ReLEx smile revolutionises eye laser technology. Read here why.
Never have to wear glasses again. Probably all spectacle wearers or contact lens wearers have already had the idea of having their eyes lasered. But the reports of people who have had their refractive errors corrected have not really been encouraging for you? Pain, long healing periods, complications and unsatisfactory vision quality. Has that put you off? Then you probably haven’t heard of a procedure that opens up a whole new age for laser eye surgery (refractive surgery). We are talking about ReLEx smile. This method is a painless and particularly precise procedure. Spelled out it means: “Small Incision Lenticule Extraction”. It is also called “Short Incision Lenticule Extraction”, as only a very small incision of 2-3 millimetres needs to be made. Because the ReLEx-smile procedure is a gentle, minimally invasive procedure, there is hardly any risk compared to other refractive operations such as LASIK, and the burden on you as a patient is extremely low.
This method is the only technique in the field of eye lasers where it is not necessary to cut the outer layer of the cornea in a circular shape. This is why the ReLEx-smile method is also called the flap-free eye laser method. With ultra-short light pulses, a wafer-thin tissue slice (lenticular) is prepared inside the cornea, which is responsible for the change in refractive power. The surgeon then pulls this small slice out of the eye through the small opening, the “short cut”, as if through a keyhole. A special high-tech laser is used to prepare this slice in the eye through the cornea. By removing this slice of tissue, the defective vision is corrected.
The advantages of ReLEx smile
Also suitable for high ametropia – up to 10 dioptres can be completely corrected without any problems.
Preservation of corneal stability.
Less dry eyes.
Very short healing phase.
How long do you think you will be sick after a ReLEx-smile operation? The very next day you can already take part in everyday life without any restrictions. You can drive a car, do sports and work on your PC. You can even take a shower and rub your eyes afterwards without any danger the very next day.
The operation takes only 5 to 10 minutes per eye. The 3D laser is able to follow and adjust to eye movements while the corneal slice is being prepared. If the eye movements become too strong, the laser automatically switches off temporarily. This guarantees a particularly precise correction of ametropia. And the patient does not have to look at a point all the time without being allowed to move anything.
Risks with ReLEx smile
There is no surgery without risk. Even if surgery with ReLEx smile is a minimally invasive procedure, there is still a surgical risk. However, this risk is very low, especially with this procedure. If complications do occur, they are very easy to treat. Because only a small incision needs to be made and the eye is only locally anaesthetized, the general surgical risks such as infections or certain medications that are not tolerated are minimal.
After correction using ReLEx smile, vision may deteriorate again. Statistically, this occurs in one percent of all patients. Patients should have regular follow-up examinations and, if necessary, be treated.
Laser eye treatments can result in overcorrection or undercorrection. With ReLEx smile, however, post-corrections are generally necessary only very rarely.
In rare cases, glare sensitivity and the formation of halos are increased. This occurs somewhat more frequently in patients with severe ametropia.
Experience with ReLEx smile eye laser
Summarising the patients’ reports, it must be said that laser eye surgery with ReLEx smile is totally uncomplicated. Every visit to the dentist is probably more unpleasant than having your eyes lasered with ReLEx smile.
