Skip to content
4 Techniques · two surgical videos in the AAO video library

Laser vision correction in Cairo: without the London price tag.

Femto LASIK, SMILE Pro, Custom PRK, and traditional PRK, performed by a surgeon with two surgical videos in the AAO video library, trained at Devers Eye Institute (Portland, OR). Same lasers and protocols as Western European clinics, at 30-50% of the cost. From $300, depending on the technique that fits your cornea.

LASIK with Dr. Ahmed Shaarawy, Shaarawy Cornea Clinic

Why choose us

International standard. Regional access.

SMILE Pro: flapless precision

Tiny single incision. Faster recovery, lower dry-eye risk, athletes back to training in days.

Femto LASIK: the dependable workhorse

Femtosecond-laser flap creation. Same-day visual improvement. Suitable for most refractive errors.

Custom PRK for thin corneas

Surface ablation with topography-guided correction. The right call when the cornea is too thin for a flap.

Pre-op screening that catches keratoconus

Topography + tomography (Pentacam, OCT) are part of every LASIK workup. We refuse cases where LASIK is unsafe, and you'll always know why.

Laser vision correction routes

Which of these sounds like you?

Choose the closest description

Your prescription has held steady for a year or more and the Pentacam shows normal corneal thickness.

Femto-LASIK

With enough tissue to work with and numbers that are not moving, this is the direct route. A femtosecond laser lifts the flap, the excimer laser does the correction.

Dry, gritty eyes most days, or a cornea measured near the lower limit with a low to moderate myopic prescription.

SMILE pro

The correction comes out through a small incision, so fewer surface nerves are cut and the front of the cornea stays largely intact. That matters when dryness is already a complaint.

A strong myopic prescription, a cornea too thin to carry the full correction, or a surgeon who has already ruled laser out.

ICL instead of laser

Nothing is removed from the cornea. A lens sits in front of your natural lens, and it can be taken out again if your eyes change later.

This guide points you in a direction. Your corneal scan (Pentacam and topography) and your eye measurements decide which procedure fits.

Book a vision correction consultation

Compare the options

LASIK, SMILE Pro or ICL: how they differ

Three ways to correct nearsightedness and astigmatism. Two reshape the cornea with a laser. ICL adds a lens inside the eye and leaves the cornea alone. Your scans decide which of them are open to you.

Femto LASIK

This page
How it works
A femtosecond laser cuts a thin flap in the cornea. A second laser reshapes the tissue underneath, then the flap is laid back.
Who it suits
Stable nearsightedness, farsightedness or astigmatism, with a cornea thick enough for a flap.
Recovery
Vision usually clears within 24 to 48 hours. Most people are back at a desk the next day.

Price

$600-$1,100 both eyes

Femto LASIK price. Microkeratome LASIK is $300-$500 for both eyes.

SMILE Pro

How it works
The laser shapes a thin disc of tissue inside the cornea and removes it through a 2 to 4 mm opening. No flap.
Who it suits
Nearsightedness up to about -10D and astigmatism up to about 3D. Not used for farsightedness. Often picked by people who play contact sports.
Recovery
Vision usually improves within 24 to 48 hours. The surface heals over one to two weeks.

Price

$900-$1,400 both eyes

ICL lens

How it works
A thin lens goes in behind the iris, in front of your own lens. No corneal tissue is removed, and the lens can be taken out later.
Who it suits
High nearsightedness, or a cornea too thin or irregular for laser. Toric ICL corrects astigmatism too.
Recovery
Most people are back to normal activity within a few days. No swimming or contact sport for two weeks.

Price

$1,200-$1,500 per eye

  • EVO ICL: $1,200 per eye
  • Toric ICL, for astigmatism: $1,500 per eye
  • Both eyes: $2,400 (EVO) or $3,000 (Toric)

LASIK and SMILE Pro are quoted for both eyes. ICL is quoted per eye. The final plan and price are set after your exam: corneal thickness, topography and a full prescription check.

New: SMILE Pro

A patient after Femto SMILE Pro

Four days after vision correction on the Femto SMILE Pro, the newest SMILE device. Dr. Ahmed Shaarawy explains how it differs from Femto-LASIK: no corneal flap, and under ten minutes in the operating room.

"Of course, life is different."

★★★★★

Procedures & pricing

Transparent USD pricing.

Final cost is set after clinical examination. Local-currency equivalents available on request. Insurance reports issued for international patients.

ProcedureBest forFrom (USD)
Femto LASIKCurrent gold standard. Suits most candidates with stable refraction.$600 - $1,100
SMILE ProFlapless. Best for athletes, dry-eye-prone, and dusty environments.$900 - $1,400
Custom PRK / TransPRKSurface ablation. Ideal for thin corneas or military candidates.$500 - $900
Traditional LASIKMild to moderate myopia or hyperopia. Most affordable laser option.$300 - $500

Cost calculator

What will laser eye surgery cost you?

Answer a few questions about your prescription and cornea, and the calculator matches a technique and gives a USD estimate for both eyes. The final price is set after your exam.

تجربة مريض حقيقية

Why she flew past Russia to have laser surgery in Cairo

Polina, a Russian patient living in Cairo, on why she chose femto LASIK here and how she sees without contact lenses afterwards. Results vary from case to case.

Common questions

Frequently asked.

Is LASIK painful?
No. The procedure uses anesthetic eye drops. You may feel a few seconds of pressure during the suction step, but no sharp pain. Most patients describe it as 'less uncomfortable than a dental cleaning'.
How long is the procedure and recovery?
The laser itself is typically under 60 seconds per eye. The full visit takes 60-90 minutes. With Femto LASIK or SMILE you'll see clearly within 24 hours and return to a desk job the next day. PRK has a 3-7 day visual recovery.
What is your success rate?
Success here means reaching the target uncorrected vision. The honest benchmark is the published one, not ours: across 97 studies and 67,893 eyes, 99.5% of LASIK eyes had uncorrected distance vision better than 20/40 and 1.2% of patients were dissatisfied (Sandoval et al., J Cataract Refract Surg 2016;42(8):1224-1234, PMID 27531300). Those are pooled figures from the world literature, not from this clinic's own patients. Your own result depends on your prescription, astigmatism and corneal thickness, and 20/20 without glasses is the goal, not a guarantee.
Why does LASIK in Cairo cost less than in the UK or Germany?
Lower clinic operating costs and currency advantages, not lower clinical standards. We use the same Zeiss / Schwind / Wavelight lasers and the same single-use sterile kits as European centers. The savings come from the operating environment, not the surgery itself.
Am I a candidate for LASIK?
Most healthy adults aged 18+ with stable refraction for at least 12 months are candidates. We screen with full topography, pachymetry, and posterior-segment evaluation. If LASIK isn't safe for your cornea, we will recommend ICL, PRK, or SMILE, whichever is right for your eyes.
Can my prescription come back after LASIK?
In most cases the result is permanent. A small drift can appear over 5-10 years, usually from natural age-related changes in your own lens rather than from the laser. A simple enhancement can correct minor regression provided your cornea has enough thickness left. Separately, LASIK corrects distance vision only and does not prevent presbyopia, the natural, age-related loss of near focus that makes reading harder after the mid-40s for almost everyone, including people who have already had LASIK.Presbyopia and reading vision options
What's the difference between LASIK and SMILE Pro?
SMILE Pro is flapless, a small lenticule is removed through a 2-4 mm incision. Less dry eye risk and stronger biomechanical preservation. LASIK uses a corneal flap and offers slightly faster vision recovery and a wider treatment range. Both are FDA-approved gold-standard techniques.Full SMILE Pro details
If I have LASIK now, will I still be able to have a corneal transplant later if I ever need one?
Yes. Prior refractive surgery does not rule out a future corneal transplant. This is a co-authored research paper Dr. Ahmed Shaarawy contributed to, published as a poster at the AAO 2014 Annual Meeting (Terry MA, Straiko MD, Veldman PB, Alshaarawy AM [Dr. Ahmed Shaarawy], Mayko Z, Poster #30039964): DMEK is feasible and beneficial in eyes with prior LASIK or radial keratotomy. That is a conference poster rather than a peer-reviewed article, so it carries no journal, volume, pages or PMID and no figure from it is quoted here. The takeaway for current LASIK patients: should you ever develop endothelial disease (Fuchs dystrophy, post-cataract corneal edema, etc.) decades later, lamellar transplantation, DMEK or DSAEK, remains a sound option.

Book your consultation

Pick a day and time. The first visit is an eye exam with Dr. Ahmed Shaarawy, who tells you which option suits your eyes.

Send your topography. Get a personalized plan.

Upload your most recent topography (Pentacam / OCT / corneal map) and we'll respond within 24 hours with the right technique, expected outcomes, and the all-in cost.

Medical references

  1. Sandoval HP, Donnenfeld ED, Kohnen T, et al. "Modern laser in situ keratomileusis outcomes." J Cataract Refract Surg. 2016;42(8):1224-1234. PMID: 27531300. 97 studies and 67,893 eyes: 99.5% had uncorrected distance visual acuity better than 20/40, 0.61% lost two or more lines of corrected vision, 1.2% of patients were dissatisfied.
  2. Dr. Ahmed Shaarawy: 20+ years of corneal and refractive surgery, Devers Eye Institute fellowship (Portland, Oregon), two surgical techniques in the AAO video library. The figures on this page come from the published literature, not from this clinic's own patients.
Contact us on WhatsApp
BookCallWhatsApp