Can I still get perfect vision if I have high myopia?

If you are asking whether refractive surgery can correct high myopia, then the short answer is yes.

There are various options, including LASIK, epiLASIK, and Implantable Collamer Lens (ICL) surgery. The absolute limits of laser surgery go up to around -11D (provided cornea is thick enough) and for ICL surgery go up to around -16D (provided there is enough space in the front of the eye).

However, not everyone with high myopia will necessarily get a good result from such surgery. In order to decide the best option and suitability of a particular person to undergo such surgery, a full assessment of spectacle power, general health of the eye, and specific eye measurements such as corneal thickness and depth of the anterior chamber of the eye need to be done.

I would suggest that if you are keen to explore surgical options to correct your myopia, to arrange an appointment with a doctor who performs such surgery, and have the necessary tests done. The doctor, with the necessary test reports, will advise you whether LASIK or other surgery is able to provide you with good spectacle free vision afterwards.

One way to be free of spectacles and contact lenses would be to consider laser vision correction (eg LASIK, ReLEx SMILE, PRK). Not everyone is suitable for laser vision correction, so it is always helpful to go through a pre-laser evaluation or assessment to ascertain if this surgical option is suitable for your eyes.

Should one be suitable for lasers, management of expectations is important as well. Laser vision correction aims to help one gain spectacles independence. We never use absolute terms such as “perfect” as “perfect” to many means zero degree after the surgery. This is something we aim for, but we cannot promise as everyone’s eye is different and what we can never control is how the eye reacts to the laser and heals after.

Should you have a residual power of 25 or 50 degrees, it is considered a good outcome as you would be able to perform most tasks without spectacles. You will likely be able see the 6/6 line with those levels of prescription. However, it is not “perfect”.

It is thus important to identify your reasons and motivations for the surgery, understand the limitations of lasers and manage your expectations accordingly.

Absolutely! 6/6 vision is possible in the context of high myopia. The best way to know your visual potential is to have an accurate spectacle refraction performed. If you can attain perfect vision with the use of spectacles or contact lenses, then refractive surgery has a good chance of giving you similar vision without the need for such visual aids.

Instead of wearing a negative lens to correct your vision, laser refractive surgery uses an excimer laser to reshape corneal tissue by "removing" a positive lens from your cornea. This procedure is permanent and highly predictable, so 6/6 vision is definitely attainable.