LASIK surgery is a permanent procedure that can provide long-lasting vision correction. Most people who undergo the procedure will experience the effects of LASIK for a lifetime. However, some may need to have a LASIK booster surgery after 10 years. The reason for this may vary depending on the age at which you are undergoing LASIK and your vision health.
The physical changes made to the cornea during LASIK eye surgery never go away. However, that doesn't mean you don't need follow-up improvement surgery if the original surgery doesn't achieve the desired results or if your eye changes significantly for some other medical reason, such as cataracts. Approximately 5 percent of patients have minor eye changes that require a second procedure. This can happen three months after the initial procedure or 20 years later.
LASIK is a type of refractive surgery that remodels the cornea to correct myopia (myopia), farsightedness (farsightedness) and astigmatism. It is considered a permanent vision correction solution because it permanently corrects your current visual prescription. Patients may choose to have more LASIK surgery on one eye to allow for close vision correction once presbyopia occurs. A study that examined the permanence of LASIK found that only 3.5% of LASIK patients needed an improvement from LASIK after 10 years.
The procedure for improving LASIK surgery after 10 years is almost identical to that of the initial surgery. When considering LASIK surgery, it is important to remember that while the effects are permanent, the benefits may diminish over time. For most patients, LASIK results will last a lifetime, but some may need to have a booster surgery after 10 years. Nearly all of the minor risks associated with LASIK are treatable, resulting in a positive postoperative outcome.
