In early April, while job hunting and with an aptitude test coming up, I suddenly ended up going to a factory-style ophthalmology clinic in Gangnam to get SMILE LASIK. A relative had already had SMILE LASIK at that clinic and recommended it, so I went. Everyone around me only talked about people who had vision correction surgery and could see clearly right away, and they all said they were satisfied, so I didn’t worry much about side effects. My sibling and I both got examined, added corneal strengthening, and had surgery the same day with the same doctor. Other than having high myopia, my tear volume, pupil size, corneal thickness, and other conditions were very good, but from the day after surgery, there was a big difference between my sibling’s progress and mine. My first memory was that my face, including the area around my eyes, was a bit swollen, and my vision was cloudy like when you sleep with contact lenses on + it felt like emulsified cleansing oil had gotten into my eyes (no pain), but I could read the wall clock without glasses. My sibling said they could see clearly right away! But at the follow-up the next day, the results were the opposite. I had double eyelid surgery before, and it felt like those stitches? or scar tissue was pressing on the center of my eyeball and felt uncomfortable. It was similar throughout week 1. Sibling 0.7-0.8, me 1.0
Week 2 I started studying with the aptitude test coming up, but because of cloudy vision, glare, inability to focus, and so on, it was hard to live daily life and work normally. I failed all the aptitude tests, and at this point I regretted the surgery a lot. My visual acuity was definitely good, but the quality of vision was poor, and in the middle of the day, the glare was severe when I went outside. My indoor vision was seriously bad, and it felt like looking at objects or books from the distance where I could barely read text without glasses back when my eyesight was bad. Faraway trees or buildings started to look clear. Vision results on day 14 Sibling 0.9, me 1.0-1.2
Week 4 Around the time I was approaching week 4, the cloudy symptoms improved a lot, and my vision became like when you have stayed up all night and are sleepy but forcing yourself not to sleep. After that, my eye condition repeatedly got better and worse at intervals of 1-2 weeks. Week 5 vision results Sibling 1.0+, me 1.2+
Now about 4 months Now, if I stay up all night, I immediately feel my vision getting worse. Maybe because of the summer sun, I have developed a bit of dryness, and if I am exposed to a lot of sunlight, my eyeballs feel like they are on fire, hot. I still have a lot of discomfort with my vision, but I definitely see better than at the 1-month point. 3-month vision result Me 1.5- I’m still struggling, but whenever I contacted the clinic, they responded along the lines of, “It will be okay in a week,” “You need to wait a month,” “Wait 3 months,” “It seems like recovery will be complete after 6 months,” and I mostly felt they were irresponsible. My situation is better than others with severe side effects, but I wanted to write this to let people know this is not a surgery to take lightly. I don’t know whether it will get better from here or stay like this, but personally I feel like I won’t be able to return to the clean vision I had before surgery.
☆After SMILE LASIK, you may only get a visual acuity number of 1.0 or higher while daily life becomes more uncomfortable, and you should keep in mind that the clinic may take the stance of, “Your vision is coming out well, so isn’t that enough?”☆
SMILE LASIK Gangnam ophthalmology clinic vision correction surgery
This is a surgery review pursuing a natural look.