SMILE
What is SMILE?
Do you depend on visual aids like glasses or contact lenses? If you long to wake up and see clearly, you may want to consider a procedure like SMILE.
The talented and experienced team at Cape Fear Cataract & Cornea provides high-quality eye care, including life-changing procedures like SMILE to help you see more clearly.
SMILE, short for Small Incision Lenticule Extraction, is a minimally invasive refractive laser eye procedure that treats refractive errors, including nearsightedness and astigmatism. SMILE uses a femtosecond laser to correct these refractive errors and help you see clearly.
SMILE procedures performed at Cape Fear Cataract & Cornea use a VisuMax femtosecond laser. The VisuMax femtosecond laser uses innovative, state-of-the-art technology to perform SMILE procedures precisely and quickly, ensuring patients achieve the most optimal results possible.
Because it’s minimally invasive, the femtosecond laser creates significantly smaller incisions than LASIK flaps. Patients also experience a shorter recovery, noticing clear vision with minimal downtime.
What Makes SMILE Different from LASIK?
While SMILE and LASIK both help improve your vision, these procedures differ in how they approach this and their outcomes. While both procedures can correct nearsightedness and astigmatism, only LASIK can correct farsightedness or hyperopia, making it a good choice for people with these refractive errors. LASIK also involves creating a flap in the cornea and then uses a second laser to help correct your vision and ensure you see clearly.
SMILE is different because no flap is created during the procedure. Rather than a flap, SMILE makes a small incision in your cornea. Then, a lenticule, about the size of a contact lens, is created. The lenticule is removed through this small incision, making SMILE an incredibly minimally invasive procedure. Removing the lenticule from your eye corrects nearsightedness and astigmatism, giving you the crisp, clear vision you’ve always dreamed of. Most SMILE patients end up with 20/20 vision or better, these results are equivalent to LASIK.
Because SMILE is so minimally invasive, fewer nerves in the cornea are disturbed during the procedure. This means that with SMILE, patients enjoy a quicker recovery and have less irritation or dry eye symptoms after surgery.
Who is a Good Candidate for SMILE?
Even though SMILE is an incredible procedure, it’s not suitable for everyone. You may be a good candidate for SMILE if:
- You’re between the ages of 21 and 45 years of age
- You have a stable prescription that hasn’t changed in a year or more
- You’re not currently pregnant or nursing
- You have realistic expectations about what SMILE can achieve
- You’re nearsighted
- You have mild astigmatism
- You have healthy corneas
If you think SMILE could be the vision correction procedure you’ve been waiting for, schedule a consultation at Cape Fear Cataract & Cornea now! A refractive surgery consultation is the only way to determine if you qualify for the procedure.
What to Expect During SMILE
You’ll receive numbing eye drops before the SMILE procedure at Cape Fear & Cataract. These eye drops ensure you won’t feel any pain during the procedure, and you’ll stay comfortable.
Once the numbing eye drops have dispersed over the surface of your eye, your surgeon will create a lenticule using the VisuMax femtosecond laser. After creating the lenticule, they will open the small incision in your cornea, which allows them to remove the lenticule. Once the lenticule has been removed from your eye, the shape of your cornea is changed, which corrects your refractive error.
There is no need for stitches or sutures, as your eyes will heal on their own. There is no LASIK flap to heal and no need to remove any epithelium as in PRK.
The laser only takes about 30 seconds, and the SMILE procedure only takes a few minutes per eye. Once the SMILE procedure is complete, you can go home. However, because your vision will still be recovering, you’ll need a friend or family member to drive you.
What is the Recovery Like from SMILE?
After SMILE, you may have blurry vision. This is temporary and should improve quickly.
Once you get home from your SMILE procedure, rest your eyes for a few hours. Resting is one of the best ways to kickstart your recovery process.
Avoid straining your eyes with tasks like using your computer, looking at your phone for a prolonged time, or anything else that could be strenuous. You’ll also need to avoid getting water in your eyes for a few weeks meaning you shouldn’t use hot tubs or pools or go into any lakes, streams, rivers, or other water sources while your eyes are healing.
You’ll be required to attend follow-up appointments with your eye doctor after SMILE, with the first one occurring the day after your SMILE procedure. These appointments are crucial to the recovery process and ensure that your eyes heal without complications or infection.
What Will My Vision Be Like After SMILE?
Many patients notice almost immediate visual improvements after SMILE. Your vision will continue improving in the days and weeks after SMILE.
You may notice that as your vision improves, things around you look sharper, clearer, and crisper than ever before. Most SMILE patients end up with 20/20 vision or better.
Schedule a Consultation With Dr. Justin Needham
Are you ready to change your life? Take the first step by requesting a consultation at Cape Fear & Cataract in Wilmington, NC, today! Isn’t it time for the sharper vision you’ve always dreamed about?
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“Excellent physician! I feel very comfortable with him taking care of my eyes. He is a honest physician. Staff and office is wonderful! I would highly recommend him for all your eye needs!”
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