Overall, the risk of a complication requiring further treatment, by laser or any other technique, is approximately 1 in 1000, and where there is no significant visual loss. The chance of a more serious complication which would affect vision in one eye or the other, or both, is 1 in 10,000.
LASIK permanently corrects the vision prescription that you have at the time of surgery. This means that it cannot wear off. However, any underlying conditions such as presbyopia that progress over time can cause changes to your vision, making the original LASIK procedure less effective.
No surgical procedure is 100% effective. However, LASIK has one of the highest success and satisfaction rates of any elective procedure, with 96% of LASIK patients reporting high satisfaction after treatment. Effectiveness studies show that 70% to 90% of LASIK patients achieve 20/20 vision or better after treatment.
As we mentioned above, the laser makes permanent changes to the shape of the cornea. This cannot be reversed; however, sometimes vision can continue to change as a person ages. In this case, you may notice changes to your vision over the years even if you've undergone Lasik surgery.
For most people, the answer is yes. LASIK surgery has a strong reputation for success. More than 90% of people who are good candidates for LASIK achieve excellent vision without corrective lenses.
LASIK is permanent, but eyesight can and does change, even after laser surgery. There are many potential causes of eyesight changes after refractive surgery.
In addition, LASIK can dramatically improve your long-term quality of life. In many cases, you will no longer need glasses, meaning you can see the world without frames in your peripheral vision. It will also make it easier to travel, play sports, and enjoy many other physical activities.
How Safe is LASIK? All surgeries carry some risk of complications and side effects, but LASIK is generally considered a safe procedure with a low complication rate. In fact, LASIK is one of the safest elective surgical procedures available today, with a complication rate estimated to be less than 1%.
The American Refractive Surgery Council says the procedure's complication rate is less than 1% (though 30% of people may see short-term side effects like dry eyes).
Generally speaking, most LASIK eye surgeons agree on 25-40 as the ideal age range for LASIK eye surgery candidacy for a few reasons. By the age of 25, eyeglasses and contact lens prescriptions have most likely stabilized. A stable prescription is one of the hallmarks of a good LASIK candidate.
Early Adulthood – 18 to 40 Years
It is considered to be the ideal age for laser vision correction, and most doctors prefer to operate as soon as the prescription for glasses has been stable for a year. It is because it provides almost twenty plus years with no dependence on glasses whatsoever.
During Surgery. The surgery should take less than 30 minutes. You will lie on your back in a reclining chair in an exam room containing the laser system. The laser system includes a large machine with a microscope attached to it and a computer screen.
The treatment of your blurred vision will depend on the cause. It might include eye drops, laser surgery or medicines. If you have blurred vision, you may need to wear glasses or contact lenses.
You have a thin or irregular cornea
If you have a predisposition to corneal shape irregularity, this can be made worse by laser eye surgery, and a condition called corneal ectasia may develop. This occurs infrequently and can often be treated successfully without the need for a corneal transplant.
In minor surgeries, there is no need for the surgeon to open the body cavity, neither breathing assistance nor general anesthesia are typically required, and recovery does not require hospitalization. In all these regards, cataract surgery meets the definition of minor surgery.
Some of the factors behind how often surgeries are performed include insurance coverage, access to healthcare and number of tissue donors. There are about 20 million cataract surgeries performed each year throughout the world, with about 3.7 million surgeries in the United States.
You can get LASIK more than once. But undergoing more than three LASIK procedures can be harmful to your health and cause severe vision problems. Each time you undergo LASIK, the surgeon removes corneal tissue. If your corneas are too thin after the first procedure, you may not be able to have a second LASIK surgery.
Despite the benefits of a numbed surgical experience, anesthesia can result in some unintended side effects. One such residual effect can be blurred vision - a side effect not caused directly by the drug, but often by an abrasion of the cornea, the outermost layer of the eye.
LASIK & Safety
The Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery cautions that success rates can vary from patient to patient, but the average success rate of LASIK surgery hovers between 92 percent and 96 percent (that is, between 92 percent and 96 percent of patients achieve 20/40 vision, or even better).