Small Incision Lenticule Extraction. Have you heard about it?

Have you heard about SMILE? Let’s give you a hint, it’s not your facial expression but it’s a surgery which stands for Small Incision Lenticule Extraction (SMILE), and is a bladeless procedure which is minimally invasive. SMILE eye surgery is suitable for people with or without astigmatism, and it can be a great alternative to the more well-known LASIK treatments. It is a unique treatment with the proper procedure which includes:

• Your doctor will give anesthetic eye drops to numb the eye and ensures for the painless treatment.
• Carl Zeiss Visu Max laser is used to place a number of pulses on the cornea’s centre with extraordinary precision.
• The pulses from the laser then create tiny bubbles, approximately less than one-hundredth of the width of a human hair. The bubbles create the outline for the tissue that needs to be removed.
• The laser creates a small connecting tunnel which allows the doctor to draw out the tissue, therefore changing the shape of the cornea to improve your vision.
• The whole procedure is completed in less than 15 minutes for both eyes, with the laser only being used for a small proportion of this time.

• Clear visual acuity: SMILE produces virtually the same visual acuity as LASIK for the correction of vision, without the need to create a LASIK-style corneal flap.
• Less Dry Eye: There may be less risk of dry eyes after SMILE surgery because of the surgery that takes place within the cornea without a large corneal flap, fewer corneal nerves are affected by the procedure.
• Maintain Shape: The SMILE incision may also enable the cornea to have more biomechanical stability after SMILE, compared with its ability to maintain shape.
• Less Dehydration: It minimizes the risk of needing an additional procedure after SMILE for correction of high amounts of myopia, possibly because less dehydration of the cornea occurs during the SMILE procedure.
• Quick procedure: SMILE is really quick as compared to laser eye surgery procedures. Total treatment time is usually around 20-30 minutes. If you are thinking of having laser vision correction, the best thing to do is to book a consultation with your doctor. Your surgeon will be able to tell you whether SMILE laser eye surgery is the best option for your requirements.

Dr Ritika

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