Interested in doing refractive eye surgery around Geneva. Came across [this center](https://www.swissmedical.net/en/swiss-visio/centres/beau-rivage) in Lausanne and was wondering if anyone had any experience / has heard anything about them (Swiss Visio).

I am interested in the SMILE procedure over LASIK and they seem to be the only one that offers it in the area. But I can’t find much about them online.

Any opinions? Or other recommendations?

My insurance covers most of the cost so that is not a concern.

1 comment

  1. > I am interested in the SMILE procedure over LASIK and they seem to be the only one that offers it in the area.

    Generally, you don’t really pick the surgery yourself: depending on your situation, the surgeon will pick the procedure that best fits your eye (PRK, LASIK or SMILE)

    That being said, SMILE is a newer procedure, so you will find less clinics that offer it / surgeons that are highly skilled at it.

    I suggest you study all options thoroughly, as LASIK/SMILE do end up causing long term eye dryness issues in a decent percentage of cases.
    The main advantage of those LASIK and SMILE is that the recovery is very smooth, but PRK does have a better record of not creating long-term problems with eye dryness.

    On top of that, the “flap” created during LASIK doesn’t really “heal”, so you will be forever exposed to increased risk of eye damage in case of trauma (e.g. a strong hit to the head might cause the flap to break open)

    All in all, if you ask me, PRK is plain better under every aspect other than recovery time. But given you’ll probably stick around with the same eyes for some time, you might want to bite the bullet and take the longer recovery time as tradeoff for lower risk of complications

    You do you, but I suggest you consider this thoroughly before pulling the trigger: I was almost going to start the process, but then I decided to give it up

    > Any opinions? Or other recommendations?

    Check with your health insurance provider: the refractive eye surgery is not covered, but some insurance providers have some agreements with some clinics. E.g. the one you are looking at (SwissVisio) has a partnership with Groupe Mutuel where you end up paying “only” 1600 to 1900CHF per eye

    > My insurance covers most of the cost so that is not a concern.

    What insurance do you have? I contacted several and they all told me it’s not covered and won’t even go towards my deductible

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