How does laser eye surgery work in general?
All laser vision correction procedures remove or reshape corneal tissue to change the eye’s focusing power, and they differ mainly in how the laser reaches the tissue it needs to reshape.
- Subject
- Vision correction
- Topic
- Refractive surgery basics
- Kind of question
- How it works
- Procedures
- LASIK, SMILE, PRK
- Last reviewed
- 22 September 2026
In more detail
Two lasers are usually involved in modern treatment. A femtosecond laser creates the access route, whether that is a flap in LASIK or the incision and lenticule in SMILE. An excimer laser then removes tissue in a precisely controlled pattern designed from your own measurements.
Because every procedure ends in the same place, the differences between them are mostly about the cornea’s structure afterwards and how the eye heals in the first days and weeks.
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Where this answer sits
It is one of 483 answers in the vision and eye health knowledge base, filed under Vision correction & laser eye surgery in Refractive surgery basics . The subject page carries the answers either side of it, and the hub is searchable.
Subjects this question touches
The pages that answer the subject behind the question, rather than the question itself.
- Procedure SMILE
- Comparison LASIK vs SMILE
- Comparison SMILE vs PRK
- Place SMILE in Dubai
- Procedure LASIK
This information is for educational purposes and does not replace an examination by a qualified eye-care professional.
General answers cannot tell you what is happening in your own eyes. Only an examination by a qualified ophthalmologist can do that.
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.
- Laser In Situ Keratomileusis (LASIK)
The equivalent clinical reference chapter for LASIK, used so that comparisons describe both procedures symmetrically.
Used for How LASIK creates and manages a corneal flap; LASIK complication categories.
Link checked 22 September 2026
- American Academy of Ophthalmology
A large professional body publishing both clinical guidance and plain-language patient education on refractive surgery.
Used for Cross-checking patient-facing explanations of refractive surgery.
Link checked 22 September 2026