I’m getting Lasik eye surgery in a week and I know that sometimes your vision cn slip back to where it had been previously, resulting in the need for a touch up surgery. I’m just wondering how often this happens. Any help would be much appreciated.
How Often Do You Need A Touch Up Or Enhancement After Laser Eye Surgery?
January 29, 2010 By 4 Comments
The answer for this question is quite variable actually. The major factor for the need for enhancements is undercorrection at the first surgery.
I had PRK 7 weeks ago and asked my surgeon what his “enhancement rate” was. His was about 10%. I asked for reasons and he stated the most common reason he saw was undercorrection. He said that a few cases of his were because the vision had not stabilized at the time the surgery was performed (too young of patients), so he raised his preferred minimum age to 21 and found he had fewer instances of this happening. I asked him then how long between the original surgery and the enhancements, and he told me that it really varied a lot…anywhere from within the first year to 10 years down the road.
I then asked him what my chances were for an enhancement…the answer I got was no chance…my corneas were pretty thin and there’s just no room for a safe enhancement in the future…which is fine by me.
So, the answer to your question really truly lies in your corneal thickness preop, how much cornea is removed to correct your vision, your postop corneal thickness, and how accurate your preop measurements are for your visual acuity.
You will probably find you will need reading glasses once you hit your 40s…just about everyone does, LASIK or not.
Good luck! You’ll be happy with your results…but ask your surgeon…even call him prior to your op date…and ask him about his personal enhancement rates and the length of time from the original surgery…and if you would be eligible for any enhancements in the future…if not…do not let them ’sell’ you a lifetime enhancement plan that you will never be able to use.
lasik can be good or bad. basically what is happening is the doctor is carving out parts of your cornea (the front window on your eye) in order to have it focus the light better. it does not work for everyone. there are probably about 20% of people that hate their results, i don’t care what your doctor has told you. you will know this when you have to sign a 20 page packet of consent forms. having said that, if you choose to go with the surgery, you may not end up at 20/20 vision, depending on how your unique eyes respond. if you do, then you should be ok until you are about 40 and your eyes start to change again. if you do not end up where you want to be, likely your surgeon will want to keep doing more surgeries to “Correct” it but you may not ever get where you want to be. like any other surgery, there is a risk and it doesn’t always turn out perfectly.
Ask the surgeon. I had LASIK four or five years ago with no problems and my husband has his even longer ago with no need for a “touch up.”
sorry i thought it lasted for ever. ask the surgeon. i can’t have the surgery beacuse of too much scar tissue already. same reason i can’t wear contacts.