7 Myths About SMILE
Eyes are among the vital organs of the body and imagining life without a vision is a nightmare. Some people even dread helpful eye surgeries thinking of any mishap. Moreover it is a common perception that an eye surgery is painful and chances of anything going wrong are as high as ever. Here are a few myths associated with SMILE surgery and we are breaking them down for you in this blog:
The Surgery Is New And Developing So Better Wait Till Any Advancements
SMILE is Small Incision Lenticule Extraction, a type of surgery that uses advanced precision laser technique for treating myopia, also known as near-sightedness, and can be regarded as a more precise form of LASIK. It is a relatively new technique when compared to LASIK or other surgeries, but much safer and effective. FDA tracked patient recovery data and recorded that recoveries from this procedure are a long-term and an all-time highest.
Glasses Will Be Required Post-Procedure
You do not necessarily require glasses after the surgery, unless you are looking to strain your eyes all over again and avoid precautions which is not a fault at the end of your surgeon. According to FDA, 98.5% of subjects had an improved vision and around 93% people have a near perfect vision from this particular surgery. However, only a 2.5% of subjects, after a year of surgery go back to seeking medical assistance for weak vision again, but the rest of patients either improved or stayed consistent beyond that. People can expect similar experience as this participant, “came in for a consultation because frankly I was just sick of the glasses ordeal and dry eyes due to contacts.”
Eyes, like can human organ are bound to decay with age unless taken well care of, and no treatment can guarantee to stop or reverse the process, however you can attain a perfect vision now and take care of your eyes for old age so as to prolong wearing glasses as long as possible.
You Can Get Blind Too From Incorrect Surgery
This specific procedure is not only smooth but effective as well. Only a minor fraction of people reported a glare after the procedure, but that too vanished within a few months from surgery. Moreover, such minor issues can nevertheless be overcome with a corrective procedure. This procedure unlike other surgeries, leaves no chance for a flap-related complication in the eyes post-surgery, and is multiple times safer than even LASIK, since the incision used is 80% refined than that of LASIK and delivers precise performance as well as avoids giving the post-surgery dry eye symptoms.
Procedure Is Painful And Can Go Wrong Anytime
It is our instinct to blink when an outer body makes contact with our eyes, and most people find it hard to fight the instinct to blink during open eye surgery. For this specific surgery, anesthetic eye drops are used that numb the eye nerves and make it easier to perform surgery. Moreover, a speculum and suction is also applied to the eye to fix it in place through the duration of surgery which is barely 15 – 20 minutes upon one eye. It is a surprise for all patients who report that the surgery is a painless one. A patient expressed his experience as “The procedure itself was painless. The most critical part is staring at the green light for 15 seconds as it circles around your pupils…”
SMILE Requires A Long Recovery
As discussed earlier, this surgery does not require arduous care after the surgery, nor any bed-rest for longer time. Moreover, the subject does not even have to be dependent upon an assistance for care, for longer period. In fact, patients are requested to avoid sunlight and other bright lights for only a day after the surgery, and medications to keep eye wet, apart from that you are free to move about within a day’s time. At most, you could be required to avoid any type of work that strains your eyes, such as computer related operations, for only a couple of days, other than which you are lucky to proceed with daily routine as soon as possible. A SMILE participant records “I got the SMILE procedure performed… almost a couple of months ago…. Investing in my vision is by far the best thing I have done all year. Going from having to wear RGB lenses to waking up being able to see everything.”
Severe Prescriptions Cannot Be Treated
This specific surgery is designed to take care of vision related complications such as myopia and astigmatism. Though it does not deal with far-sightedness at the moment, it is successful procedure given complications in near-sightedness as long as no other under-lying vision problems are present. A patient recalls ‘I had about -10 prescription on both eyes. Yes, it was really bad, one of my biggest fears was being stranded somewhere if I happen to lose my glasses/contacts. Never again will I have the fear. I got the SMILE procedure done!”
SMILE Does Not Guarantee Permanent Results
There is a fraction of reality to the statement that this procedure does not guarantee that there won’t be need for further surgeries over time. Some patients have different underlying health conditions and their eyes behave differently when healing after the surgery and there could be the need for another procedure. Though a second similar procedure is not recommended on the same eye, but help can be sought from other procedures for a corrective measure, such as after this particular surgery, a procedure may be required to refine the shape of cornea, which is a better option than having to enter old-age with a weaker vision since a corrective surgery can result in a better vision as you age.
Most of your concerns have been addressed above, however if you feel to know more, you can book a consultation with an expert right now.
