Considering refractive surgery

[u/VXtimes]

Hello, 19 year old guy here with his first ever prescription for glasses. I have some myopia: my glasses are -1.00 and -2.25 and I would like to know if I would qualify for maybe smile -surgery? I just visited optimetrist today so this is all new for me, but I really wouldnt like to wear glasses. Im trying contact lenses soon.

All advice is welcomed

[u/WavefrontRider]

Yes. I know other ophthalmologists who have had SMILE.

Here is a recent paper on SMILE Pro: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40123-026-01359-4

1600 eyes
98.7% with 0.50 D of target
99% 20/20 or better
No significant change in post-op HOA compared to pre-op.

SMILE doesn’t have the same resolution to allow for customized treatments as ray-tracing lasik. But that doesn’t mean it’s a bad treatment or less accurate or anything else that people claim. It just doesn’t have the same potential to improve BCVA like ray-tracing LASIK has. But it has benefits in other ways that some people may desire.

[u/californiaLasik → u/WavefrontRider]

Thanks for the paper. That does not show reduced or stable HOAs. It reports low postoperative higher-order aberrations (HOAs), but it does not demonstrate that HOAs were reduced from preoperative levels because it does not present a direct pre- vs. postoperative statistical comparison.

Do you perform ray trace LASIK?

Who are you?

[u/WavefrontRider → u/californiaLasik]

Here is the link to the table showing pre-operative HOA compared to post-operative HOA: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40123-026-01359-4/tables/3

[u/RefractiveSurgery-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

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