From my experience, the risk of corneal decompensation is the same as young people. If you don’t screen correctly you will allow someone who shouldn’t do LASIK undergo the procedure, you will get in trouble. I think the success rate is exactly the same. You could argue that maybe it’s different if we look at the younger patients in their 20s when they recover within 24 hours, compared to older people who recover just one day or two later. If we talk about super super sharp vision, the younger people might get it within hours and the 40-50s years old might get it 1-2 days later. And i think that younger patients might recover around 2 weeks after surgery from dry eyes; The standard is 2-3 months after LASIK for dry eyes recovery.
Question
What is the risk of bladeless LASIK for older adults?
Doctor's Answers 1
Similar Questions
Is LASIK still suitable for me if I have dry and sensitive eyes? Will it cause even worse dryness?
Current options available for laser vision correction include corneal flap-based procedures like LASIK, and also no flap, Advanced Surface Ablation (ASA) methods like TransPRK. During LASIK, the doctor will have to cut your cornea to create an external flap using either a blade or a Femtosecond laser (bladeless LASIK). Whether using a blade or the laser, there will still be a cut corneal flap and this will result in cut corneal nerve endings, increasing the risk of procedure-induced dry eyes. This, together with flap complications, are the main disadvantages of LASIK.
How long is the recovery period for Epi-Lasik before my vision stabilizes? Can I still go for enhancement after Epi-Lasik?
Epi-LASIK (which is essentially photorefractive keratectomy/PRK) refers to laser treatment of the surface of the cornea, after the surface layer of epithelial cells has been peeled away. After treatment, the surface of the eye/cornea is ‘raw’ and has no epithelial covering. This epithelial layer grows back eventually, but the time it takes to grow back and become normal again is what causes the delayed healing of epi-LASIK/PRK versus conventional bladeless/femtosecond laser LASIK.
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