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What is the life expectancy of your 20/20 vision following LASIK surgery?
Having surgery of any kind takes a lot of investment, whether it is an elective procedure to improve your quality of life or a medical necessity. Not only are you putting the health of your body into the hands of another, but it usually takes a good amount of money and recovery time to do so. Therefore, if you are going to make that kind of investment into your future health and well being, it is only natural to be curious about how long you can expect the improvements to last.
When most people are considering having LASIK eye surgery to improve their vision, one of the first questions they will typically ask is “How long will the effects of LASIK last?” While there is no one-size-fits-all answer for each individual’s eyes, the results of LASIK often last a significant amount of time before any noticeable changes occur in nearly every single case. In fact, with the ongoing advances in LASIK technology, the results are beginning to last longer and longer.
How Does LASIK Surgery Work?
LASIK eye surgery uses a computer-controlled laser in order to reshape the eye’s cornea and correct and refractive errors that may be present, such as nearsightedness, farsightedness or astigmatism. The procedure itself begins by using an instrument called a microkeratome to create a small flap in the corneal tissue which is then folded back. The laser is then used to reshape the cornea by removing or ablating the tissue beneath the flap. As this tissue is removed, the shape of the cornea is altered, allowing light to focus more precisely on the retina for improved vision.
The entire LASIK surgery procedure only takes as little as 10 minutes per eye, and most patients are able to leave and enjoy improved vision without any need for contacts or corrective eyeglasses.
Vision After LASIK Surgery
After a patient has undergone LASIK surgery, their eyes are typically corrected to 20/20 or better distance vision. However, near vision problems may still affect you (whether or not you have had LASIK surgery) as surgery will not trump the normal aging process of up close vision. Therefore, you may still find that you need reading glasses or bifocal lenses after the page of 40 to see small things up close.
However, the basic changes in your vision through LASIK surgery will typically last for many years, and even decades, before you notice a slip in clarity or any changes in your vision. However, even in this situation, the same flap created in your initial LASIK surgery can easily be peeled back and another laser treatment can be done to touch up your vision. However, only 5% of LASIK patients require this kind of touch-up procedure during their lifetime.
If you are thinking about undergoing LASIK surgery in order to improve your vision and have questions about how it will last, be sure to contact OCLI today. We can walk you through the procedure and give you personalized expectations for life after surgery.
