Do LASIK results last for a lifetime?

Many patients often assume that, by way of LASIK surgery, all concerns about future development of refractive errors have been resolved. Suffice to say that the eye as with all parts of the body undergoes changes with time. One of these changes include developing refractive error as one ages.

Having had LASIK merely corrects the refractive error at that particular point in the patient’s life. For that reason, much of the purpose of assessing the patient’s suitability for LASIK surgery includes analysing the patient’s potential for refractive stability. In addition, certain features of the patient’s eyes such as level of astigmatism, corneal shape, age and type of laser vision correction can determine the likelihood of further refractive errors developing in the future.

Age-related eye conditions though like presbyopia and cataracts may result in patients later needing to return to their glasses later. LASIK was never intended to help in those instances.

LASIK has been available for over 20 years, to this day, many patients have successfully maintained spectacle independence for far distance vision.

Lasik is very safe and has an excellent record, however up to 6% of patients may require an enhancement procedure within 10 years of the original surgery.

Some minor changes in spectacle refraction does occur over time, occurring most significantly in patients who were of a younger age at the time of surgery, higher degrees of myopia, and of the female sex.

For the majority of patients, the spectacle refraction is minor and do not require any visual aids or surgery.

For the minority of patients, they mostly choose to wear spectacle / contact lens correction for specific activities including driving at night or choose to undergo enhancement surgery.

Most importantly you should discuss the post-Lasik follow-up / enhancement policies of the Lasik surgeon performing your surgery!