The aim of this blog post is to address some of the most common reasons that puts people off having laser eye surgery. Having laser eye surgery is not a decision that can be made lightly and people have also sorts of worries and concerns about the procedure. One of the most common questions that people tend to ask is how long does laser eye surgery last?
As with all surgical procedures, no one could ever say with a one hundred percent certainty that something is going to last forever. The same can be said about laser eye surgery and any surgeon claiming otherwise is simply not telling the truth. However there are certain facts about how long laser eye surgery lasts, that may help you make your decision:
- Only around 5% people having laser eye surgery need to have a laser re-enhancement (re-treatment). So this means for every 100 people who have laser eye surgery around people need to have it done again. Most clinics will do the retreatment (providing your suitable) for free, if it is within a certain period of time from first having your surgery. You need to check the exact policy regarding this before you agree to have the surgery.
- High prescriptions (over -5.00) are more likely to regress than lower prescriptions.
- Plus prescriptions (eg +4.00) are more likely to need a re-treatment than minus prescriptions.
- The re-treatment rates are the same for both Lasik and Lasek.
- The chances of your prescription returning back to what it was before surgery is almost zero. What typically happens when your eyes regress is that your prescription partially returns. For example if you were -5.00 before surgery, then your eyes may regress to -1.00.
As you can see from this post, having laser eye surgery is not an absolute guarantee that you are going to have perfect vision for the rest of your life. However, the chances of needing a re-treatment are small and in most cases your eyes can be re-lasered, often at no cost to you.
Hope this post has been helpful and please let me know if there is anything you are still unsure of. Either comment on this blog post or ask a question in our laser eye surgery forum
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I must be one of the 5% then !
My eyes were both -6.25, after laser surgery 0.0 and -0.5, great, except it didnt last very long at all, both my eyes started to revert and within 3 years were at -0.5,-1.5 after 12 years now they are at -2.0 and -3.0 and still reverting steadily, and no they will not redo them for free, they even charged me £50 to go for a check up !
Hi Chris
That’s very frustrating for you. Unfortunately sometimes people’s eyes do tend to regress more than others. The fact that you had laser eye surgery 12 years ago means there was a higher risk of regression than there is now. A lot of clinics nowadays give a lifetime guarantee but not many were doing that when you had your eyes lasered. I would be interested to hear how you get on if you do decide to have the procedure repeated.