How Long Do LASIK Results Last? Aging Eyes, Reading Glasses and Realistic Expectations

Maria is 38, eleven years past her laser surgery, and she has just caught herself doing the thing she swore she would never do again: holding a restaurant menu at arm’s length and tilting it toward the candle. Her distance vision is still sharp. The road signs on the drive home are crisp. Yet the small print has started to swim, and a quiet worry surfaces: is it wearing off?

That question sits behind nearly every search for how long does LASIK last. The honest answer has two halves, and most online explanations only tell the reassuring one. The corneal reshaping itself does not fade. The eye behind it, however, keeps aging on exactly the same schedule it would have followed without surgery.

Untangling those two stories, the surgery and the aging eye, is what this explainer is for. Knowing which is which turns a vague fear into a set of specific, answerable questions for your own care team.

How long does LASIK last? The short version

LASIK, short for laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis, uses a laser to remove a microscopic layer of corneal tissue so light focuses correctly on the retina. Tissue removed that way does not grow back, which is why the correction is described as permanent by mainstream sources such as the Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic.

Permanent is not the same as unchanging, though. Three things can alter your vision in the years after surgery, and none of them means the laser work has “worn off.”

• Regression. In a minority of people the cornea heals in a way that shifts the prescription slightly, most often in the first year, occasionally later. Cleveland Clinic notes some patients eventually consider a repeat procedure, usually called an enhancement.
• Presbyopia. The natural lens inside the eye stiffens with age, making near focus harder. Mayo Clinic describes this becoming noticeable in the early to mid-40s and progressing until around 65. LASIK does not prevent it, and it was never designed to.
• Cataracts and other age-related changes. Clouding of the lens, changes to the retina and shifts in eye pressure all happen independently of the cornea.

So when someone asks how long LASIK lasts, the most accurate reply is: the corneal correction typically lasts as long as the eye does, while the overall quality of your vision follows the ordinary arc of aging. A 25-year-old corrected for nearsightedness may enjoy clear distance vision into their 60s, pick up reading glasses along the way, and eventually have cataract surgery, exactly like a neighbor who never had LASIK but wore contact lenses for distance the whole time.

The rest of this article walks through each of those stages, what the evidence says about them, and what to ask your eye care team.

What LASIK actually does to your cornea

The cornea is the clear, dome-shaped window at the front of the eye. It provides roughly two-thirds of the eye’s focusing power, which is why tiny changes to its curvature have a large effect on where light lands.

In nearsightedness the cornea or the eye as a whole is too powerful and light focuses in front of the retina. In farsightedness it is too weak and focuses behind. Astigmatism means the cornea is shaped more like a rugby ball than a football, so light spreads into two focal points. Glasses and contact lenses fix these by adding a lens in front of the eye. LASIK fixes them by resculpting the eye’s own lens-like surface.

The procedure itself, as described by MedlinePlus and Mayo Clinic, runs in three steps. A surgeon first creates a thin hinged flap in the outer cornea, using either a fine blade or a femtosecond laser. That flap is folded back. A second laser, an excimer laser, then removes precisely mapped amounts of tissue from the exposed layer, flattening the center for nearsightedness or steepening it for farsightedness. Finally the flap is laid back in place, where it adheres on its own without stitches.

The whole thing typically takes under half an hour for both eyes, and the actual laser time is measured in seconds. Numbing drops keep it comfortable; most people describe pressure rather than pain.

The key point for longevity is what the excimer laser does. It vaporizes tissue molecule by molecule. The cornea will heal its surface, but it does not regenerate the removed stroma, the structural middle layer. That is the biological basis for calling the correction permanent, and it is also why the amount of tissue removed matters when surgeons decide who is a suitable candidate.

Is LASIK permanent? Why permanent and forever are different things

Two ideas get tangled in this question, and pulling them apart resolves most of the confusion.

The correction is permanent. The new corneal shape is stable once healing finishes. Mayo Clinic notes that vision usually settles within two to three months after surgery, and after that the cornea itself changes very little for most people.

The eye is not frozen. Your eyeball is a living organ. Its lens grows and stiffens, its tear film thins, its pressure can drift, and the retina at the back accumulates the wear of decades. None of those processes care whether the cornea was lasered.

A useful comparison is dental work. A well-placed filling is permanent in the sense that the material does not dissolve. Yet the tooth beside it can still decay, gums can recede, and the bite can shift over the years. Nobody says the filling “wore off” when a different tooth needs attention. The same logic applies to your eyes.

There is one genuine exception worth naming. In a small proportion of people, the corneal correction does not hold as precisely as intended, a phenomenon eye specialists call regression. It tends to appear within the first year and is more likely in those who started with higher prescriptions, according to Mayo Clinic’s discussion of results. Later drift can also happen when the underlying refractive error itself was still changing, which is one reason surgeons ask for a stable prescription before operating.

Put together: LASIK is permanent as a procedure and durable as a result, but “forever perfect vision without glasses” is a promise no evidence-based source makes. Holding that distinction clearly will help you read every other claim you encounter.

Who LASIK is usually for, and who is usually asked to wait

Suitability shapes longevity more than people realize. A stable eye corrected at the right time holds its result far more reliably than an eye that was still changing.

The NHS describes laser eye surgery as suitable for most adults over 18 whose prescription has stayed more or less the same for about two years. That stability requirement exists because nearsightedness commonly continues to progress through the late teens and sometimes into the twenties. Correct a moving target and the target keeps moving.

Mayo Clinic lists several circumstances in which surgeons typically advise against LASIK or ask for a delay:

• a very high refractive error, where the amount of tissue removal needed becomes a concern;
• corneas that are too thin or irregularly shaped, including keratoconus, a condition in which the cornea progressively bulges;
• significant dry eye, since LASIK temporarily reduces tear production and can worsen it;
• pregnancy or breastfeeding, because hormonal shifts can change the prescription temporarily;
• uncontrolled autoimmune disease or conditions that impair healing;
• advanced glaucoma or cataracts, and some retinal conditions.

Age at the older end raises a different question. Someone in their late 40s or 50s asking about lasik after 40 is usually already dealing with presbyopia. Distance correction alone will leave them reaching for reading glasses, and surgeons will talk through options such as correcting one eye for distance and the other for near, often called monovision, or lens-based procedures instead of LASIK.

The pre-operative assessment is where these judgments happen. Expect corneal thickness measurements, detailed mapping of the corneal surface, a tear film check, pupil size measurement and a dilated examination of the retina. Every one of these feeds into the decision, which rests with the surgeon and the person considering surgery together, never with an article.

What the first days and weeks after LASIK usually look like

The long-term story starts with a short, intense healing window that surprises many people with how quickly it moves.

The first day. Vision is typically blurry or hazy immediately afterward, and eyes often feel gritty, watery or light-sensitive, as described by Mayo Clinic and MedlinePlus. Most people are advised to go home and rest with eyes closed. A protective shield is commonly worn while sleeping.

The first week. Distance vision is often dramatically clearer by the next morning, though not yet at its final sharpness. Rubbing the eyes is the one thing surgeons most consistently warn against, because the flap is still settling. Swimming, hot tubs and eye makeup are usually paused, and contact sports wait longer. Prescribed drops to prevent infection and calm inflammation are used on the schedule your surgeon sets.

Weeks two to twelve. Sharpness continues to improve and then stabilizes. Mayo Clinic notes it can take two to three months for the eye to heal fully and for vision to settle. Glare, halos and starbursts around lights at night are common early on and, for most people, fade over days to weeks. Dry eye is the most persistent short-term effect; Mayo describes reduced tear production lasting around six months for many people.

Follow-up. Typical schedules include a check the day after surgery, another within the first week or two, and further visits over the following months. These appointments are where any early regression or healing problem would be caught.

Only after this period does the question of how long LASIK lasts really begin. Vision measured at the three-month visit is a fair baseline for everything that follows.

Why is my vision blurry 5 years after LASIK?

Five years is roughly when the first wave of “is it wearing off?” searches happens, and blur at this stage usually has one of a handful of explanations. Sorting them out is a job for an eye examination, not self-diagnosis, but knowing the categories helps you describe what you are noticing.

Mild regression. Some people’s prescription drifts a small amount in the years after surgery. It is more common in those who started with higher degrees of nearsightedness or farsightedness. The blur is typically at distance, gradual, and similar to the way their original prescription used to creep.

Dry eye. An unstable tear film scatters light and produces fluctuating blur that clears with blinking, often worse late in the day or after screen time. Cleveland Clinic lists dry eye among the most common ongoing complaints after LASIK, and it is also simply more common with age and in air-conditioned or heated environments.

Early presbyopia. For anyone who had surgery in their mid-30s, five years later lands squarely in the age range Mayo Clinic gives for presbyopia to become noticeable. The blur is at near, not distance: menus, phone screens, labels.

Something unrelated to LASIK. Rising blood sugar, certain medications, early cataract and retinal changes can all blur vision at any age. A person who never had surgery would face the same possibilities.

The practical response is the same in each case: a comprehensive eye exam that includes a refraction, tear film assessment and dilated retinal check. Your optometrist or ophthalmologist can then tell you whether the blur is corneal, lenticular, tear-related or something else, and what, if anything, is worth doing about it. Vision that changes suddenly, or in one eye only, warrants a prompt appointment rather than a routine one.

What happens 10 years after LASIK? Reading glasses enter the picture

At the ten-year mark, the dominant story shifts from the cornea to the lens. For anyone who had surgery in their late 20s or early 30s, a decade later means their early 40s, and presbyopia is arriving on schedule.

Presbyopia is the gradual loss of the eye’s ability to focus on nearby objects. It happens because the crystalline lens inside the eye stiffens and the muscles that flex it can no longer bend it enough for close work. Mayo Clinic notes it usually becomes noticeable in the early to mid-40s and continues to worsen until about age 65, at which point most of the eye’s near-focusing ability has gone. It affects nearly everyone, regardless of whether they were nearsighted, farsighted or had perfect vision.

This is the point where LASIK’s trade-off becomes visible. Before surgery, a nearsighted person could take off their glasses and read comfortably up close even as presbyopia set in, because their nearsightedness acted as built-in reading correction. After LASIK, that natural near focus is gone. Distance is sharp, but reading now requires glasses, exactly as it would for someone who was never nearsighted.

Some people feel misled at this stage. They were not, as long as the pre-operative discussion covered it. The surgery did what it was designed to do. Reading glasses at 45 are not a failure of LASIK; they are a feature of being 45.

Options at this stage are ordinary ones: over-the-counter or prescription readers, progressive lenses, or a conversation with your eye surgeon about whether any further procedure makes sense. Many people simply keep a pair of readers in the kitchen and another by the bed and think about it no further.

What happens after 20 years of LASIK? Cataracts and the aging eye

Twenty years on, most people who had LASIK in their 20s or 30s are in their 50s or 60s, and the conversation moves again, this time toward cataracts.

A cataract is a clouding of the eye’s natural lens. It develops slowly, usually in both eyes at different rates, and blurs vision the way a fogged window does. The National Eye Institute reports that by age 80, more than half of all Americans either have a cataract or have had cataract surgery. LASIK does not cause cataracts, and it does not protect against them; the lens sits behind the cornea and ages on its own timetable.

What LASIK does change is the arithmetic of cataract surgery. During cataract surgery the clouded lens is replaced with an artificial intraocular lens, and the power of that lens is calculated from measurements of the eye, including the cornea’s curvature. A cornea reshaped by LASIK gives readings that standard formulas were not designed for. Surgeons account for this with adjusted calculations, and it helps considerably if they know about the prior surgery and, ideally, have access to pre-LASIK measurements. This is a strong reason to keep your original surgical records and mention LASIK at every eye appointment for the rest of your life.

Retinal health matters too. People who were highly nearsighted before LASIK still have longer eyeballs and thinner retinas, and their lifetime risk of retinal detachment and certain macular changes reflects that original anatomy. Correcting the cornea did not alter it. Regular dilated eye examinations remain as important after LASIK as before.

The encouraging part of the 20-year picture is that the corneal correction itself is typically still doing its job. What has changed is everything around it, which is precisely what this article’s title means by aging eyes.

LASIK longevity at a glance: what changes and when

The following table summarizes the typical arc described so far. Every range is a population-level pattern from the cited sources, not a prediction for any individual; your own timeline depends on your age at surgery, your original prescription and your general eye health.

Timeframe after LASIK	What is usually happening	Is it the LASIK changing?	Typical response
First 1–3 days	Haze, grittiness, light sensitivity; rapid early improvement	Yes, normal healing	Rest, prescribed drops, protective shield, no rubbing
Weeks to 3 months	Vision sharpens and stabilizes; halos and glare fade for most; dry eye common	Yes, final settling	Follow-up visits; artificial tears as advised
3 months to 1 year	Result at its stable baseline; dry eye typically eases by around 6 months	Mostly stable; early regression, if any, appears here	Routine check; discuss enhancement only if measurable drift
1–10 years	Distance vision typically stable; presbyopia begins for those reaching early–mid 40s	Rarely	Reading glasses; routine eye exams
10–20 years	Presbyopia progresses; tear film thins with age	Rarely	Progressives or readers; dry eye management
20+ years	Cataracts increasingly common; retinal aging	No	Cataract assessment; tell surgeons about prior LASIK

Two patterns stand out. First, almost everything in the right-hand columns after the first year is about the lens and retina rather than the cornea. Second, the single action that appears at every stage is a regular eye examination. It is the mechanism by which each of these changes gets noticed early enough to be managed simply.

Does LASIK wear off, and can you have a LASIK touch up years later?

The phrase “wear off” describes something that is not quite what happens, but the underlying concern is legitimate and has a specific answer.

Regression, the technical term for a prescription drifting back part of the way toward its pre-surgery value, is a recognized outcome. It results from the way individual corneas heal and remodel, and it is more likely after treatment of higher prescriptions. It is not the laser’s effect evaporating. Tissue that was removed stays removed; the surface simply settles a little differently than planned.

When regression is large enough to bother someone, and when the cornea has enough remaining thickness, surgeons may offer an enhancement. This is a second laser treatment, typically smaller than the first, to refine the result. Cleveland Clinic and Mayo Clinic both describe enhancements as an option some people eventually consider. Whether one is appropriate depends on corneal thickness, the stability of the current prescription, tear film health and how much the change actually affects daily life. Many people with a small drift choose to do nothing, or to wear thin glasses for night driving, rather than have a second procedure.

Timing matters. Surgeons generally want to see that the new prescription has been stable across more than one visit before treating it, for the same reason they wanted stability before the first surgery.

An enhancement for presbyopia is a different conversation. Laser treatment cannot restore the lens’s flexibility. Some surgeons use laser to create monovision, correcting one eye slightly for near, but this is a deliberate trade-off with its own adjustments, and not everyone tolerates it. A lens-based procedure may be discussed instead, particularly once early cataract is present.

The decision about any repeat procedure belongs to you and your surgeon after a full re-examination. No general rule can substitute for measurements of your own eye.

What is the downside of LASIK eye surgery?

Any honest longevity discussion has to include the things that can go wrong, because some of them shape how a person experiences their vision for years.

Dry eye is the most common lasting complaint. Creating the flap cuts some of the corneal nerves that signal the eye to produce tears. For most people tear production recovers over months, but Mayo Clinic notes some experience dry eye that persists longer, and a small number find it significantly bothersome. People with dry eye before surgery are at higher risk.

Night vision symptoms. Glare, halos around lights and starbursts are common early and usually fade. For a minority they persist, particularly with large pupils or higher corrections, and can make night driving less comfortable.

Under- or overcorrection and regression. The eye may end up slightly off the target, or drift afterward. Glasses or an enhancement can address this, but neither is guaranteed to be suitable.

Flap complications. Rarely, the flap can be irregular, wrinkle, or be displaced by trauma, even years later. A direct blow to the eye is the usual cause of late displacement, which is why some surgeons advise eye protection for contact sports indefinitely.

Corneal ectasia. This uncommon but serious complication involves progressive bulging of a weakened cornea, causing worsening distorted vision. Careful pre-operative screening of corneal thickness and shape is the main safeguard.

Infection and inflammation. Rare, most likely in the first week, and the reason for post-operative drops and follow-up.

Loss of best corrected vision. In rare cases the eye sees less well, even with glasses, than it did before surgery.

The NHS and Mayo Clinic both frame these as uncommon relative to the number of procedures performed, while stressing that the decision should weigh them against the benefit of reduced dependence on glasses, which is a lifestyle gain rather than a medical necessity.

Alternatives to LASIK and how their longevity compares

LASIK is one option among several, and the right choice depends on the eye in front of the surgeon. Knowing the alternatives clarifies what LASIK does and does not offer over the long term.

Glasses and contact lenses. Fully reversible, adjustable as the prescription changes, and free of surgical risk. Their downside is daily inconvenience and, for contact lenses, a small ongoing infection risk with imperfect hygiene. They remain the default, and every surgical option is measured against them.

PRK (photorefractive keratectomy). The same excimer laser reshaping as LASIK, but without a flap. Instead, the thin outer surface layer of the cornea is removed and regrows over several days. Recovery is slower and more uncomfortable, but PRK avoids flap-related complications and may be preferred for thinner corneas or people in contact sports. Long-term stability is considered comparable, since the underlying tissue removal is the same.

SMILE and other flapless laser techniques. A newer approach removes a small disc of tissue through a keyhole incision. Long-term data are shorter simply because the technique is younger.

Implantable lenses. A thin artificial lens is placed inside the eye in front of the natural lens, leaving the cornea untouched. Used mainly for high prescriptions outside laser range. The lens can, in principle, be removed.

Refractive lens exchange. The natural lens is replaced with an artificial one, essentially cataract surgery performed before a cataract forms. Because it removes the lens, it also removes future cataract risk and can address presbyopia with certain lens designs. It is generally discussed for people over 40 to 50 and carries the risks of intraocular surgery.

The NHS overview of laser and lens surgery is a useful neutral starting point. Which option suits you, if any, is a clinical judgment based on your measurements, your age and what you want your vision to do.

What people often get wrong about how long LASIK lasts

Some beliefs about LASIK longevity circulate so widely that they deserve direct correction.

“LASIK wears off after ten years.” There is no biological mechanism for laser-removed tissue to return. What people notice around the ten-year mark is usually presbyopia, which arrives on the same schedule for everyone in their 40s. The timing is a coincidence of typical surgical age, not an expiry date.

“If I need reading glasses, the surgery failed.” LASIK treats distance vision. Presbyopia is a lens problem, not a corneal one. The surgery did not fail; the lens aged.

“LASIK prevents cataracts” or “LASIK causes cataracts.” Neither is supported. The cornea and lens are separate structures. What is true is that prior LASIK makes the lens-power calculation for cataract surgery more complex, which is why your records matter.

“You can only have LASIK once.” Enhancements are an established option when corneal thickness allows. The limiting factor is tissue, not a rule.

“Younger is always better.” Below the age at which the prescription stabilizes, surgery is more likely to be followed by drift. The NHS’s guidance on a stable prescription for about two years exists for exactly this reason.

“Blurry vision years later must be regression.” Dry eye, presbyopia, early cataract, blood sugar changes and medications can all blur vision. Only an examination can tell them apart.

“After LASIK I do not need eye exams.” The opposite is closer to the truth. Anyone who was significantly nearsighted keeps the retinal risks of a long eye, and everyone ages toward presbyopia and cataract. Routine dilated examinations remain the single most useful thing you can do for long-term vision, with or without surgery.

Questions to ask your care team before and after LASIK

A good consultation is a two-way conversation. These questions are designed to draw out the information that most affects how your result will hold over time.

Before surgery

• How stable has my prescription been over the past two years, based on my records rather than my memory?
• What are my corneal thickness and shape measurements, and how much margin do they leave for a possible enhancement later?
• How large are my pupils in dim light, and does that raise my risk of night glare?
• What did my tear film assessment show, and how might LASIK affect my dry eye risk?
• Given my age, when should I expect presbyopia to arrive, and how will that change what I see?
• Would PRK, a lens-based procedure or simply continuing with contacts be a better fit for my eyes, and why?
• What is your approach if my result drifts, and under what circumstances would you not offer an enhancement?

At follow-up visits

• Is my vision at the level you expected for this stage of healing?
• Are my halos or dryness within the typical range, and when should I call if they do not improve?
• May I have a copy of my pre-operative and post-operative measurements to keep permanently?

Years later, with any eye care provider

• Have I mentioned that I had LASIK, and is that noted in my chart?
• Is this blur coming from my cornea, my lens, my tear film or my retina?
• Do I still have enough corneal tissue for an enhancement to be considered, if I wanted one?
• When cataract surgery is eventually discussed: how will my prior LASIK affect the lens calculation?

Write the answers down. The measurements you collect at the first consultation may be the most valuable numbers your future cataract surgeon ever sees.

When to call your doctor: red-flag signs after LASIK, early and late

Most changes in vision after LASIK are gradual and benign, and a routine appointment is the right response. Some are not. The following warrant contacting your eye surgeon or seeking urgent eye care the same day, whether it has been one week or twenty years since your procedure.

• Sudden loss or marked worsening of vision in one or both eyes, especially over hours rather than months.
• Severe or increasing eye pain, particularly in the first weeks, which can signal infection, inflammation or a flap problem.
• A red eye with discharge, intense light sensitivity or worsening blur in the early post-operative period.
• Any direct injury to the eye, even years later, since the flap can be displaced by trauma.
• A sudden shower of new floaters, flashes of light, or a shadow or curtain moving across your vision. These can indicate a retinal tear or detachment, a risk that remains elevated for anyone who was highly nearsighted before surgery. This is a same-day emergency.
• Vision that becomes progressively distorted or doubled in one eye over weeks to months, which should be assessed for corneal ectasia or other structural change.
• New severe headache with eye pain, halos and nausea, which can accompany a sharp rise in eye pressure.

Less urgent but still worth a prompt, non-routine appointment: gradual blur that interferes with driving or work, dry eye that is not improving with the measures your surgeon advised, or persistent night glare that limits your activities.

If you are unsure whether something is urgent, call. Eye care teams would far rather reassure you about a harmless symptom than see a serious one late. Above all, every decision about drops, further procedures or changes to your plan rests with the clinicians who can examine your eyes, not with any article, including this one.

Frequently asked questions

Is LASIK permanent?

The corneal reshaping is permanent because the laser removes tissue that does not grow back. The eye around it keeps aging, though, so presbyopia and cataracts can still change your vision decades later. A small proportion of people also experience some prescription drift, most often in the first year, which a surgeon may address with an enhancement if the cornea has enough thickness.

What happens after 20 years of LASIK?

Twenty years on, the corneal correction is typically still working, but most people are now in the age range where cataracts become common and presbyopia is well established. The main practical consequence is that any future cataract surgeon needs to know about the LASIK to calculate the replacement lens power correctly, which makes keeping your original records genuinely useful.

Why is my vision blurry 5 years after LASIK?

The usual explanations are dry eye, mild regression of the prescription, early presbyopia if you are approaching your 40s, or an unrelated change such as blood sugar or early cataract. Only an eye examination with a refraction, tear film check and dilated retinal exam can tell which applies. Sudden blur or blur in one eye deserves a prompt rather than routine appointment.

What happens 10 years after LASIK?

For most people who had surgery in their 20s or 30s, ten years later means presbyopia arriving on schedule in the early to mid-40s, as Mayo Clinic describes. Distance vision usually remains clear while near tasks start to need reading glasses. This reflects the aging lens, not the cornea, and is not a sign the surgery has worn off.

Does LASIK wear off?

Not in the literal sense. Removed corneal tissue does not return. What can happen is regression, where the healing cornea shifts the prescription slightly, usually within the first year and more often after higher corrections. Later changes in vision are far more commonly due to presbyopia, dry eye or cataract, which affect people who never had surgery on exactly the same timetable.

Can I get a LASIK touch up years later?

Often yes, if your cornea has enough remaining thickness and your current prescription has been stable across more than one visit. Surgeons call this an enhancement, and it is typically a smaller treatment than the original. It cannot restore the near focus lost to presbyopia, and many people with minor drift choose glasses for specific tasks instead. The decision rests with your surgeon after a full re-examination.

Is LASIK worth it after 40?

It depends on what you want your vision to do. After 40, presbyopia means distance-only LASIK will still leave you needing reading glasses. Surgeons may discuss monovision, correcting one eye for near, or lens-based procedures that can address both distance and near. The NHS and Mayo Clinic both describe these alternatives; your suitability depends on your measurements and priorities.

What is the downside of LASIK eye surgery?

The most common lasting issue is dry eye, which usually improves over months but persists for some. Night glare and halos, under- or overcorrection, and later regression are also recognized. Rarer but more serious risks include flap complications, infection, corneal ectasia and, uncommonly, reduced best corrected vision. Mayo Clinic and the NHS describe these as infrequent but real, and they are weighed against a lifestyle rather than medical benefit.

Will I still need eye exams after LASIK?

Yes, and arguably they matter more. LASIK changes the cornea but not the retina, lens or eye pressure. Anyone who was highly nearsighted keeps the retinal risks of a longer eye, and everyone ages toward presbyopia and cataract. Regular dilated examinations are how those changes are caught early, and they are the setting in which any regression would be measured.

Does LASIK affect future cataract surgery?

It does not prevent you from having cataract surgery, but it changes the calculation. The power of the artificial lens is derived partly from corneal curvature, and a lasered cornea gives readings that standard formulas were not built for. Surgeons use adjusted methods and benefit greatly from your pre-LASIK measurements, so tell every eye care provider about your surgery and keep your records.

References

• MedlinePlus — LASIK eye surgery
• NHS — Laser eye surgery and lens surgery
• Cleveland Clinic — LASIK Eye Surgery
• NIH National Eye Institute — Cataracts

This article is for general information only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult a qualified doctor about your individual situation.