DOCUMENT AND ENTITY INFORMATION	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 29, 2013	Apr. 30, 2013
Entity Registrant Name	STAAR SURGICAL CO
Entity Central Index Key	0000718937
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-28
Entity Filer Category	Accelerated Filer
Trading Symbol	staa
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		36,746,714
Document Type	10-Q
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Mar. 29, 2013
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q1
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2013