Laser Eye Surgery Forum

Does lasik wear off?

Somebody I know had Lasik and they said it wore off after a few years . . . Is this normal?

Generally speaking Lasik does not wear off but as will all surgeries there is never a 100% guarantee. The vast majority of people only need Lasik once in their life time with only about 5-10% needing a laser enhancement/retreatment. Most clinics do this for free if your eyes have changed within a year of first having the surgery. There are a few things you should consider though:

1.) The higher your prescription the more chance there is of your eyes regressing, however it is generally just a fraction of what your prescription was prior to your surgery. The chance of your eyes reverting back to what they were before surgery is almost zero.

2.) Long sighted prescriptions (plus prescriptions) have a higher chance of regressing than short sighted (minus) prescriptions.

3.) Regardless of whether or not you have had Lasik surgery you will need reading glasses as you reach your mid 40’s as a result of a natural age change in your eye called presbyopia.

4.) If you have some other eye condition as you get older such as cataract of macular degeneration your vision may deteriorate but this is not the same as the Lasik wearing off.

I had Lasik over 5 years ago and i still seem to have perfect vision - my optician said i would need reading glasses when im about 45 years old but he said that was a normal age thing.