What is the difference between Femto Smile and ICL?

Doctor's Answers 1

Photo of Dr Natasha Lim
Dr Natasha Lim

Ophthalmologist

ReLEx SMILE has been around only since 2011 and has only recently gained FDA approval for treatment of low myopia ( -1.00 to -8.00 D ) and has not gained FDA approval for treatment of hyperopia.

ReLEx SMILE is incapable of any re-treatments/enhancements. What happens when you need an enhancement after SMILE surgery - you would have to do a LASIK or ICL to correct any over or under-correction of SMILE surgery.

Any refractive procedure, whether SMILE or LASIK or ICL, is associated with approximately 2% of not meeting targeting outcome, in which case LASIK and ICL is capable of enhancement for which ReLEx SMILE is not.

ReLEx SMILE is also associated with a much longer visual recovery period of at least 3 weeks.

ICL has a fast overnight visual recovery and the procedure is reversible. ICL generally causes very little post-op dry eye issues.

Similar Questions

Is it normal to experience near vision loss after ReLEx® SMILE®?

Glad to hear that you are now able to see relatively well at far distances 2 days after ReLEx SMILE. From what you have described, it seems like you have some difficulty in reading at the moment. Without the benefit of examining you, I can only offer a few possibilities why this might be. To be honest, 2 days is still fairly early days in terms of visual recovery for any laser vision correction. At this time, there will be some element of post-operative healing present.

EPI-Lasik vs ReLEx® SMILE® vs LASIK, which degree correcting procedure should I choose?

We have many OTHER options of refractive surgery that do not involve a laser re-shaping your cornea. These typically do not have the same side-effect profile of causing dry eyes, significant glares / haloes, loss of contrast sensitivity and period of visual recovery that post-LASIK patients typically report. The first option here is that of Photorefractive Intrastromal Cross-Linking (PiXL). This is a non-surgical method of correction of minor degrees of myopia by riboflavin saturation and ultra-violet-A (UVA) accelerated cross-linking of the cornea.

Photo of Dr E-Shawn Goh

Answered By

Dr E-Shawn Goh

Ophthalmologist

Ask any health question for free

I’m not so sure about a procedure...

Ask Icon Ask a Question

Join Human

Sign up now for a free Human account to get answers from specialists in Singapore.

Sign Up

Get The Pill

Be healthier with our Bite-sized health news straight in your inbox