I Came to Korea for SMILE Surgery, but Was Recommended ICL?

If you came all the way to Korea for SMILE surgery but were told after your eye exam, “Your cornea is thin, so ICL may be a better option,” you may feel surprised.
 

However, it is more important to choose the vision correction method that best suits your current eye condition rather than simply choosing the surgery you originally wanted.
 

SMILE corrects myopia and astigmatism by removing a lenticule from within the cornea. Therefore, when considering SMILE, the amount of corneal tissue that needs to be removed for vision correction should also be taken into account, especially in cases of high myopia.
 

▲ (Left) SMILE (Small Incision Lenticule Extraction)
▲ (Right) ICL (a vision correction surgery where a special lens is inserted into the eye without corneal ablation)

On the other hand, ICL corrects vision by inserting a lens inside the eye without removing corneal tissue. For some patients with thin corneas or high myopia, preserving corneal tissue can be an advantage of ICL. Of course, having a thin cornea does not automatically mean that ICL is necessary. The appropriate surgical method should be determined after a detailed examination of various factors, including corneal condition and the degree of myopia and astigmatism.

So, rather than thinking that being advised to have ICL means you cannot have SMILE, it is better to understand it as part of the process of finding the vision correction method that best suits your eyes.

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