SMILE is able to correct short sightedness and astigmatism without the creation of a corneal flap. It can allow the treatment of patients with very high prescriptions, dry eyes, contact lens intolerance, and / or thinner corneas. During the procedure, anaesthetic eye drops are used to numb the eye, and the state-of-the-art Carl Zeiss VisuMax laser places a series of pulses in the centre of the cornea with extraordinary 3D accuracy. These pulses form bubbles that are less than 1/100th the width of a human hair, and which outline the tissue that needs to be removed to change the shape of the cornea. The laser then creates a tiny connecting tunnel through which the surgeon draws out this tissue. With SMILE, no flap is created, so the eye is more comfortable post-operatively than other laser eye surgery techniques. The procedure takes a matter of minutes, and the vision is 80% better within a few hours. After a few days the vision is excellent, and it reaches 100% within a few weeks (according to trials conducted on over 1,000 patients between the UK, Germany, France and Denmark