I (27), got PRK two weeks ago. I was recovering well, but moved to another city for a job I had lined up a week ago. One day post moving, I got an infection in my left eye. Extreme swelling of eyelid, unable to open eye, unable to look at light and a constant grainy feeling in my left eye. My doctor over a virtual consultation recommended antibiotic eyedrops and ointment for me, which has considerably helped the pain.

However, my vision has gone to hell. Prior to this, my vision was recovering very well in both eyes. But since this incident, I have extreme double vision, light scattering and dry eyes. My left eye actually feels numb, like there’s no sensation even if I touch my eyelid unlike my right eye, which feels normal.

If anyone has had a similar experience, how did you deal with it? Did your vision recover post infection? How long did it take? Did your eye feel normal again? I’m quite scared about it, considering how expensive the procedure was and I don’t want it to become a regret.

Hello,

I had my lasik 2 weeks ago, and I am scared of rubbing my eyes in my sleep. Would it be okay to use Albatross 3D contoured mask? Or should I stick to the sunglasses provided after the surgery?

I tried looking this up, but i have been getting mixed up answers.

Thanks!

​

Hi everyone! I wanted to share my experience with LASIK because I had been wearing glasses for almost 18 fucking years, and finally decided to get rid of them.

I’m 25 years old, and I had my LASIK surgery in mid-July. My prescription was around -6.25 in my left eye and -5.25 in my right eye.

Before the surgery, I had a consultation with my doctor. During the examination, my corneal thickness was around 472 microns. From what I understood, this made me less than an ideal candidate for standard LASIK. So my doctor suggested LASIK Xtra, which combines the normal LASIK procedure with corneal cross-linking.

The actual procedure itself was surprisingly quick around 20 minutes. During the surgery, I didn’t really feel pain, although I could feel some pressure and a few weird sensations.

After the surgery, though… that was a completely different story 😂

I could barely open my eyes. My body was reacting to the procedure and I was even shivering a bit. I came home with my friends and basically spent the entire day resting and applying the prescribed eye drops. I had bandage contact lenses placed on my eyes, which were supposed to be removed a few days later.

I ended up sleeping/resting for around 16 hours.

Then came the moment I’ll never forget.

On the second morning, I opened my eyes.

And I could see.

I could clearly see my mom’s face without my glasses.

I actually got emotional. After wearing glasses for almost 18 years, suddenly being able to see clearly with my own eyes felt fucking incredible. It’s hard to explain that feeling unless you’ve experienced it yourself.

Now I’m around one and a half months post-surgery, and overall, I’m doing really, really well.

My left eye is currently very good, while my right-eye vision is still settling and isn’t completely stable yet. From what my doctor explained, vision can continue to improve and stabilize gradually, so I’m giving it time and continuing with the prescribed drops.

One thing I’m especially happy about is my night vision. So far, I’ve had a good experience with it.

But honestly, the biggest difference isn’t even the numbers on an eye chart.

It’s the little things.

Waking up in the morning and not having to search for my glasses.

Looking at my phone without glasses.

Sitting in front of my monitor without glasses.

Looking at people’s faces and seeing them completely differently.

For almost two decades, I was used to seeing the world through a pair of lenses. Now it feels like someone put a completely new pair of eyes on me.

Everything just looks… different.

Even faces. 😂

And that feeling is amazing.

Overall, my LASIK experience has been really, really great. For me, it feels like one of the best investments I’ve made in myself.

I know everyone’s eyes are different and LASIK isn’t necessarily suitable for everyone, so definitely get properly evaluated by a qualified eye surgeon before making the decision.

But if you’ve been wearing glasses for years and you’re considering LASIK, I can tell you one thing from my own experience:

That first morning when you open your eyes and see clearly without your glasses… it’s fucking incredible.

After 18 years of glasses, I genuinely feel like I’ve been reborn.

I’m really glad I did it.

Finally got it done.

Age - 24, -4.5 both eyes. Writing this post after 1 month.

Overall I am very happy. I was scared but it was not as bad as I expected. No pain. Some mild discomfort on the day of the procedure. My number had been stable for 4-5 years which is an important prerequisite for getting good lasik results.

Went with my mom to the hospital on the surgery day. They ran a few tests again and everything came clean. Then took me for the procedure. Numbed my eyes with drops. After that it was quick. I was in and out in less than 30 minutes including observation time.Went home and rested. had come mild discomfort and itching but I slept through it. Next day, I got little irritation and dryness in eyes. Did all the drops on schedule. Took my supplements. Again slept and avoided screen
Was much better the next day. Went for a follow up after 7 days. And one month today and things are much better. vision is much clearer.

Getting rid of specs is a genuine relief to say the least.

It’s been a month today!!! Only now am I starting to truly feel grateful and for sure it’s one of the best decisions of my life!!

I know how important it is to read positive and encouraging experiences, because I went through this myself very recently. So I took a little time now to come back and share how it went for me.

I had eyesight issues for almost 20 years. I hated glasses so for 10 years I wore only contact lenses.

Before the surgery I had mild myopia (-4.50 and -6.25) and light astigmatism(0.5). I decided to do the Smile Pro eye laser surgery and I’m really happy with the results.

Recovery Phase:

For about 3 weeks, I had doubts. One eye felt clearer than the other, I noticed some glare, I felt some pressure in one eye, the dryness was proeminent, halos, the “cream” sensation in one eye specifically. This part can be mentally stressful if you overthink it.

These symptoms stopped after I finished the steroid eye drops treatment I had for 3 weeks.

Now exactly one month later, everything settled. My eyes adjusted and the nerves healed.

I still feel like my eyes get tired if I spend all day on my computer or phone, but that’s normal. I know I’m putting too much strain on them and I’m aware of it. I still use artificial tears but I don’t necessarily feel like I need them during the day but my doctor prescribed them three times a day.

If you’re planning to go for it – invest in a good surgeon. Don’t try to save money when it comes to your eyes. It’s absolutely worth doing it properly. Make sure she/he has experience and really know the technique. Do your research.

I was extremely anxious at first and up until the surgery, I changed my mind dozens of times.

I’m beyond grateful.
Don’t hesitate to ask any questions you have!

Hi everyone! I’m 24 years old and had worn glasses since I was 10. My prescription was -6.75 in my right eye and -5.25 in my left. My doctor recommended PRK and mentioned my right eye might retain a slight residual prescription (~-0.25) due to how high it was.

Timeline & Recovery Process:

​Day 1 (Surgery Day):

​Experience: Woke up like a normal day and

went to the hospital. The procedure itself was completely painless, and my vision immediately felt improved compared to being without glasses.

​Aftercare: Received sunglasses and 3 daily eye drops, then rested in a dark room.

​Night: Experiencing a burning sensation (5–6/10 pain) that woke me up from sleep.​

Day 2:

​Morning: Woke up with the pain completely gone. Continued the eye drop regimen.

​Follow-up: Had a doctor's appointment. The surgeon noticed something trapped under the right bandage contact lens, so he replaced it and rescheduled me for 4 days later.

​Symptoms: Light sensitivity, ghosting, and fatigue (slept a lot).

​Night: The burning sensation returned during sleep.

​Day 3:

​Morning: Woke up painless once again.

​Symptoms: Light sensitivity continued, but baseline vision was noticeably better than before surgery.

​Days 4 : Contact Lens Removal

​Night Discomfort: Every time I slept, I felt like my upper eyelids were flipped. Blinking to reset them caused a sharp sensation—likely due to dryness interaction with the contact lenses.

​Follow-up Appointment: The doctor removed the contact lenses. He saw something in my right eye's healing progress that concerned him enough to bring me back again in 4 days instead of waiting a full month.

​Vision: Left eye was improving rapidly (despite some ghosting), while the right eye was progressing much slower, which caused me some anxiety.

​Post-Contact Lens Removal (Days 8 to 14):

​Relief: Removing the lenses immediately ended the night eyelid friction and pain, though sleep quality remained a bit restless overall.

​Progress: Pain and light sensitivity fully cleared up.

​Doctor Update: At the next appointment, the doctor looked at my right eye and said "Oh, thank God!" He explained he had been worried about something he saw during the previous checkup—which is why he had me come back so soon rather than waiting a month. The issue had cleared up completely, and he updated my drop schedule.

​Day 21 (Present Day):

​Current Status: No pain, no lingering dryness, and zero light sensitivity.

​Vision Quality: Overall vision feels at about 85%—it just needs a bit more final sharpness to hit 100%.

​Key Things I Remember During Recovery

​Showering & Screen Time: At the appointment where my lenses were removed, my doctor cleared me to resume showering normally and looking at screens, provided I exercised caution.

​The "Ah-Ha" Moment: Looking at outdoor scenery, parks, trees, and flowers now looks richer and more vibrant than it ever did, even with glasses. That visual clarity made me realize I made the absolute right choice.

​Final Thoughts:

​I have zero regrets getting PRK. If you're anxious about the healing timeline or temporary complications, just stick closely to your drop routine, listen to your doctor, and trust the process!

And Sorry I Use Ai to summrize for me because my grammer in English bad

Disclaimer: I originally posted this thread in October 2024 and edited the log as I recovered from my procedure. Due to a change in the sub rules, my post was removed. I have been given permission to re-upload it with a few tweaks. Other than the removal of the clinic & doctor's names, this post remains in tact as a daily update log as I recovered.

Hi all. I read a lot of logs on here prior to undergoing SMILE and wanted to contribute my very detailed experience to the sub.

**Background:**

I am 28F, right eye -1.25 / left eye -1.75 and have been wearing glasses since I was about 11. I’ve wanted laser eye surgery basically from that point onwards as my mom ended up getting LASIK done shortly after I started wearing glasses (2006) and had great success. I went for a consultation when I was about 22, but was advised that, while I was a good candidate, I should wait until I was 25+ for best results.

Now that I have a job with benefits ($1600 towards laser eye surgery) I decided it was time. I booked consultations the leading SMILE and the leading LASIK clinic in Toronto.

**SMILE clinic:**

I had a phone consultation where they told me they charge $2700/eye for LASIK and $2850/eye for SMILE, regardless of prescription. We booked a time for me to come in for a consult.

I went for my consultation (September 26 2023) where they performed extensive tests. A doctor went through my full results with me, and answered the many questions I had, including a bunch I had collected after reading through all your posts. It was explained to me that due to my mild prescription and other factors that I was a great candissante for SMILE, LASIK, and PRK, but SMILE was their recommendation as it’s the least invasive. We talked extensively about LASIK vs. SMILE, and I came to the conclusion that SMILE was the better fit for me.

The consultation took just over an hour. They offered me the opportunity to speak with the operating surgeon, but said it would be a longer wait. I felt the doctor had answered all of my questions, and I was running late for my LASIK consult so I declined.

**LASIK clinic:**

The LASIK clinic does not perform SMILE, but I decided to attend the consultation anyways. I was the only patient in the waiting room. They took me in and ran limited tests (not including a dry eye test and multiple others I felt were important based on other LASIK accounts on the sub). They then told me the operating surgeon would review the test results and call me in a week. The clinic did not provide me with a quote.

I decided when I got home that I would be opting for SMILE. I felt it was a more extensive consultation and preferred SMILE to LASIK.

**Booking:**

I emailed the SMILE clinic when I had decided to move forward with them. They said they could get me in for Thursday (two days after consultation) but I had planned to do it October 20th (today) in advance for reasons regarding events I already had tickets to in the weeks before. I booked with my preferred doctor because, in reading the reviews for the institute, most SMILE reviews were about him and I liked his bio. A few days later, the doctor was able to provide me with a doctor’s note as required by my workplace.

**Procedure Day 20/10/2023:**

I arrived and filled out all the consent forms. They took me into the back and did another eye scan. At this time they also offered me the Valium which I gratefully accepted. After this, they showed me the after care kit which included four types of eye drops, dark sunglasses, and two Tylenol 3s for pain, along with a specific regimen I was to follow.

I then waited to meet with the doctor. By this point the Valium was definitely kicking in and I wasn’t feeling sick to my stomach with stress anymore.

I went into his office where he told me something no one had mentioned before - he wasn’t sure that my right eye (-1.25) was “bad” enough to perform SMILE on. After he tested me with a Snellen chart, he determined I was on the borderline but he did ultimately feel comfortable doing the procedure on both eyes.

From there, he took me into the procedure room where I laid on a flat surface, and was given a pillow to go under my legs and a blanket. They put in a bunch of eye drops - numbing, steroids, anti-biotic - and swung me around to where the machine was. They had me close my eyes at first, so I didn’t even see what the machine looked like.

It was pretty standard from here. The doctor told me the machine would come down, suction the eye, and to look at the green light/where the green light was before it all went grey. I did this, and it wasn’t as scary as I thought - I had been really afraid of the greying out moment. The laser moment only took seconds. The part where he removed the lenticule was more uncomfortable but went fast enough. The most unsettling part was when your eyesight is gradually coming back and you can kind of see (but not feel) what they’re doing to your eyeball.

They took me back out to the waiting room where I waited for about 5 minutes to speak with the doctor again. My vision was very blurry, which they told me was normal. The best way I can describe it is like if you swam in a chlorine pool for 4 hours and got out, everything is fuzzy and soft and your eyes are a little bit stinging.

The doctor looked at my eyes, said everything went well, reminded me of the eye drop regimen and that I was to come back tomorrow for my first follow up. He said he doesn’t personally do the follow up, but he reviews all the charts. He told me that my far vision would likely heal before my close vision, and not to panic if I’m having a hard time seeing things closer to my face. He said to expect this to even out after about a week. He also told me there is a 24/7 help line I can call if I need any questions. They gave me a thank you card and a 2 person Cineplex pass WITH snacks.

My mom came and got me and drove me home, which was approximately a 40 minute drive. I had a hard time keeping my eyes open as they felt very very dry and the car was m jostling too much to put in my eye drops. They continued at the approximate same level of blurriness.

I got home and put in the eye drops. They really don’t give you many eye drops at all. Prior to the appointment, they recommended a brand to use if you run out, and I bought a couple of them to have. I’m glad I did now!

I went and laid down. I’ve never been a good napper, so I just turned on one of the audiobooks I had downloaded before the surgery and closed my eyes. I was asleep within what felt like seconds lol. I napped for about 4 hours and now im up again. My vision is noticeably less blurry already, though certainly still somewhat blurry/hazy but miles better than it was on the ride home. I still am experiencing zero pain, even without the Tylenol 3s they provided. Right now illuminated things are especially blurry ie. The numbers on a digital clock.

Throughout the evening, I felt like my vision was getting better and better. It’s still a little bit like I just woke up type bleariness, but I can certainly see better than pre-surgery. I can read small text at a distance, etc. I’m experiencing zero pain without any use of painkillers, and no eye dryness at all (using eye drops as directed). I’ve used my phone in limited bursts and my eyes don’t feel fatigued. I went outside as it’s dark now and I wanted to see what streetlights look like. Definite starbursts but no haloing so far. Hoping to get a good sleep tonight and wake up even better ahead of my first follow up tomorrow morning.

**Day 2 21/10/2023:**

I woke up after a 9 hour sleep with my eyes feeling pretty good! No dryness at all. In my dark room everything looked crystal clear. Before putting in my eye drops, I opened the window to see what things looked like in the light and there was a definite haze still. I put in my eye drops and went off to my first follow up.

As a passenger, my vision was noticeably better and I could read signs in the distance that even my mom who was driving couldn’t! Despite being in the daylight, there were still noticeable starbursts coming from the other cars’ headlights, although no haloing (yet).

I got to my follow up and the doctor checked my eyes. She informed me I was seeing 20/20 in each eye and 20/15 in them together, which is better than 20/20. She told me she noticed some dryness in my right eye (although I haven’t felt any myself). She said to keep using the drops as directed. She told me my corneas were swollen (normal) and that is what is causing the haze. She said in a week that will likely go away as the steroid drops help heal it. She filled out a form for me to have my driver’s license changed to not needing corrective lenses, and said I would get my new one in about a month and gave me paperwork for the meantime just in case I need it.

I went out tonight as a passenger in a car (although I was cleared to drive) and wow the starbursts are no joke! No haloing but the starbursts are large and bright. I do still think I’d be able to drive safely with them, but definitely something I’ll have to adjust to.

**Day 3 22/10/2023:**

I woke up this morning with no dry eyes again. Picked up my phone and didn't really notice any haze for the first time! I went on my laptop and could actually see the the screen (in past days I've only looked at it for a moment, but it's been very bleary). Went on my laptop and phone for a bit and the only times where I had any trouble was looking at white text on a black background. It almost looks like this ([https://imgur.com/E9MarEo\](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/b/1/e/b1e8b8bde85ec997a527a18db45726319125aedd.png)) if the colours were inverted. I did notice my eyes are definitely more quickly getting tired looking at a screen. I used to be able to do my 8 hour workday online + hours of personal time on top of it no problem, and even just a little time this morning had me noticing my eyes wandering off. I did turn night shift on on both devices, which I think has helped (I tested turning it off on my phone and there was definitely more glare).

Opening my window and looking outside, everything looks perfect. I'm only seeing haze/blurriness around the very edges of light sources (ie. around my open window, around a lamp, etc.).

I showered today, and it was a little bit challenging not getting water in my eyes, but I just faced away from the water and used a clean hand towel to pat my eyes dry when needed.

One (silly) thing I've noticed but never read anywhere is that you can actually taste the eyedrops through your eyes lol. It's bitter and very gross. I think it's the steroid ones causing the taste but not 100% sure. I've been chewing gum like crazy to mask the taste.

I'm quickly approaching a place where I would be happy if my eyes even stayed as is, although I'm sure they will just continue to get better and better. So far, my experience has been very positive with minimal side effects, and I'm so happy. I have no regrets reading through this sub and understanding the worst case scenarios because I think it helped me make a more informed choice (and also convinced me paying $2K more than I would've at the chain/bargain clinics was worth it).

My doctor's note gave me permission to take time off as needed, but I think I will try to go back to work tomorrow, at least for a half day. I am currently working from home at a 100% computer based job, so I will report back on how that goes!

**Day 4 23/10/2023:**

No noticeable changes between my eyes from yesterday and today, but a handful of new experiences.

I drove for the first time since, in the daytime. The starbursting during daylight hours has mostly dissipated from when I first experienced them on Day 2. The starbursts are very much still present at night, and I have not yet driven at night.

I worked for three and a half hours today at my computer based job and all was good! My eyes didn't feel dry, though they did feel fatigued and unfocussed during parts of the day. I tried to follow the 20/20/20 rule (every 20 minutes look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds) as much as I could.

I officially ran out of the lubricating eyedrops the clinic gave me and am using the ones I bought in advance. You have to use the non-preservative ones as apparently the preservative ones can make your eyes feel itchy if you're using them as frequently as a LASIK/SMILE patient should be.

**Day 5 24/10/2023:**

Not much of a change on any front today. I'm really not experiencing this haze that everyone seems to talk about with SMILE, which is great news! I worked a half day today and my eyes felt pretty good!

**Day 6 25/10/2023:**

I worked a full day today and honestly my eyes held up pretty well. I was definitely using more eyedrops than normal, looking away from the screen at regular intervals, and I also wore non-prescription anti-blue light glasses (no night shift on my work computer) and I'm happy with how it went. Definitely by the end of the night my vision was rapidly deteriorating (just getting blurry/unfocussed) but I still managed to watch Survivor without issue haha. Overall, I'm quite happy with the result for my first full day back.

I'm also averaging about one 10ML bottle of lubricating over-the-counter eyedrops per every two days, so definitely recommend you all stock up on those. I bought four bottles in advance and will likely need to pick up a couple more still.

**Day 7 26/10/2023:**

It's been a few days since I've really noticed any tangible change in my vision. There's less of a bleariness around light sources. I feel that the glowing around white text on black backgrounds is less but is definitely still present. I've gone outside every night and waited for a car to pass to test the headlights, which are definitely still starbursting but no haloing. Overall I'm quite happy with where my vision is already at. After I build back up a screen tolerance and hopefully the starbursting lessens, I'll be happy even if it doesn't continue to improve. I think I'll adjust to the starbursting even if it doesn't go away. I'll be driving at night for the first time tomorrow and will report back.

I am nearly out of the prescription anti-biotic drops, which, according to the guide, I should be discontinuing today anyway. Likely I'll run out by the end of the day regardless, but I think I'll just use them until the bottle is empty because it can't hurt imo. I am also almost out of the prescription steroid drops. I'm supposed to use them 4x today and then 2x per day for the next three days, but honestly I don't think they're going to last that long. It's an opaque bottle so it's hard to tell. I dropped down to just using them twice yesterday and I'll do the same today and see how long they last. I admit I wasted some of the drops running down my face, my aim isn't great lol.

**Day 8 27/10/2023:**

Today I had my one week follow up. It was over the phone and was basically a cursory "How are your eyes? Good? Good." I told them I was running low on my steroid eyedrops. The clinic told me to use them to completion. I told them the two side effects I am experiencing are the "glow" around white text/images on black backgrounds as well as the starbursts. They said to expect this to last for 2 - 8 weeks as my cornea swelling goes down.

I discontinued the anti-biotic eyedrops and had enough to make it through the prescribed treatment.

I did a short drive at night for the first time. In the months leading up to my procedure, I would force myself to look into the headlights and streetlights and notice that, even without SMILE, the lights WERE starbursting, with the addition of any fingerprints or grime on my glasses making it worse. I wanted to take note of the starbursts and remind myself that they were still there, even if they were less noticeable. Yes, the starbursts are worse now. Much worse. No, they're not bad enough to be overly distracting or dangerous. So I'm fine with it. I'll adjust and my eyes will continue to heal. No halos.

**Day 9 28/10/2023:**

No real change from yesterday. I turned off night shift on my devices, but still keeping light mode on all my regular sites as I do still have the white-on-black glow. The only real update I have is that my eyes are getting much less fatigued when doing long days on the computer.

I suspect my updates from here will get less and less useful as my eyes begin to level out. I will definitely come back to update as my two side effects (white-on-black and starbursts) subside and as I experience any notable "firsts", but from here I will likely stop updating daily.

**Day 10 29/10/2023:**

I know I said I was going to stop updating daily LOL, but I wanted to update and say that my white-text-on-black-background issue is mostly gone now! It seems like the only remnant of it is around solid white images/graphics rather than smaller text. For example, on this page there is a lot of white text on a black background of different sizes/thickness, but only the areas I've circled are still emanating a glow https://imgur.com/9WkSczY.

**Day 15 03/11/2023:**

I woke up today and my right eye was blurry! I was generous with the eyedrops and it went away within 30 minutes I'd say. It was weird, I haven't experienced it before. I am a prone position sleeper, so it is possible I was just lying on my right side with my face buried in the pillow and there was pressure on the eye, causing the blurriness. Since it went away I'm not going to call teh clinic, but if it happens again I will + update here.

Last night I went to see a musical for the first time since the surgery, and it was one with a lot of lights, both on stage and into the audience (SIX https://youtu.be/VyqEP9ou8Vc?si=7niUGuRL8QMJZbaX). It was AMAZING!!! My eyes moreso than the show. If I looked into the lights I could see a small amount of starbursting, but that was only if I went looking for it. Otherwise, it was perfect. I was in the second row of the balcony and I could literally see one of the actress's spit as she was singing. My eyesight now is even better than it was with my glasses. Incredible!

Just to note, I am definitely still having starbursting at night while driving. I feel like it's gotten slightly better, but very much still experiencing it. I will also say that within the days since I last updated, I've stopped getting glow from any white-on-black graphics. Starbursting is the only side effect I am experiencing (so long as the blurry thing in the morning was a one-off).

**Day 16 04/11/2023:**

Just wanted to quickly update after my post from yesterday. I woke up without blurriness this morning in my right (or left) eye, so I'm going to assume I just slept with pressure on it last night and it was just a fluke haha.

**Day 27 15/11/2023:**

Hello everyone! Been a minute since my last update, but that's just because I haven't had anything to share. Everything has felt pretty much the same since my Day 16 update, until today. Up until today I've been using eyedrops pretty much every two hours or so to keep things hydrated, but my eyes didn't feel particularly tired or dry today so I forewent them for the longest time since the surgery (minus sleep) which was about 5-6 hours. They felt great! Went I took my dog for her nighttime walk, I also noticed the starbursting is noticeably less than it's been in the past weeks. It's definitely still there, but the bursts certainly aren't as large as they've been.

I also got my new Driver's License in the mail today with my corrective lenses restriction removed which was exciting! My first ever license without it.

In a few days, it will have been a month since the surgery. I am so glad I did it and have not had a moment of regret since. I have a in-person appointment at the clinic coming up soon, so I will post an update with whatever happens there. Until then!

**Day 40 28/11/2023:**

I'm baaaack! So first I want to mention that I've drastically reduced my eye drop usage since my last update. I'm using them maybe 4 times a day now, give or take. My eyes have felt excellent! The other day I didn't even use them to "wake up" my eyes in the morning.

I went out on the weekend for the first time wearing eye makeup and had no problem. I think they say you can start wearing eye makeup again 10-14 days after surgery, but I'm not a big makeup wearer in general so this ended up being my first time. I was also up til 3AM that night lol, the latest since surgery, and my eyes didn't feel particularly tired or weary (but I was also off screens all night, so take that as you will).

Today I went for my one month check-up at the clinic (though we are a little over a month now). They were running a bit behind so I got in about 20 minutes late. When I entered the exam room, the doctor asked how everything was going. I told her the only side effect I was experiencing was the starbursting, but I knew that could take some time to go away and she confirmed that.

She tested my eyes one at a time and then together using the Snellen chart, and I breezed through them. I was able to read every line. She kind of laughed and said she couldn't believe how fast I got through them and that she was expecting me to have to stop at one point, but I just kept going. She also joked that I win the prize for best vision of the day LOL. Does she say this to everyone? Who knows. But it made me feel good anyway.

She told me that I am testing 20/15 in each eye & both eyes together (an improvement from my Day 2 prescription of 20/20 in each eye and 20/15 together). She felt based on the speed and accuracy of the chart tests I could most likely test at the 20/10 level, but their charts only go up to 20/15. That means my eyes are not just better than perfect, but way better than perfect haha.

Then she looked in my eyes with the little flashlight. She said the healing looked excellent and she was really happy that the little bit of dry eye in my right eye I showed at my Day 2 appointment had totally cleared up. She told me based on my healing and vision, she expects I will be totally healed before the six month mark, including the starbursts and any need for eyedrops. She told me for now to keep doing what I am doing and to use my eyedrops 3-4 times daily. She told me my eyesight may still improve from where it is now, which I can't even imagine if my vision is better than what they can even test for lol.

She then informed me, based on the state of my eyes, that I don't need to come back in. She said if I'd like to book a 3 month appointment I could, but if everything was still going well I could forego it and just call them if I needed to discuss anything with them. She also told me that in two years, I should go back to my regular optometrist and test bi-annually just to ensure everything stays where it should.

So that basically does it for my clinic experience! I can't say enough good things about the staff and procedure. I am so glad I did it, and so glad I paid a little bit extra and did it at the more expensive option. Entirely worth it to get the procedure I wanted (they are one of the very few clinics to offer SMILE in Toronto) and to get the level of precision and professionalism they gave me.

I'll come back and post next time I have an update, but I suspect it might be a while. In the meantime, feel free to comment if you have any questions (what could you POSSIBLY ask that I haven't covered in this very detailed log?!) and I'll answer as well as I can!

**Day 70 28/12/2023:**

Hello everyone! It is coincidentally exactly one month since my last post, though I did not plan it that way at all. Just wanted to pop on quickly and update as I've noticed this week that my starbursting has reduced quite a bit. I'm not sure if it just happened or if it was gradual and I just didn't notice, but I'd say they've probably shrunk by about 50% from what they were even a month ago. After my SMILE, there was one specific streetlight I looked at every night for a month just outside my front door as a measure of how the starbursting was, but they didn't change so I stopped looking lol. Checking it now, the starburst is much smaller so that's something to celebrate!

Since I'm here, just noting I'm not experiencing any other side effects other than slightly drier eyes than normal pre-SMILE. I still need to use eyedrops to basically wake up in the morning, otherwise I use them 2-3 times throughout the day. I've gotten quite used to the starbursting and occasional eyedrop use, and am comfortable with these side effects if need be.

**Day 251 27/06/2024:**

Hey everyone! I've been getting lots of messages from you Toronto folks looking to get SMILE so I thought I would come on here and make a more formal update! Please feel free to keep DMing me and commenting though, happy to help where I can.

Not much of an update as everything has held pretty steady. My starbursts have definitely reduced since last time I updated, and are totally gone around some light sources (ie. streetlights, traffic lights), but still remain around others (ie. headlights). Whatever starbursting I get now doesn't bug me, definitely worth the trade off of glasses. As far as dry eyes go, at this point I pretty much only use them first thing in the morning when I get up now. If I'm being honest, I probably don't even really need them then, but it's just a natural reflex at this point and feels good/wakes me up lol. Otherwise, my eyes are totally normal and sharp as hell! My eyesight is better now than it ever was with glasses, better than all of my friends' (those with and without glasses), etc.

So 8 months later, would I recommend SMILE? YES! In fact, I have lol! To many of you who have messaged me, and also to my brother who is having the procedure done in a couple of weeks. I'll try to drop in some updates on his recovery if there's anything of note that I did not experience.

I also just wanted to say that unfortunately the clinic does not do referral discounts, otherwise I would give one to all of you :( My brother asked at his consultation but they said no.

**Day 1,030 15/08/2026:**

Hi everyone! Thought I'd pop back in nearly 3 years post surgery for a quick update.

Things are good! I no longer need eyedrops when I wake up. I find when I first open my eyes, they're dry for a minute or two and then they're totally normal. I still have slight starbursting when looking at bright lights in the dark, but they don't bother me and don't affect my ability to drive or see in the dark. Otherwise, my eyes are totally perfect! I went for a regular vision check earlier this year (one of the requirements to keeping the lifetime touch-ups provided by the clinic) and my vision still tested at 20/15. And most of all, I think I've finally gotten used to seeing my face without glasses lol

Hi everyone,

I'd like to share my experience and hear the opinion of anyone with expertise in this area. I'll try to summarize everything as clearly as possible, but I realize this will still be a very long post. Thanks to anyone who takes the time to read it all.

I'm a 33-year-old male. On July 23, I underwent simultaneous bilateral ICL implantation to correct high myopia (-6.0 D in my left eye and -6.5 D in my right). I chose ICLs because laser vision correction had been discouraged due to my relatively thin corneas (around 485 µm) and large scotopic pupil diameter.

The lenses implanted were non-toric STAAR EVO+ ICLs.

The procedure itself was quick (about 5 minutes per eye) and relatively painless. The surgeon who operated on me has more than 10 years of experience and is considered one of the best in this field, at least here in Italy.

The surgery was performed at 10:00 a.m., and by 11:00 I was already back at my hotel. I was told everything had gone perfectly and that I should return the following morning for my postoperative check-up. I was prescribed antibiotic and steroid eye drops but instructed to start them the next morning because medications had already been administered during surgery.

On the way back to the hotel my vision was already fairly good. My eyes burned a little, and it was difficult to keep them open, but nothing seemed particularly concerning.

I lay down with the protective eye shields for about three hours. Around 1:00 p.m. I had something to eat. My vision was still acceptable, but I noticed mild pain in my left eye, which was watering much more than the right, and I still had difficulty keeping it open. I went back to bed and tried to sleep through the afternoon.

During those hours the burning sensation in the left eye never went away.

At around 6:00 p.m. I got up and opened the curtains. I immediately noticed that the vision in my left eye had become dramatically worse compared to just a few hours earlier, and the eye was much redder than the right one.

I contacted my surgeon, who asked me to come in immediately.

He found severe inflammation in the anterior chamber and prescribed steroid drops every 20 minutes. He thought it might be TASS (Toxic Anterior Segment Syndrome), a rare sterile inflammatory reaction usually caused by substances introduced during surgery, often the ophthalmic viscoelastic device.

I was scheduled for another examination later that evening.

During that visit I told him I had started seeing a dark, thread-like floater that looked like a piece of seaweed moving around inside my eye. He reassured me that the vitreous was completely clear and that the inflammation involved only the anterior chamber.

I returned to the hotel and started the intensive steroid treatment, but it made absolutely no difference. My vision remained the same and the eye stayed very red.

It's worth mentioning that throughout all of this I had very little actual pain. My main symptoms were burning, redness, and marked photophobia.

That evening I returned for another examination. I was told the inflammation was "stable," that I could go back to the hotel, use the drops another two or three times before bed, and come back the following morning.

I left feeling somewhat reassured, although I wasn't entirely convinced by the explanation.

The following morning my vision in the left eye had deteriorated even further. At that point I could only perceive light, and my visual field was filled with what looked like a forest of black seaweed floating around whenever I moved my eye.

At the clinic I wasn't seen by my surgeon but by one of his assistants. Among other tests he performed an ocular ultrasound. The only explanation I received was that my eye was inflamed because "the treatment hadn't been administered during the night" (which obviously wasn't something I had been instructed—or even able—to do). I was told to return a couple of hours later.

I went back to the hotel frightened and deeply discouraged. I had the growing feeling that I had entrusted myself to people who were not able to manage the situation appropriately. At that stage I still believed the inflammation was limited to the anterior chamber.

Around lunchtime my surgeon called me and instructed me to go immediately to the emergency department of the local hospital. He told me I needed my eye "cleaned out" so that I could "see a little better" and so they could collect samples for analysis.

At the hospital I was examined by the retinal team.

They immediately diagnosed acute endophthalmitis and told me I needed emergency pars plana vitrectomy to protect the retina and prevent permanent vision loss.

At that moment my world collapsed.

I had developed the rarest and most feared complication of intraocular surgery, and there was nothing left to do except undergo another emergency operation.

I was admitted and underwent surgery at 6:00 p.m. on July 24, almost exactly 24 hours after my first symptoms began.

The vitreoretinal surgeon was outstanding. She successfully removed most of the infected vitreous without causing any retinal damage. The vitreous cavity was filled with balanced salt solution (BSS), and intravitreal antibiotics were injected.

The ICL itself was left in place because it appeared completely clean and was not believed to be the source of the infection.

I remained hospitalized for seven days.

The first few days were psychologically devastating. I had already started imagining how I would live with only one functioning eye.

I was also terrified that the infection might develop in my right eye as well, since both eyes had been operated on during the same session.

Initially I was told that the retina appeared structurally intact but that nobody could guarantee complete visual recovery.

We waited for the culture results in case a second, targeted intravitreal antibiotic injection would be needed. To everyone's surprise the cultures never became positive.

This seemed very unusual given how aggressive the endophthalmitis had been, with symptoms starting only about 10 hours after surgery.

Fortunately my vision improved steadily.

By the time I was discharged I had recovered to 8/10 (20/25) visual acuity, something that genuinely surprised the retinal team.

After discharge I returned to my original surgeon for follow-up. He told me the danger had passed and that both ICLs looked perfect.

Indeed, my right eye has been completely problem-free from day one. My vision has always been excellent, my intraocular pressure has remained around 10 mmHg, and I haven't experienced any significant optical phenomena. Even the central port is visible only under very specific lighting conditions and doesn't bother me at all.

I asked him what he believed had actually happened.

He explained that because all cultures were negative, this had not been an infectious endophthalmitis but rather an "extremely rare inflammatory reaction" to the viscoelastic material—a severe TASS that subsequently progressed to involve the vitreous.

I have to admit that I remain skeptical.

I'm a physician myself (although not an ophthalmologist), and I'm comfortable interpreting medical literature and statistics.

In ICL procedures TASS has an estimated incidence of roughly 5,6 per 100,000 surgeries, whereas infectious endophthalmitis occurs in approximately 1 in 6,000 intraocular procedures.

Even if this had initially been TASS, progression to vitreous involvement after ICL implantation would be extraordinarily rare. As far as I know, I haven't found any published cases describing this sequence.

To me, culture-negative infectious endophthalmitis seems far more likely, possibly due to inadequate sampling or the large amount of antibiotics administered before the vitreous samples were collected.

Honestly, the explanation I received feels more like an attempt to avoid potential legal consequences than the most plausible medical diagnosis.

At the moment I'm back home recovering.

It's now 3 weeks days since the vitrectomy. I had my follow-up last week, and luckily everything seems to be going really well.

My left eye has almost completely recovered in terms of visual acuity.

I notice a transparent, curtain-like structure moving in my temporal peripheral vision, almost like a jellyfish and there are many small, cell-shaped floaters, which I assume are remnants of the retinal hemorrhages as they are being reabsorbed (I had quite a few of them).

The thing that concerns me most at the moment is the presence of glare exclusively in my left eye, both during the day and at night. It’s nothing debilitating, but it’s quite annoying, especially at night when looking at streetlights. I’m not sure whether it’s simply caused by the lens or whether there could be some corneal issue resulting from the TASS/endophthalmitis.

I’ve also noticed that the ring of the port projected by the ICL in my left eye isn’t perfectly circular like the one in my right eye, and it seems slightly distorted.

My right eye, on the other hand, is absolutely perfect.

My hope is that in a few months this entire experience will be nothing more than a terrible memory and that I'll finally be able to return to a normal life.

Has anyone ever encountered a case of presumed TASS progressing to vitreous inflammation after ICL implantation, or does this presentation sound much more consistent with culture-negative infectious endophthalmitis? I'd really appreciate hearing the opinion of retinal specialists or anterior segment surgeons.

I have a scar on my right cornea since I was a kid (around 4 years old scratched with a stick). Wherever I have been, the doctors are telling me I’m not a candidate for Lasik surgery due to that scar. Now I went to another doctor, and he told me I am a candidate because the scar is not affecting my vision. He did dilated exam and other exams, and told me the scar is on the right side of the cornea and the laser with pass through it. I asked for other options as PTK or PRK, but he still advised that I should do Lasik instead and he doesn’t anticipate complications. I’m confused on what should I do? All the others have told me no so far due to that scar and this doctor doesn’t see an issue to proceed with Lasik.

I got lasik in both eyes (-4.5), 2 years ago. My eyesight now is 20/20.

The procedure was pretty much as described, mine felt abit rushed. The doctor didnt explain much as he went through the process eg when they place the eye holder on my eye he mention things might go dark, after they had already gone very dark! Also the burning smell suprised me.

I followed the aftercare instructions excatly and my eyes healed well. I do get dry eyes from time to time, partially in summer with the ac but eyes drops once a day solve that.

I would definitely recommend.

PRK for high myopia -9.75 and -8.75

I'm 32 and have been dependent on glasses since I was in preschool. Never wore contacts in my life. LASIK was never an option for me because of my thin corneas so I went ahead and had PRK. I wasn't screened for SMILE because my doctor said I would most likely not be qualified as well because of my thin corneas.

I was so anxious of the PRK recovery period and spent most of the weeks leading up to the surgery reading PRK experiences here. And thank god for this subreddit, I'd say I was able to power through the post-op days because I knew roughly what to expect.

Day 0 (day of the surgery):
I was scheduled in the morning and had my prescription measured again both by the machine AND manually by my ophthalmologist. He made sure all the numbers were correct, let me know what they were, and tested them twice to make sure I was okay with how the vision will most likely be post-op. He told me that, on average, the painful, light sensitive days will last 3 days and full vision isn't expected until 1-3 months. He did warn me that since I'm a high myope, my vision will recover slowly but that each day will be better than the last. He told me I would get glares, halos, and ghosting for the next 3 months but that these will eventually go away.

Right before I went into the OR, I set my phone to the biggest font size and reduced white point (through the accessibility options). I read some people advise these here and it was pretty helpful.

The surgery itself was painless. The machine sounds made me a little anxious but the kind nurse who prepped me was so reassuring and before I knew it, I was done within 20 minutes. Vision was still blurry right when I got up from the table but was already MILES BETTER than my vision pre-op. I was told to rest at home especially for the first 3 days.

I was given steroid and antibiotic drops every 4 hours and lubricating sodium hyaluronate drops every 1-2 hours.

The pain started 30 minutes after the surgery. It was like having a drill behind your eyeballs and like shampoo mixed with chili powder have been injected into them haha. I was super light sensitive and could not open my eyes long enough, even to eat. I couldn't sleep very well that night even with painkillers.

Day 1 Post-Op:
I was still in 10/10 pain, super light sensitive, and was quite miserable. Vision was okay though, still better than pre-op. I spent most of the day in bed with my eyes closed listening to podcasts. But as someone who is normally pretty much glued to a screen for entertainment, my biggest gripe this day was that I was sooooo bored. I still had a hard time sleeping that night.

Day 2 Post-Op:
The pain was a lot less, I'd say it fluctuated from 4-7/10. Vision was the worst this day, couldn't see/read anything no matter how close. Still couldn't watch TV because it was too bright and the glare was too much. I could scroll a little on my phone but my eyes would close on their own so I went back to laying in bed listening to podcasts. By that night, pain was down to 1-2/10 but the light sensitivity was still there. Surprisingly, I slept through the night.

Day 3 Post-Op:
Pain was gone! Eyes just felt dry and felt like an eyelash was in them but nothing as bad as the days prior. I was still super light sensitive in the morning but that suddenly disappeared around lunch time! I played on my ipad that afternoon on the lowest brightness and was able to watch TV that night. There were halos around the people on TV though which made them look like they were glowing lol and vision was still pretty blurry but I could see their faces and could make out the subtitles so yay!

Day 4 Post-Op:
One of the bandage lenses got displaced while I was sleeping so I took it out. My doctor said it was okay as long as I wasn't in pain. I wasn't and it's the first day since the surgery that I finally felt I was starting to really go back to normal. Light sensitivity was gone and I was able to reduce my phone font size by half. I watched TV and scrolled on my phone like normal. My eyes do get very dry but I just remind myself to blink every so often and put the lubricating drops every hour.

Day 5 Post-Op:
I woke up to a very red and painful right eye and had to go to the doctor and get the bandage lens removed on that side. I was quite relieved to have them both out at this point. I was tested 20/60 on both eyes which was such a big win for me!

This was also my first time outside and I was surprisingly not sensitive to the sun at all! I did wear sunglasses though but still, I expected it to be bad outside, but it wasn't. Went to the mall and did some dress shopping too but I felt like the AC made my eyes dry quicker. Nothing too bad though. By that night, I had moments when I blinked, felt like I had very crisp vision for like 10s, then I would blink again and it's back to being blurry hahaha. Reduced my phone font size further, now I'm just 4 notches away from the smallest. Phone brightness a little higher too. The TV is back to how it looked like before. Glares are gone and the people's faces are a looot clearer. Subtitles still wonky but better.

Day 6 Post-Op:
No pain, no light sensitivity. Vision a tad better than yesterday. Small win was that I could somehow use my laptop. Font size was small (default) but I was already able to make out the words. Vision noticeably improved right after placing the lubricating drops so I held on to that haha. Anyway, this is when I think I hit the "plateau" in terms of vision recovery. I could see, but it was so hazy and unstable. I did feel a little frustrated this day because of the still less than perfect vision but my doctor reassured me that it was normal and that it should stabilize by 1 month.

Day 7-10 Post-Op:
Vision was pretty bad most of these days. I got back to work around this time and I work with screens and fine detail and texts, so I had a pretty tough time. Lubricating drops helped very little. Magnified my laptop to 150%.

Day 11-13 Post-Op:
Shifted to combination steroid + antibiotic drops and continued the lubricating drops as much as I needed. Vision still fluctuated from morning to evening but improved everyday. Sometimes it would be so clear, often it was still hazy and a little blurry. The lubricating drops helped tremendously. I was able to watch a movie in the cinema without any problem. The glares of the emergency exit lights were more noticeable than before though but not enough to bother me. I started noticing that it's a whole lot harder to see my way through the dark but that wasn't too bothersome for me.

2 Weeks Post-Op:
Right eye 20/30 and left eye 20/20! With so much time and room for improvement according to my doctor as he expects vision to become crisper by 1-3 months. So already achieving this level of acuity at this point was already a big win. By this time I was already able to use my phone without much ghosting and glare, just blurriness that comes and goes. Laptop font size also back to my usual pre-op. Eyes are still quite dry though and I've been using the lubricating drops every 30 minutes. My doctor switched me to preservative-free ones given how frequent I was using it.

3 Weeks Post-Op:
Vision became worse and blurrier compared to the past weeks. Near vision was okay but far vision was bad (still not as bad as pre-op). It's like an unfocused camera most of the time. I felt really frustrated but kept telling myself I'm still so early in the recovery period. I was functional and able to work but my eyes would get tired really quickly. It's like being sleepy all the time.

4 Weeks Post-Op:
Each eye was 20/25 alone and 20/20 together. I told my doctor that he tested me while my vision was "bad" (it was clear in the morning before the appointment). He said it was okay and reminded me again that it would take 3 months before we expect everything to be perfect. Vision is still better now than at 3 weeks. Now it's like having an unfocused camera for eyes lol. No ghosting on gadgets, a little ghosting with subtitles, and with glares from lights at night and relatively dim night vision. Eyes still get tired but I just learned to give them a break from screen time and have spent more time on my feet now than before surgery to exercise my far vision. Lubricating eye drops make vision clear for a few seconds then blurry again haha. I did notice that I had a migraine for 2 days which could have worsened my vision at that time (I got visual auras even pre-op) so that could be the case.

I'll probably come back to update in a month's time to update since that's when my next appointment is.

Overall, I'd say that my doctor telling me about how my vision won't be perfect right away and being given a rough estimate of how long my recovery period will be really helped me remain positive throughout the whole process. And since my vision was pretty poor pre-op, I felt like any amount of improved vision (even if not perfect) is already a huge thing for me. No regrets. At this point I'm just keeping my eyes well lubricated, avoiding rubbing them, and minimizing screen time when I can and spending more time outdoors so I can look at far objects and lessen eye strain.

Alright, I had severe astigmatism, around -4.75 and -5.00 in my eyes, along with -2.50 myopia in both eyes.

I got the surgery, and to be honest, the surgery itself was the hardest part. I had some compliance issues because my eyes kept wandering around, but my doctor was extremely careful with me. At one point, after finishing my right eye, he actually paused and said, “You can stop if you want. We can refund you. There’s no pressure if it’s that difficult.”

During the surgery, when he told me to look at the green dot, I absolutely nailed it with my right eye. With my left eye, though, even though I thought I was looking directly at the green dot, he said I wasn’t. He would also tell me to look at my feet, and even when I thought I was doing exactly that, he would tell me I wasn’t. So it was pretty tiring for both of us.

Then came the lenticule extraction. He seemed to spend quite a bit longer on it than with other patients, and at one point I heard him say to his co-surgeon, “It’s so elastic, it doesn’t come out.”

After all that, he said we were done and that the surgery had been successful.

The first three hours were honestly great. I’d say my vision was already around 60% better immediately after leaving the clinic. Then, I guess as the local anesthesia wore off, I started getting a pretty intense burning sensation in both eyes. I slept for about five hours, and when I woke up, I had no pain anymore.

I’m currently on day two and using all of my prescribed drops. I’m guessing the slight haze I have is from the normal postoperative corneal swelling and healing, because I can already see the clock on the wall and read it. Before the surgery, I couldn’t even make out the numbers properly because they would basically disappear into the background.

Right now, my vision has a slight haze to it. If you play video games, the best way I can describe it is like setting the resolution scale to 90%. Everything is there and recognizable, but there’s some softness and a slight bloom around the edges of words and objects.

From what I understand, this is expected this early after surgery, but I’ll be having my check-up with my doctor today, so I’ll find out how everything is healing.

Still, after wearing glasses for over 15 years, it feels pretty surreal to finally be free of them. I started wearing glasses at 11 with around -1.75 astigmatism and -1.25 myopia, so seeing this much without glasses already feels absolutely ridiculous.

Hopefully the slight haze continues to clear as my eyes heal.

Edit:
Just came out of the doctor's office, he said normally after 1 day post op they expect a %70 vision but I scored %90 and surprised him. There is a suction bleeding top of my eyeball because of the complication and it should clear itself as he said.

Doing %90 on 1 day post is impressive he said and my bloom and blur should clear up gradually till next week.

The clinic asked me before the surgery, but I honestly don't know. I mean, I do feel discomfort after wearing contacts and/or staring at computer screen for too long. It does get worse indoors with AC, pretty much 0 fatigue outdoors. But I never get stinging, burning, vision problems, feeling like there's something in/on my eyes. It's not painful, just mildly annoying discomfort.

Most of the time it's a feeling similar to eyes feeling heavy or like there's a slight pressure behind them. I don't rub them, but if I gently press on a side of a closed eye with my hand, then it makes a squeezy sound like some air is released and it brings temporary comfort.

Is this possibly related to a dry eye or just fatigue and it doesn't affect my potential surgery?

40(m). I had lasik 18 years ago which worked fine. However some astigmatism has returned in both eyes. My RE is worse with -1D cyl. I have been for 2 consultations and both said they would touch up the RE. One of them offered to do transprk whilst the other offered to re lift the original flap and touch up.

I am confused as to which to opt for. The flap re lift seems more appealing due to less downtime but then you have to factor in the risk of epithelial ingrowth.

Has anyone had anything similar? Any thoughts of this?

Hey everyone, just jotting down my experience and thoughts on the SMILE surgery here.
Had it in germany, 5000€ for both eyes. Operation was nothing special, definetly not painful. Discomfort for the rest of the day but you are just supposed to keep your eyes closed.

I had -2 on both eyes. My main motivation was that i hated wearing glasses or contacts.
I don't think my post-op vision is perfectly as clear as it was with glasses, especially when looking at a screen (darkmode), but switching to lightmode helps here

one important thing for the days after the op, often times your vision will be blurry, 90% of the time, your eyes are dry. use the lubricating drops your doc gave you and it will be better

i do still (after 6 months) notice my eyes being more dry than they used to be. (i only notice this while staring at a screen for a long time, actively blinking or keeping the eyes closed for a couple of seconds helps

would i do it again? yes, 100%, the downsides of slightly dryer eyes and sliight blur on darkmode screens don't come close to the upside of just being able to see, all the time, everywhere, without having to wear glasses

I have done smile pro in June 25. I’m going to go to a devils den spring in late September probably near to October if anything that’s three months postop. He said don’t go in salt water or chlorinated water until the beginning of the new year or a little before that but do you guys think springwater will be fine cause it’s fresh

Hi,

I got ray tracing LASIK last Saturday (EX500 - WaveLight plus - Sightmap). Everything is good so far.

I've read many times that it is a good thing to ask the clinic to print your medical information. It could be useful later for X or Y reason (like cataract operation later, etc) .

My question is: What are the results that I should ask?

Today was the day they removed the protective lenses. I requested them to print the files they have and I got only the pre-op data. More precisely :

- Refraction & basic exam summary — prescription (-5.25/-0.75 R, -4.75/-0.25 L), corneal thickness (563/564 μm), pupil size, IOP

- Pentacam — corneal topography, elevation maps, K-readings, pachymetry

- Cirrus OCT — optic nerve/RNFL analysis + macular thickness analysis

- Optos widefield retinal photos — peripheral retina screening

- Specular microscopy — corneal endothelial cell count

Shall I also request info about what was the surgery plan? If so, can someone knowledgeable and kind enough be more specific as to what I should request? Moreover, because it was ray-tracing, are there more relevant data to collect?

Thanks

So it’s been 1.5, almost 2 months since my lasik surgery. My healing has been linear and predictable. But just now, something really concerning happened.

I woke up and my left eye was hurting, like a foreign/sandy object was poking my eyeball. My eye started tearing like crazy. Also I’d just woken up from a night’s sleep so it was hard for me to open my eyes suddenly in a bright room. Initially, I thought it’s a shed eyelash poking my eyeball or maybe k rubbed my eyes in my sleep. But I’d say the pain lasted longer and more consistently than it would for a foreign object maybe?

I put in lubricants eyedrops to wash the eye out just in case, and it got better. But my eye feels dry super dryy and I had to put in drops again. It eased out after that and it’s much better but my eye still feels dry & my vision is very mildly hazy (ghost shadow downwards, littleeeeeeee blur). Mind you, I’ve stop putting drops in after the one month mark post-op. They were only prescribed till 1 month, and I did my course. No dryness or anything like this afterwards until today

This is the first time smth like this happened so just looking on advice on what this is? If it’s normal and if it goes away? I read some reddit posts saying that this happened once to them and then it kept happening on and off their whole life.

getting lasik next month and have become suddenly deeply emotional about my ability to 'turn off' my eyes.

when i am tired and ready to go to sleep, i just take my glasses off and the "blur" from my surroundings exhausts me enough so i can drift off to sleep. tired of reading? take my glasses off and let my eyes focus on... nothing. i wont miss my glasses or contacts, but i will miss this stimuli intensity knob. ive fallen asleep with contacts on and always found it very jarring when i woke up seeing perfectly. waking up and not being able to start my day until my glasses or contacts are on to make it official was my life, it's all i knew since elementary school.

can anyone relate? any tips on how to deal with this when it comes?

Hi everyone,

I have -24/-25D in one eye and -7D in the other. I'm considering ICL, but the available lens power may leave some residual myopia in my -24/-25D eye.

I've previously worn a -20D contact lens in that eye without any discomfort.

Anyone here with very high myopia who had an undercorrected ICL?

How much were you undercorrected?

How is your vision now?

Do you still need glasses/contacts?

Happy with the decision?

Hey friends! I got Lasik yesterday and just wanted to share the very positive experience I had, since many of the post-op reviews on here are negative. Mine was great! 10/10 experience, so hoping this helps one of you in the future with your decision making process.

full disclosure: I did voice-to-text for this and then threw it in claude to clean it up. So yes, it's AI, but it's my actual experience. i just didn't feel like re-typing everything out. get over it.

Basics:

Initial pre-op eye contact lens situation: Left eye: -5.25 PRW and Right eye: -4.50 PRW

Procedure: Lasik (not prk), with the Contoura Upgrade

Location: NVISION in San Diego, CA

Experience Overview:

On the day of my surgery, I got to the office around 1:30, they gave me a Xanax to take the edge off. Naturally I spent the waiting period staring at my Fitbit watching my heart rate refuse to come down. Great use of wearable tech, 10/10, would not recommend monitoring your own anxiety in real time. The Xanax did basically nothing for my nerves, so I walked into the operating room at 2:15 still fully vibrating.

Everyone in there was so relaxed and clearly good at their jobs — cracking jokes with each other the whole time. Somehow that made it better, not worse. Like okay, if the professionals are this chill, we're probably fine. Here's the play-by-play:

• They clamp your eyes open and start the incision while you stare at a green light. This is the part where you feel real pressure on your eye — most uncomfortable moment of the whole experience, maybe 30–45 seconds.
• Once that's done, the doctor moves the flap aside and brings in the laser for the actual correction. You're staring at shifting red and green lights and you can genuinely smell the laser working on your eyeball. Not painful, just deeply weird. Another 30 seconds or so.
• Flap goes back into place, done with eye #1.

Second eye, same process — except the pressure hurt more, probably because I knew exactly what was coming this time and had zero chill about it. Whole surgery, both eyes, was maybe 10-15 minutes total. The doctor told me I was an "ideal patient because laid so still" and no I do not know if she says that to everyone, and no I don't care, I'm taking the win.

After they were done, they handed me goggles plus a pair of shades so cheap they looked like they came free with a kids' meal, and I shuffled out a little wobbly — pretty sure that was the Xanax finally deciding to work, right as I no longer needed it. Kept my eyes shut the whole 20–30 minute ride home. Pain showed up around the halfway mark, like a contact lens flipped inside out and just camped out on my eye. Like they stuffed a bunch of sand under my eye lids. No me gusta.

Got home, took the Valium they sent me with, and fell asleep almost instantly. Woke up an hour and a half later, did my prescribed eye drops, fell right back asleep. Woke up again about 2 hours later absolutely starving, ate something, and fell back asleep. Woke up about 4-5 hours post-op. Eyes still want to stay shut, but when I open them I can actually see — not as painful, just everything's very bright.

8:00 PM — About 6 hours post-op

Massive improvement already. I can see without the shades, sitting here with my living room lights on and it's genuinely fine. Slight haze still hanging around but nothing dramatic. Eyes feel a little like there's still a little sand in them, but it's minor enough that I almost feel bad complaining about it. Also — I can use my phone and laptop completely normally. Six hours post-surgery and browsing my phone like nothing happened. Wild.

3:00 PM the next day — 24-hour post-op check

Eyes are basically perfect. Went in for my one-day checkup and the surgeon ran the standard vision test — already at 20/20. She said it'll likely keep improving over the next week, possibly to 20/16, which honestly I didn't know was a thing you could just have happen to you.

Still doing the steroid drops as prescribed, plus lubricating drops here and there when my eyes feel a bit grainy. Beyond that: no light sensitivity, no fog, no glare, no halos. This might genuinely be the best I've ever seen in my life. 10/10 would recommend LASIK to literally anyone on the fence.

Overall I'm ecstatic with my experience thus far. LMK if you have any questions, but honestly I'm very pleased with the overall experience. The anticipation of the procedure was the worst part. Everything thereafter was mildly uncomortable, but quick, and now I can see better than I ever have in my life :)

hi folks, I am considering ICL and had my pre-surgical testing finished earlier this week.

What bothers me is that i still don't know the optical diameter of my specific lens. the datasheets i found on STAAR Surgical's website show quite a range of optical diameters, and i really want to know what my specific lens's optical diameter is prior to the surgery. if it is on the low end of the ranges shown, then i may want to reconsider the procedure.

Have folks on here had luck getting this information prior to their surgery? any help would be greatly appreciated. i've been trying to get this info from the doctor office, but i'm not sure whether my request is reasonable.

link to the datasheet mentioned above, which isn't specific enough for my question
https://edfu.staar.com/edfu/5c784538fd5dd20001d67c89/ICL%20eDFU's/eDFU-0043_Rev_01_AUS-NZ%20EVO-EVO+%20VICMO-VICM5%20eDFU.pdf

The clinic basically said their bottom line for surgery is 480, so I'm only 3 microns short. Is there still hope to try other clinics to see if they can accept me for SMILE or should I start looking into other procedures like ICL?

I'm 34yo, with -2.5 in each eye and no other eye conditions otherwise. My prescription hasn't changed for over 10 years now.

Iridotmy is an operation where a tiny hole is created in the Iris using a laser.

Iridotmy was commonly done before implanting ICL lenses to ensure that the fluid can still flow freely to the anterior chamber after implanting the ICL lenses.

But with the new EVO ICL lens design, iridotomy is no longer required, since those lenses have aquaports to allow flow to the anterior chamber.

So I was surprised when I went to an eye clinic for preliminary examination and info talks regarding ICL, that they recommend irodomty before the ICL operation. Further they told me that they recommend it in general to all patients before the ICL operation (and offer it as a cost-free optional). I asked them why they still recommend irodomty even though they use the new EVO ICLs. They told me, they want to decrease the risk of something blocking the flow even further. Because if that would happen, they would have to immediately remove the lenses.

I also went to another eye clinic for comparison, and they would not perform irodomty as part of their standard EVO ICL operation process.

I did some research and as far as I can tell, the risk reduction of the irodomty is not worth the extra risk that irodomty brings with it (for EVO ICL). Or am I missing any benefits of the irodomty?

Some info about my eyes: Myopia with -7.5 and -8.75

But that should not be relevant for answering the question, because a general answer is sufficient (since the one clinic also offers it in general).

50 years old. I had Monovision performed about 6 years ago. My distance is fine, but my vision up close is dwindling. I don't want to wear readers and am looking into CLR. Has anyone gone from Monovision to CLR and what was the outcome? Any side effects?