What is the difference between Femto LASIK and LASIK?
The difference is how the flap is made. Femto LASIK uses a laser to create it; other LASIK uses a mechanical instrument. The part of the procedure that corrects your prescription is the same in both.
- Subject
- Vision correction
- Topic
- Femto LASIK & variants
- Kind of question
- What is…
- Procedures
- Femto LASIK, LASIK
- Last reviewed
- 22 September 2026
In more detail
Whether the difference matters for your eye is something the surgeon should be able to explain for you specifically. "It is newer" is not a clinical reason on its own.
Related guides
People also ask
The questions readers move to next from this one: the closest subjects first, from either question bank.
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 Femto LASIK & variants . 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 LASIK
- Procedure Femto LASIK
- Comparison LASIK vs SMILE
- Comparison LASIK vs PRK
- Place LASIK in Dubai
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