In this article, we are going to talk about LASIK eye surgery and SMILE eye surgery and which is better. There are the most common forms of refractive eye surgery. Both surgeries have their pros and cons of procedures. First, we need to know what LASIK eye surgery is. LASIK is a surgical procedure intended to reduce a person’s dependency on glasses or contact lenses. The term LASIK stands for laser-assisted in situ keratomileuses. It is a procedure that permanently changes the shape of the cornea which is the clear covering over the front of the eye. It usually requires 15 minutes per eye. The fastest visual recovery happens in LASIK, vision is excellent on a postoperative day. Vision stabilizes quickly within several days. Smile eye surgery small incision lenticle extraction involves using a single laser to create a contact lens-shaped piece of material within the cornea. The procedure is quite rapid lasting about 10 minutes. The discomfort and the scratchiness of the eye last for only a few hours after the procedure. The eye can be light-sensitive for a few days. SMILE eye surgery is minimally invasive and allows us to treat higher corrections of nearsightedness and typically results in a shorter duration of dry eye.
Both surgeries have their pros and cons, but which is better SMILE versus LASIK?
Pros of LASIK eye surgery– It is independent of external environmental changes which result in more accurate treatment.
It is a very fast healing procedure, right after the procedure is done most people are seeing very well.
One of the most important things about LASIK eye surgery is it shows permanent vision improvements, LASIK permanently changes the eye and has major and permanent improvements in eye sights compared to your vision before the process.
Pros of SMILE eye surgery– Surgical time of SMILE eye surgery is shorter.
There is no flap created in SMILE eye surgery so there is no chance of a flap displacement.
The biochemical stability that is the strength of the cornea is more retained in a SMILE surgery procedure because of a smaller cut.
Lesser corneal nerves are cut in the SMILE procedure which eventually results in lesser chances of post-operative dry eyes.
Cons of LASIK eye surgery- Flaps can be injured. During the procedure, flaps are created in the cornea, so after the surgery patients are not allowed to rub their eyes until healing is completely done.
One of the biggest cons about getting LASIK surgery is that of dry eyes afterward about 20 to 40 percent of people who get LASIK immediately start having dry eyes symptoms however it does often resolve within the first three months but there are some patients whose those symptoms continue for the next eight to twelve months and through studies, we have found that about 20 percent of people continue to have long-lasting symptoms of dry eyes after LASIK.
Cons of SMILE eye surgery- It is only approved for people with nearsightedness or myopia so if you are farsighted then SMILE may not be a good option for you.
The chances of power coming back ( which is called Regression) are lower in SMILE eye surgery.
LASIK and SMILE both do their best jobs in their own way while SMILE may lower the risk of certain complications but LASIK has been the most commonly performed eye surgery.
