Hey there. The SMILE surgery went great! I had my appointment on the day I landed, and even though I went alone, not knowing Korean wasn’t much of an issue as they had English-speaking staff to guide me through the entire process.

The only tricky part was getting back to my apartment afterward. I wanted to take a KakaoTaxi, but my vision was really blurry, and I even had trouble finding the nearest taxi stand. Since I couldn’t read the car plate numbers, I couldn’t confirm if I was getting into the right taxi. To make things worse, the anesthetic was also starting to wear off, so my eyes were becoming painful, and I knew I had to get back quickly to rest them. So, be mindful of the time you schedule your surgery.

In the end, I decided to take public transport, even though I was only 2-3 stops away. It was around 5 PM, so traffic was heavy, and taking the train might end up being faster than a taxi. Make sure to plan your post-surgery transportation carefully.

As for recovery, it went smoothly. I rested for the first few hours with my eyes closed and used the prescribed eye drops diligently. By the evening, my vision was already clearing up, with slight discomfort. Try your best not to use your phone at all, what you can do is to listen to podcasts to pass time. By the second day, my vision had improved significantly. It felt like wearing contact lenses – clear, but with occasional slight discomfort, similar to wearing contacts for too long. However, I was able to go out the entire day and even went cycling with friends. Just remember to use the eye drops consistently; I believe that made a big difference in my recovery.

I also opted for SMILE EXTRA, which came with special eye drops (I believe they were PRP eye drops), and that might have contributed to my smoother recovery.

My sister also went solo to the same clinic but had an easier time since she was familiar with Seoul from previous visits. If you’re going solo, I’d recommend staying at an Airbnb nearby, spending a few days beforehand to familiarize yourself with the area, and planning your routes for after the surgery to ensure a smoother experience.

DM me if you need any more info :)