Is Laser Eye Surgery Permanent? Everything You Need To Know
Putting your eyes under the knife (or, in the case of laser eye surgery, the laser) is no insignificant commitment. Although it is said that the cost of surgical vision correction can be cheaper than glasses or contact lenses in the long run, laser eye surgery is still a hefty sum. Not to mention that many people flinch at the idea of something coming towards the eye, and entrusting your vision to an eye surgeon can be anxiety-provoking. All that being said, laser eye surgery is a popular alternative to glasses and contacts for a reason. But what you want to know is, for such a significant undertaking, is laser eye surgery permanent?
Is Laser Eye Surgery a Permanent Procedure?
During a laser eye surgery procedure, the eye surgeon uses a laser tool to adjust the curvature of the cornea, the front surface of the eye. Modifying the curvature of this surface changes the way that light focuses through the eye.
Because laser vision correction involves surgically removing tissue from the eyeball, which can’t be replaced, in that sense, laser eye surgery is permanent.
However, if you’ve been wondering is laser eye surgery permanent, it pays to know that there are a couple of caveats to this answer.
Age Causes Changes to Your Vision
This is something that you’re probably aware of, but may not have thought about how it might impact the permanency of your laser eye surgery.
Firstly, refractive error (what is commonly known as your prescription) can change with age. There’s a reason your eye surgeon has a minimum age requirement before performing laser vision correction. Typically, this is quoted to be around 18, or for some clinics, 21 years old. Ultimately, your eye surgeon wants to see that your prescription has been stable and unchanging for at least a year or two. Needless to say, performing surgical vision correction on an eye that’s still growing and changing would be a wasted effort for all parties.
Another influence of age on your vision and the result of your laser eye surgery is the onset of presbyopia. Presbyopia begins around the mid-40s when your near-focusing ability starts to become more difficult. As you get older, near sight becomes increasingly dependent on aids such as reading glasses. Because laser vision correction is applied to the cornea to typically correct long-distance sight, but presbyopia arises from changes to the lens inside the eye, undergoing laser eye surgery doesn’t offset the inevitable age-related difficulties with reading. For this reason, surgeons will often avoid laser eye surgery in people approaching presbyopia as the days of being spectacle-free are too short-lived. Instead, you may be recommended a different surgical vision correction treatment, such as refractive lens exchange.
Yet a third aspect of age-related changes to your sight is the onset of various eye diseases. Common conditions such as cataracts and age-related macular degeneration can cause your sight to deteriorate. Undergoing laser vision surgery has no bearing on the development of these conditions, and you may still find your sight becoming blurry from these diseases (or other eye diseases) despite successful refractive surgery.
The Problem of Regression
Another factor influencing the answer to is laser eye surgery permanent, is one that is the bane of refractive surgeons – regression.
Rarely does a prescription regress all the way back to what it was prior to surgery, but it can be enough to require glasses or contact lenses again.
It’s not possible to guarantee that someone will not experience regression after laser vision correction, but there are some factors that make it more likely.
Amongst others, research has found that these factors can influence the risk of regression:
- How high the prescription is
- Corneal thickness before surgery
- Remaining corneal thickness after surgery
- Age at the time of surgery
- The temperature of the operating theatre
There is also little data to predict when someone might start experiencing regression after undergoing laser eye surgery. Some people find their sight starts to blur within a couple of years after their initial procedure, while others may get a good couple of decades of sharp vision.
Different techniques of laser eye surgery have been studied to investigate which method might be associated with a lower risk of regression. One study found that SMILE laser eye surgery (small incision lenticule extraction) was linked with a lower likelihood of myopic regression compared to LASIK and PRK, even with higher degrees of myopia. Another study reported that LASIK was associated with earlier post-surgery stability compared to PRK for hyperopic eyes.
Fortunately, retreatment is often possible if a regression occurs after refractive surgery. This may not necessarily be with the same technique that you had for the original surgery. For example, the SMILE procedure, at least at this point in time, cannot be repeated, and so any touchup treatments would be performed through LASIK or PRK.
To check your eligibility for laser vision correction, speak to your local optometrist or ophthalmologist by calling us on (03) 9070 5788.
Note: Any surgical or invasive procedure carries risks. Before proceeding, you should seek a second opinion from an appropriately qualified health practitioner.
References
Factors predicting the need for retreatment after laser refractive surgery.
https://journals.lww.com/corneajrnl/Abstract/2016/05000/Factors_Predicting_the_Need_for_Retreatment_After.5.aspx
SMILE offers low enhancement rate after nomogram adjustment.
https://www.ophthalmologytimes.com/view/smile-offers-low-enhancement-rate-after-nomogram-adjustment
How long does LASIK last?
https://www.healthline.com/health/eye-health/how-long-does-lasik-last
LASIK and PRK in hyperopic astigmatic eyes: is early retreatment advisable?
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4820209/
