Lasik Eye Surgery

At What Age Can You Have Corrective Laser Eye Surgery?

Corrective laser eye surgery refers to the procedures surgeons use to make corrections in the eye, using lasers, and improve the patient's vision. The end goal of corrective laser eye surgery is to rid the patient of the need to wear contact lenses or glasses any further. But not everyone is a good candidate for corrective laser eye surgery. One of the screening criteria for determining if a person is a good candidate for corrective laser eye surgery is age.

The term corrective laser eye surgery includes many different types of eye correction procedures that involve the use of laser technology. There is photorefractive keratectomy or PRK that removes tissue directly from the eye's surface and does not involve creating a thin flap on the surface of the eye. Then there is Laser-Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis or popularly known as LASIK as another one of the corrective laser eye surgery procedures. LASIK involves creating a thin flap on the cornea and uses an Excimer laser to remove small parts of corneal tissue to correct vision. It is popular because results are quick and the pain is less.

There are other laser procedures in corrective laser eye surgery such Epi-LASIK, Bladeless or All-Laser LASIK, and Wavefront LASIK. Whatever the name of the specific corrective laser eye surgery, all must be screened for age and other factors.

Young people below the age of 18 are not good candidates for corrective laser eye surgery and are usually never recommended. The reason is that the eye of a young person is still changing and the risk is that the corrective laser eye surgery would be done and later on the person's prescription would change resulting in the need for more "corrections." Remember that when corneal tissue is removed during corrective laser eye surgery it cannot be replaced. Therefore, if a person was too young to have the corrective laser eye surgery but had it anyways, there would probably not be enough corneal tissue left years down the road to make any corrections.

So when is a person too old for corrective laser eye surgery? Opinions differ however many doctors will do corrective laser eye surgery for patients even into their eighties as long as their eyes are in good condition. It is important to educate senior patients seeking corrective laser eye surgery that the procedure will not prevent the risk of a cataract forming.

Other factors make a senior citizen a good candidate for corrective eye surgery and they have to do with the overall lifestyle of the patient. If the patient has not smoked, protected his or her eyes with sunglasses, and eaten right for most of his or her life then they have a better chance of being considered for corrective laser eye surgery.

Also, it is important to set expectations correctly with senior citizens in that corrective laser eye surgery will not prevent the person from needing reading glasses as they get older. This problem is not caused by refractive errors and is a normal part of aging.