- Firstly to make the treatment painless, the surgeon will put an anaesthetic eye drop to numb your eye.
- Then, in the next step, place several pulses on the cornea centre of the laser with extraordinary precision.
- Then in the next step, less than 100 of the human hair tiny bubbles are created from the laser of the pulses.
- These bubbles create the outline of the tissue that needs to be removed.
Therefore to change the shape of the cornea, the laser creed a tiny connecting tunnel that allows the surgeon to draw out the tissue to improve the patient’s vision. The entire procedure is completed within less than 15 minutes to put the eyes, as the laser is used for only a small portion during the entire time.
Why is SMILE a better alternative method than LASIK?
In 2007, an alternative LASIK method was reintroduced, known as FLEx which means Femtosecond Lenticule Extraction, which was only for patients with extreme myopia. After applying this, the doctors can see improvements in scan modes and energy parameters, providing visual recovery times with notice with effective results similar to LASIK.
Following the FLEx procedure, they have developed another better surgery known as SMILE, designed to and involves a small 2-3 mm. Incisions are used to allow the extraction of the entire corneal lenticule without any need to create a flap. But in the early stages of SMILE surgery, it also developed similar effects as LASIK surgery. However, there were some benefits, such as the fast recovery of the posted dry eye, reinnervation of the corneal nerves, and a potential biochemical advantage. This procedure might be an upcoming option for more patients as it undergoes refractive surgery and also due to its minimally invasive techniques and promising outcomes.
Why is my vision blurry after SMILE surgery?
The patient might face blurry vision after the SMILE surgery because it is designed to treat nearsightedness, so the result is probably in his vision symptoms. Even many patients who have undergone this surgery have described the issue regarding blurry vision and light sensitivity at one month or even more than those who undergo LASIK. So it is normal to have blurry vision after SMILE surgery. But the vision will get progressively clear after a few weeks or months. Even there are a few side effects that are occurred after the surgery that could affect the vision initially, which include:
A glare or halo effect will subside in about three months following the treatment, which usually only occurs at night.
Light sensitivity: this problem should go away within a week, and in the meantime, the patients show their protective eyewear while they’re going out, and it’s a common side effect of laser vision correction.
Dry eyes: initially, when the eyes that to hell and recover, this effect will get less, and according to the eyes drop that doctor prescribes should be used, and it’s helpful for this side effect.
The different patient’s recovery process is different and unique for SMILE laser eye surgery. Suppose the patient is getting the problem of blurry vision beyond the expected length of time. In that case, they should immediately schedule an appointment with their respective doctor, as these side effects do not indicate a significant issue. Hence, they need to be checked properly and shouldn’t miss follow-ups, so the patient doesn’t get blurry vision any further.
