Laser eye surgery - what age?

[SKL]

I was thinking I would like to offer to do this for my girls when they are the appropriate age (as a Christmas or birthday gift).  So, what is the appropriate age for laser eye surgery?  I gather they won't do it before age 18, and even then, not until the vision prescription has been stable for some time (not sure how long).  Other than that, what would determine the earliest age for this procedure to make sense?  Has anyone's family member got it done during the college years?

Personally I wish I had gotten it a lot earlier than I did, but it was not really available to plebes like me.  I feel it would be nice for my girls to start out their careers with one less fuss to worry about, if that makes any sense.

[Lanny]

I was one of the first LASIK patients, when they were working on getting FDA approval in the USA. The surgeon who did my surgeries was, at that time, #2 in the world for the LASIK procedure. (#1 was in Bogota).  As I recall, she said not before 25 years of age and probably not after 55 years of age. Our DD unfortunately inherited my Myopia. We have suggested to her that she wait until she is at least 25 years of age. (My surgeries were in November 1997 in Cali, Colombia)

[catz]

I think mid 20's is a pretty common requirement and several years with a stable prescription.  I was thinking it would be a good gift for my teens someday too.  My husband had it done when he was in his late 30's (about 20 years ago now) and it's been GREAT for him.  Made a huge difference in his ability to swim, work out, etc.  

My dad had it done in his 50's and it was great for him too through the rest of his life.  

Edited August 21, 2020 by FuzzyCatz

[Bambam]

Wait - I thought Lasik only lasted about 10 years? Am I wrong about this? 

 

[Excelsior! Academy]

28 minutes ago, Bambam said:

Wait - I thought Lasik only lasted about 10 years? Am I wrong about this? 

 

 

I don't think you are.  My eye doctor had Lasik and one day (much later) I noticed he was wearing glasses.  When I asked him about it, he mentioned how it isn't permanent and often has to be redone later in life.  He chose to just use a weak rx pair of glasses.

 

[ashfern]

You are correct that your prescription has to be stable for a certain length of time. Also, my doctor was fine doing mine since my prescription was stable during pregnancy. I was told that as you age, that most people will need readers because of those changes.

[Garga]

Lasik is permament and it isn’t permanent.  

It will permanently fix what you had fixed on the day you had it.  However, your vision may change over time, the way it might have even without the Lasik, and of course since those changes happened after the surgery, the surgery doesn’t fix those.  So, you may end up needing glasses for some newly developed poor vision.

Needing reading glasses isn’t caused by the shape of your cornea (which is what Lasik corrects), but is due to your muscles not working as well as you age, so reading glasses may also be needed.

I had Lasik eye surgery in December of 1999 (I was glad to get it before Y2K, when all the computes were supposed to collapse!)  So, that was almost 21 years ago.  About 3 years ago, I found that I needed driving glasses when driving at night.  And about 6 months ago, I started really needing reading glasses.  (I’m 47.)

I feel like I could wear my driving glasses all the time to have tack-sharp vision, but I don’t want to wear them, so things are the teeny-tiniest bit blurry without them.  Maybe in a few years, I’ll go ahead and get bifocals so I can see far and near in one pair, and I might even choose to wear those glasses more often. 

 

Bottom line: I got 20 good years of vision out of it, and I may very well get another 20 good years, except for night driving and reading.  We’ll see...

 

An article on whether or not it’s permanent: https://www.healthline.com/health/eye-health/how-long-does-lasik-last#after-lasik

Edited August 21, 2020 by Garga

[catz]

What Garga said.  Both my DH and father had lasik and did/have done well with it for about 20 years.  Both did eventually use light prescription reading glasses.   My husband is 58 now and started using reading glasses maybe 5 years ago or so.  My husband had Lasik summer of 00!

[SKL]

2 hours ago, Excelsior! Academy said:

 

I don't think you are.  My eye doctor had Lasik and one day (much later) I noticed he was wearing glasses.  When I asked him about it, he mentioned how it isn't permanent and often has to be redone later in life.  He chose to just use a weak rx pair of glasses.

 

I don't think so, at least not nowadays.  I got mine done about 15 years ago and I can see great, other than my presbyopia.  I was told there could be a touch-up needed later, but not for sure.  I was supposed to go to an eye doctor every year in order to preserve my warranty for a free touch-up, but I failed to follow that rule ....

It may depend on what kind of eye issues the person has.

[Tiberia]

I got mine done in my mid 30's, back in 1998. It gave me 20/20 vision at the time. I had been legally blind (20/300), with thick glasses before that, so it really changed my life. I have now degraded to 20/40, and I don't mind at all; it's still so much better than before. I don't wear glasses around the house or at work, but I wear them to drive. I think it's great that you're doing this for your daughters. I would just go with the recommendation of your eye doctor as for age. There has been a lot of data gathered on this since the late 90's. 

Edited August 21, 2020 by Tiberia

[Syllieann]

I had mine done in my early 20s.  I was -3.25 before that and achieved 20/15 (better than 20/20) which I kept for about 15 years.  At that point I developed a slight astigmatism and now wear glasses to read and drive due to the astigmatism.  I pass the test without them, but it is just better with them.  You should be aware that contacts after lasik can be very tricky, so if their vision changes down the road glasses will probably be needed.  ALso, there are a lot of multifocal contact options coming out now that someone with flat corneas wouldn't be able to use, so they would need reading glasses at older age instead.  Most of my close relatives have had it done and everyone has been happy except my mom, who got monovision done.

[SKL]

Yeah, I am probably projecting, but I had a hard time with contacts as I got older (probably was developing dry eye), before the zap zap.  If I ever need a mild prescription again, I would probably just buy glasses and only use them for certain situations.  I guess I was assuming the same would be true for my kids, but maybe not.

I guess when that time comes for them, there will be all sorts of new technology for all the people in the same situation.  🙂

[Ellie]

21 hours ago, Bambam said:

Wait - I thought Lasik only lasted about 10 years? Am I wrong about this? 
 

I did it over 15 years ago. My vision hasn't changed at all.

[KungFuPanda]

My plan was to wait until I had my children because my vision always changed a bit with pregnancy.  However, while pregnant with my second I watched a video of the procedure and it freaked me out a bit.  I've been chickening out for the last 20 years.  I may have waited too long.  I've now it the age where I take off my glasses to read really small print.  

[kiwik]

I didn't get glasses until about 24 so I guess when their eyes stabilise.