Independent publisher · not clinic-owned Editorial policy Educational information only, not medical advice
SmilePro.ae Find a SMILE Pro clinic
Menu Close
Find a SMILE Pro clinic Check your eligibility

Content is educational and is not a substitute for an examination by a qualified ophthalmologist.

Safety, risks & side effects

What are the side effects of SMILE Pro?

The most commonly reported side effects are dry eye or a gritty sensation, glare, halos, starbursts around lights, light sensitivity, and vision that fluctuates during the early healing period. Many of these improve over the first weeks and months, but some people report symptoms persisting longer.

By
SmilePro.ae editorial team
Medical review pending: what this means
Published
Last updated

Quick answer

The most commonly reported side effects are dry eye or a gritty sensation, glare, halos, starbursts around lights, light sensitivity, and vision that fluctuates during the early healing period. Many of these improve over the first weeks and months, but some people report symptoms persisting longer.

A general answer about SMILE Pro, not advice about your own eyes. Only an ophthalmologist who has examined you can answer it for your case.

Topic
Safety, risks & side effects
Answer length
Quick answer
Sourced
Yes

Subjects this question touches

The pages that answer the subject behind the question, rather than the question itself.

This answer cannot be about you

It describes what is generally true. Whether it applies to your eyes depends on measurements taken during an examination, and two people asking the same question can receive different answers. Read the answer as a starting point for the conversation, not as its conclusion.

Read the full medical disclaimer

People also ask

The closest subjects to this question, from both question banks.

More SMILE Pro questions

Search all 530 questions

Sources & further reading

We prefer primary sources. Where a claim comes from a manufacturer, a single study or a regulator, it is labelled as such below.

  • Small Incision Lenticule Extraction (SMILE) Clinical reference StatPearls, NCBI Bookshelf

    A continuously updated clinical reference chapter covering SMILE indications, technique, outcomes and complications, written for clinicians.

    Used for How the lenticule is created and removed; Indications and contraindications; Complication categories; Corneal biomechanics compared with flap-based surgery.

    Link checked 22 September 2026

  • Dry Eyes After SMILE Peer-reviewed literature Peer-reviewed literature (via PubMed Central)

    A review of ocular surface changes after SMILE, including how dry-eye signs and symptoms are measured and how they change over the first postoperative months.

    Used for Explaining why dry eye is a key preoperative consideration.

    Link checked 22 September 2026

These pages go deeper on the questions that usually follow this one.

All SMILE Pro questions The full bank, searchable and grouped by topic Vision knowledge base Questions that go beyond SMILE Pro, by subject