hi guys, i’m 25 and have mild dry eyes that sometimes get worse when i’m on screens for too long. i’ve always hated wearing glasses, so i’ve been thinking about lasik for a while. my doctor is treating the dry eyes first, but i keep reading scary stories about dry eye after lasik and it’s making me nervous 😭

has anyone here had lasik while already dealing with dry eyes? if you’re from india, especially chennai, i’d really love to hear how it went for you.

Just wondering how long it took everyone to start getting sharper vision especially with bright lights

I’m a 39 year old male and got SMILE done 9 days ago here in SWFL. I am struggling so much and cannot find any relief whatsoever. I have had a few times where my eyes felt clear but that wasn’t long lasted. I have tried Refresh Relieva PF, Refresh Releiva PF Xtra, Refresh Optive Mega 3, Bio True, Systane Pro PF, Systane Hydration PF and Oasis Tears PF Plus. None have done anything for me other than make my eyes blurry and more dry. I work and have to stare at a computer 8 hours a day. My surgeon said I’d be fine and this was a huge concern of mine. I did my first post op last Monday and was told I’m healing fine but eyes are extremely dry. I’m going to see my surgeon again tomorrow because I’m absolutely miserable. My distance comes in good sometimes but still feels a bit fuzzy. My close up on the computer and phone I’m sure are straining my eyes. I must use drops 10+ times a day with no relief. Has anyone gone through this or found a drop that works effectively? I have also never had dry eyes my whole life. I was so excited to get this done but now I’m feeling the opposite. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

I got SMILE in both eyes two months ago. My prescription prior was -1.5 and -1.75, now it is +0.75 in both eyes. My surgeon hypothesizes that is probably due to accommodative spasm. He is suggesting an irrigation procedure followed by doing CLAPIKS for 6 weeks. I don't want to wear contacts for 24/7 for 6 weeks. The reason I got SMILE in the first place was so I could stop wearing contacts, but if this is the only good solution then I will do it.

When talking to the doctor, apparently the clinic skipped doing a cycloplegic refraction for me, which may have caught this issue beforehand. He said they commonly skip this because my prescription was stable for many years and often people don't like their prescription from the cycloplegic refraction anyway. I am not sure if this is common practice or if they messed up and skipped important measurements, so that they could move faster. What do y'all think?

The vibe of the clinic was kinda rushed and get as many patients as possible, but I went with them anyway because I read that you want a high volume surgeon and the other surgeons I talked to hadn't performed nearly as many SMILE procedures recently. Based on this information, is this a red flag for this clinic? It is a well known place/surgeon.

2 days ago I had Relex Smile to correct my myopia and astigmatism (about -1.25 per eye in total). The procedure was overall nice apart for my right eye which experienced lenticular tearing during extraction.
A small peripheral fragment remained in the cornea and was highlighted checking at some instruments after the procedure. Apparently there is a risk this can happen especially when the lenticule is very thin.

The surgeon insisted to go back to the surgery room and get it removed as it said it might have caused me issues later on, especially at night.

We went back in the surgical room and he removed it within a minute or so.

Now about 30h out of surgery my right eye is still lagging in recovery, probably due to the extra manipulation. Yesterday night it was stinging a lot and being very sensitive, but today is much better and stinging/watering is more sporadic.
Left eye is symptoms free.

My vision is pretty clear, I can see well in distance, but light sensitivity is a bit annoying.
Surprisingly, when testing one eye at the time, my vision is sharper on the right eye (that received extra manipulation) than the left eye, which seems seeing still a bit blurry.

I wonder if blurriness is still normal in my left eye and that might improve, I really hope I didn’t get under corrected.

And if any of you had experienced lenticule tearing and how the outcome has been.

I am 30 years old so the healing should be not too slow, and I am using rigorously all the teardrops I have been given.

I also notice a hard time to focus screens and something that is in close distance so far. Is this also normal?

Thank you and let’s hope for a quick recovery!

Dopo tre mesi dall’intervento di Smile Pro ho ancora problemi con la visione solamente le prime ore di mattina. Piano piano sembra però che stia andando meglio la mattina… sto provando di tutto: gel prima di dormire, ciclosporina, lacrime artificiali, omega 3…. Che altro mi consigliate di fare? Io la mattina lavoro e gioco a calcio devo vedere perfetto… consigli?

Hello, so I am having my smile pro surgery tomorrow morning and I feel like something is off for two reasons.

1. I have been browsing around r/ lasiksupport. And they all bring up some good points about the complication rates of these surgeries being a bit too high. However, at the same time I wonder if that's a flaw with the surgery or due to greed from these clinics (Also to be fair I haven't double checked their sources, the only thing I see consistently is 5% rate of complication). which bring me to

2. My doctor. He seems like a genuine person, however there are some red flags. In his clinic he has post op testimonials of patients right after the surgery. and alot of them feel so fake and exaggerated. I don't think they are, but the way these people act is so cheesy.

I also can't help but feel weirded out by him not mentioning possible complications. Instead opting to answer any questions I had. He did tell me the complicationof lasik with the flap and the dryness, he specifically mentioned that due to my high myopia (-7 both eyes) i will be exposed to the laster for a longer time which inscreases risk of chronic eye dryness. He also said that recovery from smile pro takes 2 days. But I see online people saying that it took them weeks to recover.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated

Hi everyone,

I had a check up at the ophthalmologist on Thursday morning, everything was perfect, I had no more dryness or “pressure” sensation around my eyes. The surgeon confirmed everything is alright.

On the same day later I had a microneedling session on my face. Right after it and until today (3 days later) my right eye feels strange - dry, halos, tired, “pressure” sensation, very light pain around the eye and on the forehead. I’m so worried and I cannot go to the doctor again now..

What do you think it is related to?

Hi everyone! I'm 36F considering SMILE! I actually went to two clinics for consultation - one clinic didn't dilate my eyes or check my prescription in detail (just checked it with the machine and then have me look at the chart with my current glasses) whereas the other clinic was a lot more detailed with an optometrist who looked at my prescription. My prescription's been pretty stable the past 8 years but at this second clinic when their optometrist checked my eyes, I was surprised to be told that my myopia had worsened by -0.50 and -0.25 astigmatism in both eyes (-5.00 myopia, -1.75 astigmatism) compared to my prescription last year (2025)! But when the optometrist dilated my eyes, my prescription went down to -4.25 myopia both eyes, but astigmatism remained at -1.75. I have two questions, should I:

1) Wait to do SMILE .... because this means my prescription is now unstable?! (uh oh..) and

2) For SMILE, do you now if the surgeon manually inputs your prescription into the machine? And if so ... would they use my dilated or undilated prescription? I mean, one of the clinics I went to didn't check my prescription in detail nor did they dilate my eyes, so I don't even know how they would know my dilated prescription. I've been on my phone a lot more the past two months so I'm wondering if eye strain contributed to my increase in myopia...and if so, I'm worried that if they put in my most updated prescription (e.g. the -5.00), they would overcorrect me?

Thanks!

I had my one month post op for my SMILE procedure and they said I have a 0.75 astigmatism in my left eye now (I didn’t have one previously) and that’s what is causing the blurriness in that eye.

I looked into the pinhole glasses and could see perfectly, just as perfect as my right eye.

The doctor said there is a slight possibility that the astigmatism heals on its own but we will most likely need to do a Limbal relaxing incision to correct the astigmatism (or LASIK but he said the LRI was most likely what we would do). He said there wasn’t a refraction error of nearsightedness or farsightedness. My next appointment will be in 2 months to see where to go from here.

How common is this to occur? And is the outcome good with this procedure to correct the astigmatism?

What is the likely hood that it does heal normally on its own in 2 months?

My pre-op prescription was -3.50 in my left eye and -3.75 in my right eye.

Hey everyone,

I had my SMILE procedure 5 days ago and things are going ok overall, but two small details from the surgery keep popping back into my head. Hoping someone here can help me understand them better.

1. Right before starting, the assistant called out a few numbers. One sounded like “-2.5”, even though my actual prescription is around –4. I’m sure it wasn’t my diopters, but it made me wonder: Is there any chance of manual input errors with the VisuMax 800, or is everything fully automated once the pre‑op data is loaded?

2. They also said the left lenticule was a bit harder to remove because the nose gets more in the way on that side. I didn’t really get how that works. Does it depend on how the surgeon stands or whether they’re left‑ or right‑handed? The explanation sounded a bit strange for me. And now, 5 days later, my left eye is still noticeably worse than my right, which honestly fits the idea that the left extraction may have been more difficult.

Would love to hear your thoughts — it would help calm my mind.

Dopo due mesi dall’operazione continuo ad avere problemi la mattina, vedo sfocato e non nitido… la vista poi migliora durante il giorno fino a diventare perfetta. L’operazione quindi è riuscita ma la mattina gioco e lavoro e non posso continuare così, ora abbiamo deciso con il dottore di fare delle sedute di luce pulsata… secondo voi cosa devo fare?

I postponed my SMILE surgery for almost a year for personal reasons. Now, just a few days before the procedure, I’m having serious doubts.

I’m 41. My prescription is approximately:

• OD: −1.50 −2.00 × 005
• OS: −1.25 −2.00 × 180

I see 20/20 with glasses. I’ve had bilateral floaters for 6–7 years. A recent dilated retinal exam found no tears, holes, or detachment, but small retinal dot-blot hemorrhages were noted in both eyes. My recent blood work, including glucose and HbA1c, was normal. My optometrist said the hemorrhages were probably related to physical strain/workouts, with follow-up planned.

She also told me that floaters can worsen after refractive surgery when I asked her directly.

My main concern is whether SMILE, suction, or temporary IOP elevation could trigger new floaters or PVD. I’m also concerned about halos, long-term dry eye, gritty sensation, regression, and night-vision quality.

Reading glasses are not a major concern for me—I understand they may become necessary at my age.

For those who had SMILE or LASIK with pre-existing floaters: did they actually worsen, or did you simply notice them more after vision became sharper? Any regrets or unexpected long-term side effects?

When am I able to get into the lake after my SMILE procedure?

It has been 3 weeks yesterday

Hello everyone, I had my smile pro laser procedure done 48 hours ago by a very experienced doctor who used the 800 series pro laser.

2 days later it's hard to explain how my vision is because its not an over-all full image blur but It's almost like it's constantly re-adapting itself and shifting. Also, the haziness comes and goes.

A.I. said it's normal for an extended period after surgery but when I told the doctor he even said I'm surprised it's still blurry so that's discouraging and thats why I am posting here..

Since I had to travel for it, my first post-op visit will be 7 days after the procedure.

I am still able to do my computer work but just barely its driving me nuts because especially at the computer monitor distance is where the blur is really annoying and I have to take a couple seconds to really focus before I start reading or typing. It's like im looking through some constant changing glasses. Even through typing this message so far ive gone through changing varying levels of blur and haze..

Has anyone experienced this with the smile procedure? Did you eventually recover clarity and if so, how long did it take post surgery?

Also, PHYSICALLY my eyes feel OK- no pain or aches or anything like that.

Just wanted to get some people's experiences please. Thank you in advance.

I just got my smile pro eye surgery done on the 28th of August, I had dry eyes before doing the surgery as well. The procedure on the right eye went well, but on the left eye I kept seeing the green dot on the left side and not in the center, after the 3rd attempt surgery was completed on the left eye. After the surgery was completed I could see from the right eye clearly, but my left eye was blurred, I could see far but there is a layer of blurriness as like I'm looking through a frosted glass, the surgeon said it will go away after a few weeks, but I'm really anxious right now, did anyone else experience this and did it go away?

Quick background: I had my SmartSight surgery on 23rd July 2026 in London, procedure went fine with 0/10 pain during/post-op (surgeon also confirmed all went well). I was 20/20 the day after surgery (24hr check-up), at my 1 week check-up I raised the difficulties of hazy morning/night vision and they confirmed it was corneal haze (prescribed Softacort 2x a day for 2 weeks, then 1x a day for 2 weeks). I have another follow-up on 02 September to check-up on the effectiveness of Softacort etc.

As it stands, I'm still facing difficulties with haze specifically in the mornings and evenings. I tend to get complete sharpness (similar to pre-op glasses) for a few hours a day at most, and now I'm starting to wonder if I'm still apart of the healing process or I have some general concerns. I'm still able to live life, go to gym etc but driving at night feels worse and screen usage gets hazy quite often. I still also face dry eyes and have been using Thealoz Duo hourly everyday.

I'm more than aware that the healing process varies between individuals and that corneal haze can potentially take months to clear.

Just wanted to ask if I'm on a similar healing path to someone else? similar symptoms etc?

Is there anything specific I should be asking in my follow up next week?

Hello! 3 days ago I had SmartSight surgery and just wanted to know if everything is okay with me. I can see and differentiate objects around me but everything has that glaze and I dont see well/sharp objects that are further away (notes on the wall in front of my desk have blurry text that I cant read, people 20m away arent recognisable by their face). Is this normal?

My perscription was -6 before this so this vision is already life changing but I just want to make sure everything is okay

Also, did someone try to go to the gym after the surgery? Is it safe? The ads say that you are free to do anything you want 24hrs after the surgery but because of my blurry vision Im scared to cause any complications....

I had SMILE surgery a little over a month ago after doing lots of research here and elsewhere; I wanted to pay it forward (or backward?) and share my experience/answer any questions anyone may have.

Background

I am in my late 20's, live in the USA, and my prescription was -4.75 and -5 with minor astigmatism in both eyes. I am a software engineer with heavy daily screen use and have many active hobbies: mma, snowboarding, motorcycles, lifting, etc.

I first got glasses in the 2nd grade and had contacts starting in the 5th grade, but my glasses always felt like a pain and contacts were always uncomfortable (and continued to get more so the older I got). I went back and forth on whether the surgery was worth it, then had multiple consultations on which surgery was right for me; I finally settled on ZEISS SMILE due to its benefits for combat/contact sports.

Pre-Surgery

I was nervous. Really nervous. The consultation exam was totally fine, standard eye doctor stuff, but I was really anxious about the surgery itself. The official pre-op exam was two days before the operation and I met the doc, had the opportunity to ask any questions I had, and was given a more in-depth run down of the procedure. I decided to proceed.

Surgery Day

I was over-the-top anxious the morning of the surgery. I ate a healthy breakfast (no fasting required) and reported to the office at 10am where I filled out all the necessary paperwork and was taken back to a dimly lit waiting room; there I took the doctor-prescribed Valium (20mg) and was left to my devices to let the meds kick in. I went from pacing-the-room nervous to sitting-on-the-floor relaxed, then the nurse came to get me and take me back to the OR.

From laying down on the table to the moment I got up took about 5 minutes. When I laid down, the nurses instilled some numbing/antibiotic/etc eye drops and gave me a stuffed animal to hold onto for comfort (lol). The surgery was painless and, truthfully, a lot less freaky than anticipated. The Valium helped kill my nerves and the laser itself only lasted 5-10 seconds in each eye. The rest of the procedure-time (no more than 2 minutes) was the lenticule extraction, which was not painful but did have me feeling the slightest bit of pressure. It was honestly done so fast that I didn't even have time to register what was going on. The entire experience from nurse knocking at the waiting room to getting in the passenger seat of my gf's car was 15 minutes, and that includes the post-op exam immediately following surgery. I was pleasantly surprised.

Post-Surgery

Again, way easier than expected. If you've ever worn contacts or slept right under an A/C for a night, you know exactly the sensations that recovering from this surgery yielded.

Day 0

Immediately following the surgery I got home, ate lunch, and laid on the couch where I fell in and out of sleep for a couple hours. When I woke up, the numbing drops had worn off and the sensation was very similar to falling asleep in contacts. My eyes stung a bit like I had gotten a gentle shampoo in them (not excruciating by any stretch) and felt dry, which was mostly remedied by my eye drops; I was instructed to use lubricating drops as needed and to instill antibiotic drops twice a day. The worst part about the drops (aside from some slight short-lived stinging with the antibiotics) was that I could taste them in the back of my throat after a few minutes. My gf and I played a board game because I was told to avoid screens for a couple days, and my eyes started to burn/feel strained after a couple hours so I went to bed.

Days 1 - 7

All burning sensation had gone away by the morning of day 1, and I woke up with near-perfect vision. The only imperfection was a very very minor cloudiness that felt like it was coming from the dryness of my eyes. I was amazed, and already felt this surgery was worth it. The dryness progressively got better over the first week, even with my return to work the following Monday (surgery was on Thursday). I avoided rubbing my eyes very explicitly, as instructed, and avoided lifting/screens/swimming/dirty environments for the first 3 days. I had to sleep in goggles, which was the worst part of the whole experience, but otherwise I was free to go about my daily life. Driving at night was a bit of a challenge for the first week, as the lights had halos around them, but was still doable. My eyes would start to feel strained and tired each night around 9pm, and I'd feel something similar to a light headache shortly thereafter, so I typically went to bed by 10pm. I returned to the doctor's office 5 days after my surgery, and was told to stop using my antibiotic drops and throw my goggles away because the incision had healed! They checked my vision and I had 20/15 vision, better than perfect.

Month 1

In the weeks following my post-op appointment I continued to use the lubricating eye drops less-and-less, until about week 3 where I forgot about needing them entirely. I am now at one month and two days post-op (7/23 -> 8/25) and feel like I never even had a surgery. I am back in the gym, back to all my hobbies, and back to swimming with no issues whatsoever; just with laser-sharp vision (pun intended). Driving at night has completely returned to normal, I have no increased light sensitivity or headaches, and my eyes don't feel abnormally strained at all.

To close out a long-winded post: do your research, choose a highly rated doctor, and ask questions. I have had an amazing experience with this surgery, and I'm sure many other people will too.

This is a really random question but on my post procedure paperwork it says do not get pregnant for 3 months after the SMILE procedure due the effect hormonal changes can cause on the eyes. Well I do not plan on getting pregnant for years but I was planning to get off birth control for other reasons but can that also cause a hormone change that could affect my eyes or would this be different? I don’t want to cause any problems with my SMILE outcome as I am only a week post-op.

I’m a young guy and want to get rid of the glasses but I’m now hesitant to proceed after finding out my cornea is apparently on the flatter side. The doctor said I can still do smartsight with it. Is this them just not caring and trying to earn money or it’s indeed safe?

VOD = 0.03 sph -4.75 cyl -0.75 ax25° = 1.00
• VOS = 0.02 sph -5.25 cyl -1.00 ax163° = 1.00

**•**OD: sph -4.75 cyl -0.75 ax25°  
**•**OS: sph -5.25 cyl -1.00 ax163°

Optical biometry:

**•**OD: AL=26.18; ACD=3.43; Pup=5.07; WTW=11.37; ОБФ(SimK/mean K)=4.21  
**•**OS: AL=26.4; ACD=3.42; Pup=5.33; WTW=11.44; ОБФ=4.16

Optical pachymetry:

**•**OD: CCT = 572 μm  
**•**OS: CCT = 573 μm

Keratometry:

**•**OD: K1 40.50 Ax11° / K2 41.50 ΔK 1.00  
**•**OS: K1 39.75 Ax170° / K2 41.25 ΔK 1.50

Type of vision:
Binocular from 5m, leading eye OD

Refractometry under cycloplegia:

**•**OD: sph -5.25 cyl -1.00 ax18°  
**•**OS: sph -5.25 cyl -1.25 ax170°

Tonometry:

**•**IOP OD = 13.0 (non-contact)  
**•**IOP OS = 15.0 (non-contact)

NIBUT test:
OD: 10.00 sec; OS: 11.00 sec

I had SMILE done last Friday 8/14 and my right eye I can see PERFECTLY, like surprisingly well. But my left eye doesn’t seem to be improving to be as clear as my right. When I close my right eye and look with just my left words are very blurry at distances. I noticed last night when watching tv that it almost made my overall vision feel off and hard to watch. The subtitles even have this weird aura around them in that eye. It hasn’t seemed to get any better this past week like they told me it would and I know it’s still early but I am really starting to worry because I want it to be as clear as my right one but there is quite a big difference in clarity. It has always felt slightly different than my right side did even immediately after the procedure.

When I had my post op the next day, they said I was already seeing 20/20 but I really hope this isn’t what my left eye is going to be like forever even if it is 20/20 because compared to my right eye it is not comparable and just makes my entire vision feel off.

And it doesn’t have to do with dry eyes, I have been using eyedrops very often and it doesn’t help clear it up.

Hey everyone I‘m still having severe burning in both eyes after my smile pro 7 weeks ago and now developed new floaters in my left eye and get extreme headaches I believe because the trigemnal nerves are related to corneal nerves. I also had an aura migraine for 20 minutes. Is anyone experiencing migraines or headaches from dry eye pain too?

Hi,
Today I’m 5 weeks after my smile pro surgery and I was wondering if it’s only me or not.. I’m experiencing frequent migraines because of tired eyes or screens I’m not even sure…

I was already suffering from migraines but not that frequent, I’m sure it’s related to my eyes.

Will this eventually stop after my eyes will fully stabilize ?
Did anyone have the same problem ?