Best Eye Surgery Options for Astigmatism that You Should Know

Astigmatism is not a common situation amongst everyone, and however, this issue is found significantly within 14.3% amongst children below 15 years and 67.2% amongst adults over 65 years. Therefore, if you or your loved one belongs to the percentage mentioned above, you will see that your doctor will recommend various methods to get the condition treated. And accordingly, you need to consult with a specific specialist.

Some of the most common treatments for astigmatism are – eyeglasses, lenses, LASIK, and not forgetting to mention SMILE. SMILE eye surgery has been implemented in the recent past, and it is probably the best surgery that has existed. It is more or less like LASIK surgery but far more organized, safe, and well designed.

This article will discuss the best eye surgery options for treating astigmatism and how SMILE eye treatment suits best. If you are looking forward to knowing more about the newly implemented surgery procedure, continue reading. But first, let us see what the condition of astigmatism is.

What Is Astigmatism?

It is an abnormal condition where the eye is not completely round as it should be. As a result, astigmatism might cause headaches, blurry vision, straining of eyes, especially during the night. But this condition of astigmatism is not precarious as there are several options of treatment and surgeries to make it alright. The following sections will see how SMILE eye surgery and other treatments can cause alright this condition.

Treatments for Astigmatism

Astigmatism can be fixed and corrected in several easy methods. However, sometimes you will find that your doctor will not recommend the option of surgeries and will ask you to wear contact lenses or spectacles. And on the other hand, some experts and professionals will advise you with the quickest correction method, i.e., LASIK and SMILE eye surgery.

Nevertheless, you can also correct astigmatism during cataract surgery. Before consulting a specialist, you should decide which type of treatment you want to avail yourself of. You should know that Optometrists will suggest you wear contact lenses or spectacles, whereas Ophthalmologists will suggest you with LASIK or SMILE eye surgery.

What is SMILE Eye Surgery?

SMILE is also known as small incision lenticule extraction. It is an eye surgery method through laser vision correction, similar to LASIK. Through this surgery, you can get the condition of astigmatism treated along with nearsightedness.

SMILE Eye Surgery – Procedure

This surgery is performed using a femtosecond laser called VisuMax, which Carl Zeiss Meditec implemented. With a femtosecond laser, the surgeon creates a small bit of lenticule in the shape of a lens within the cornea. After that, a small incision in the shape of an arc is made on the cornea’s surface, thereby extracting the lenticule through the incision.

When the tiny lenticule is removed, the shape of the cornea changes and corrects the condition of astigmatism, and it heals quickly and requires no stitches. To avail of SMILE eye surgery, the patient is required to be more than 22 years old, have a prescription of spectacle, which is stable for at least 12 months, and not have more than -0.50D astigmatism.

To Conclude

SMILE eye surgery indeed provides an almost similar visual insight into LASIK. However, unlike LASIK, SMILE does not make a corneal flap, and the procedure is far more simple and provides quick recovery and correction of astigmatism.