Get answers to some of the most asked questions about laser vision correction

The ZEISS Group is one of the world’s leading technology companies. It has a balanced portfolio that is geared toward attractive future-oriented markets in optics, precision mechanics and optoelectronics. For more than 175 years, the company has been shaping technological progress, advancing the world of optics with solutions from its four segments and meeting its customers’ needs.

If your eyesight has been stable over the past year (usually after the age of 18), you wear glasses or contact lenses to correct your vision, and are otherwise healthy and not pregnant, you may be a candidate for laser eye surgery. Your eye doctor will be able to tell you if this is a viable option for you.

One of the most important parts of a laser eye surgery is finding the right clinic. There are many factors to consider, including the doctor’s experience and, and the technology they use. Visiting doctors, researching surgeons and comparing them might help you choose the doctor or clinic you feel most comfortable with. When consulting a doctor, it is good to prepare your questions beforehand.

Generally, both eyes can be treated in the same session. However, your doctor will assess whether this is the best option for you.

During PRK, patients experience minimal discomfort or pain. For the Femto-LASIK procedure, a thin flap in your cornea is created using another (femotosecond) laser. You may feel some pressure and some discomfort when the surgeon begins creating the flap. During lenticule extraction with ZEISS SMILE or ZEISS SMILE pro, you may feel some sensation but should not feel pain as you are given numbing drops before and during the treatment.

Laser eye surgery is usually permanent, but if your prescription changes in the future, you may need to wear glasses or contact lenses, or consider an enhancement surgery.

ZEISS SMILE is designed to correct nearsightedness (myopia) and astigmatism, while ZEISS SMILE pro can treat myopia, farsightedness¹ (hyperopia), and astigmatism. However, eligibility depends on several factors, including the type and degree of your refractive error as well as the curvature and thickness of your cornea. Your lifestyle also plays a role – if you frequently engage in high-impact contact sports, your doctor may recommend ZEISS SMILE or ZEISS SMILE pro. Like all laser vision correction procedures, a thorough eye examination is necessary to determine if you are a suitable candidate. Your doctor will guide you in choosing the best option for your needs.

Both ZEISS SMILE and ZEISS SMILE pro use advanced femtosecond laser technology for laser vision correction. The key difference is that ZEISS SMILE is designed to correct myopia and astigmatism, while ZEISS SMILE pro also treats hyperopia¹. Additionally, ZEISS SMILE pro is performed with the latest ZEISS VISUMAX 800 laser, offering enhanced precision and efficiency. Your doctor will help determine which option is best for you based on your vision needs.

Your ophthalmic surgeon will provide you with a list of instructions for your procedure, including when to stop wearing your contact lenses, what to eat on the day of surgery, what to wear to your procedure and when to administer your post-op, prescription eye drops. Please note, you will need to arrange for someone to take you home after the procedure.

ZEISS SMILE and ZEISS SMILE pro are available at specialised eye clinics and laser centres worldwide.

Following the procedure, you should avoid rubbing or touching your eye. Some ophthalmic surgeons may recommend wearing eye shields while sleeping for a day or so following your treatment.

In most cases, patients enjoy improved vision immediately following surgery with ZEISS SMILE or ZEISS SMILE pro – and it will even get better over the next few days.
However, you will not be able to drive after the procedure, so you will need to arrange for someone to take you home. Please also talk to your eye doctor for any details that might be applicable in your particular circumstances.

To ensure you receive treatment with a ZEISS laser, simply confirm with your eye doctor. ZEISS lasers, including the ZEISS VisuMax and ZEISS VISUMAX 800, are used in ZEISS SMILE and ZEISS SMILE Pro procedures.

To ensure you receive treatment with a ZEISS laser, simply confirm this with your eye doctor. ZEISS lasers, including the ZEISS VisuMax and ZEISS VISUMAX 800, are used in ZEISS SMILE and ZEISS SMILE Pro procedures.

As with all surgical treatments, you may experience side effects after your surgery. However, vision correction with ZEISS SMILE and ZEISS SMILE pro have been designed to support minimally invasive lenticule extraction. Unlike other laser eye correction, your surgeon only needs to create a small, keyhole opening in your eye. The upper layers of the cornea remain virtually unaffected.

You should see a difference in your vision immediately after your procedure. Follow your consultant’s instructions regarding post-op medication and any restrictions. During the healing process, you should avoid rubbing your eyes. What’s more, you may feel some minor discomfort, such as sensing foreign bodies or blurred vision while your eyes are recovering.
Many patients can resume normal activities such as exercising, wearing makeup, working and sports as soon as the next day². Your eye doctor can advise you when it is appropriate to resume specific activities in your particular case.

PRK procedures have a longer healing time and involve some discomfort before your vision fully stabilises. It will also take longer for your visual acuity to stabilise.

Treatment with ZEISS SMILE and ZEISS SMILE pro are based on lenticule extraction, the latest advancement in laser vision correction. Available since 2011, these techniques are well-established and recognised by leading medical associations in the field of refractive laser eye surgery.
The popularity of ZEISS SMILE and ZEISS SMILE pro continues to grow. 10 million eyes have already been treated successfully worldwide with both procedures.

Femtosecond laser technology is a clinically proven innovation used in procedures like Femto-LASIK and cataract surgery. ZEISS SMILE and ZEISS SMILE pro represent the latest advancements in laser vision correction using this technology. First introduced in controlled clinical studies in 2007 and commercially available since 2011, treated patients have been monitored for over a decade.

Laser vision correction with ZEISS SMILE and ZEISS SMILE pro can significantly reduce or eliminate the need for glasses and contact lenses for many patients, depending on your specific vision needs and the results of the procedure. However, it’s important to note that while the procedure offers lasting improvements, some patients may still need reading glasses as they age, especially after the age of 40. Your eye doctor will assess your specific situation and provide guidance on the potential outcomes based on your eye health and vision correction goals.

While laser vision correction with ZEISS SMILE and ZEISS SMILE pro is highly effective and clinically proven, individual results can vary depending on factors such as your eye health, the degree of refractive error, and your overall suitability for the treatment. While the procedure has shown excellent outcomes in many patients, your eye doctor will provide a thorough consultation and assessment to determine the best treatment for you and help set realistic expectations. No medical procedure can offer an absolute guarantee, but ZEISS SMILE and ZEISS SMILE pro are backed by years of research and success in treating vision problems.

The difference between the Femto-LASIK and the classic LASIK method is the way the flap in the cornea is created. A laser is used to cut the flap in Femto-LASIK. With the classic method, the surgeon makes the flap manually with a microkeratome (mechanical device).
The laser can be more precise and predictable in cutting the flap than the manual method with a mechanical device. However, eye surgeons do not have a uniform opinion that one method is clinically superior to the other. The decision between the two is based on a patient’s existing conditions and the doctor’s preferences.

It is important to follow your ophthalmic surgeon’s advice both before and after laser vision treatment. While it is impossible to say you will not suffer from any side effects, following your surgeon’s instructions will help minimise any potential complications. Some patients, however, will still feel some mild discomfort (like scratching, tearing, or burning sensations) even if they follow all the instructions given.

Not everyone will end up with 20/20 vision after undergoing LASIK surgery. A global review of LASIK from 2009, however, found that more than 95% of LASIK patients from 1995 to 2003 were satisfied with the outcome of their surgery.

While the reason to get laser vision correction is to reduce your dependence on glasses, you may still need them for certain activities, such as reading. If you suffer from severe myopia (nearsightedness), LASIK may not be able to fully correct your prescription and, as a result, you may have problems seeing objects at a distance. What’s more, everyone eventually develops a condition called presbyopia. This occurs when your eyes gradually lose the ability to see things clearly up close and is a normal part of aging. Laser vision correction cannot stop this process, nor does it speed it up. If you start having problems focusing on nearby objects, you should discuss your options with your eye doctor. They may suggest the monovision procedure or simply wearing reading glasses.

Post-surgery, you may experience glare from headlights or halos around streetlights when driving at night. These are common side effects, and you may want to avoid driving for a few days until the symptoms subside.

Yes. Laser vision correction with ZEISS SMILE and ZEISS SMILE pro are minimally invasive treatments to correct your vision. And, as no flap is created during the operation, there is no risk of flap-related complications. 

The procedure typically takes around 30 minutes. You can return to your daily activities within a day or two. Recovery time differs among individual patients, but the flap should be stable within a matter of days. Your vision may take a few days to become stable after the surgery. Doctors typically schedule a follow-up exam the day after and one month after surgery to check on your progress. 

While recovery times differ from patient to patient, there are some post-op precautions you can take to improve your outcome, such as not rubbing your eye or avoiding dusty environments. Most importantly, you should always follow your doctor’s instructions. These may include using eye drops, other medication or even wearing an eye shield in specific cases. Always use any medication or eye drops as directed as they will help your eye recover quickly and safely.

If you are wondering if astigmatism can be treated with LASIK, the answer is usually yes. There is a common misconception that LASIK is not an option for astigmatism. However, the fact is that LASIK has been used for many years to treat most types of astigmatism.

As LASIK surgery adjusts the shape of the cornea, it is unsuitable for the high levels of astigmatism, which are less common. Furthermore, astigmatism caused by certain rare conditions including keratoconus or pellucid marginal degeneration cannot be corrected by laser eye surgery.

It is difficult to put an exact price on laser vision correction as several factors determine the overall cost. However, many patients see LASIK for astigmatism as a long-term investment in their vision. Over the years, surgery costs are easily recouped against the long-term savings – e.g. by not having to pay for glasses or cover ongoing contact lens subscriptions.

Bladeless LASIK is a procedure that uses two types of lasers during surgery – a femtosecond laser to create a corneal flap and an excimer laser to shape and correct your cornea. Bladeless LASIK differs from the traditional LASIK procedure, which uses an oscillating blade called a microkeratome to create the flap.

A flapless alternative to LASIK is lenticule extraction with ZEISS SMILE or ZEISS SMILE pro. As no flap is created and an incision of ~ 4 mm is made in the cornea, the procedure preserves corneal tissue. ZEISS SMILE pro can correct nearsightedness and farsightedness with or without astigmatism.

If you have thin corneas, PRK may offer a suitable alternative for laser eye correction. Instead of creating a corneal flap, during PRK the surgeon completely removes the upper layer of the cornea called the epithelium and then performs the laser vision correction procedure. After surgery, the epithelium grows back naturally, usually within a few days.

Presbyopia and hyperopia both result in blurred and unclear near vision. However, presbyopia is a result of the ageing of the lens, whereas hyperopia is a result of an eye that is not perfectly shaped. Depending on the severity of the issue, glasses, contact lenses, or laser eye surgery are some of the options available. You should consult your optician, optometrist, or ophthalmologist to diagnose your condition and discuss the best way to treat it.

LASIK does not cause presbyopia. What’s more, LASIK does not make presbyopia worse or accelerate its progress. Patients typically notice the condition when they are in their forties. Presbyopia occurs naturally due to ageing and can occur regardless of whether you have had laser eye surgery earlier in life.

According to the FDA, which regulates laser vision correction in the US, full stabilisation of vision can take as long as 3 – 6 months after LASIK treatment.

The surgery most suitable for you also depends on your prescription and other pre-existing conditions – such as dry eye syndrome. If LASIK is unsuitable for you, a possible solution could be either PRK, ZEISS SMILE or ZEISS SMILE pro. These treatments might be alternatives for those with thin corneas. Candidates also include those who may be at a high risk for flap complications (e.g certain jobs, sports and hobbies that are strenuous or involve contact). Your eye doctor will be able to recommend the best laser vision treatment for your individual case.

PRK surgery has good success rates, but like any surgery, it is not risk-free. Some possible complications include infection and inflammation of the eye, glares, halos and starbursts, as well as corneal haze and dry eyes. Many of these complications are treatable with medication; however, some of them may require additional surgery. You should contact your ophthalmic surgeon immediately if you notice any signs of infection, redness of the eye, pain, discharge, or impaired vision.

It normally takes your eye around three days to grow back a new layer of epithelium cells over your cornea. After that, your doctor will remove the bandage contact lens, and you should be able to see more clearly. It will then take about a month for most patients´ vision to stabilize. Your eye may also feel uncomfortable, gritty and itchy at times after the PRK surgery.

Compared to the other laser vision correction techniques, PRK has longer recovery time as there is an extra step involved in the healing process: the outer layer of the eye, which is completely removed during the treatment, has to grow back naturally. This process takes about three days, so this has to be added to the overall recovery time.

Yes! Depending on your preference and your ophthalmic surgeon’s recommendation, the PRK procedure can be performed on one or both eyes in a single treatment.

While LASIK is one of the most popular laser vision corrections available, it involves your surgeon creating a corneal flap to correct your vision. This may not be suitable for every patient, particularly as there is the risk of the flap being dislodged or infected post-surgery. However, PRK is not the only flapless option. Lenticule extraction with ZEISS SMILE or ZEISS SMILE pro offer a flapless, minimally invasive alternative that leverages advanced technology and techniques. If you are considering PRK or LASIK, talk to your eye doctor to see if lenticule extraction using ZEISS SMILE or ZEISS SMILE pro would be a more suitable option for your individual needs.

TransPRK (transepithelial photorefractive keratectomy) is a similar procedure to standard PRK. Both procedures follow the same steps to correct your vision. However, during standard PRK, the outer layer of the eye is dissolved using an alcohol solution whereas during the TransPRK procedure, your surgeon removes the epithelium layer using excimer laser.

PRK, LASIK, ZEISS SMILE and ZEISS SMILE pro have proven to be effective options to correct astigmatism. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages. The PRK procedure may be more advantageous than LASIK for patients with thinner corneas. However, corneal healing after PRK usually takes longer than after LASIK. Laser vision correction with ZEISS SMILE and ZEISS SMILE pro is an advanced laser vision correction procedure with fast recovery times and without the risk of flap-related complications. You should talk to your doctor to determine which procedure is best for you.