Laser surgery FAQs

Does laser surgery always work? No, but it does enjoy a phenomenally high rate of success. In a huge, worldwide study conducted over many years, over 95 percent of patients with low to moderate nearsightedness or astigmatisms enjoyed normal or nearly normal vision after their first treatment.

Can you be too young or too old for laser surgery? Yes. You should not get laser surgery done until your eyes have fully developed, which has usually happened by the age of 20 or 21. Also, due to the deterioration in the eye that occurs with old age, it is not really worth doing it if you are over the age of 70.

Does laser surgery hurt? While you may feel a slight pressure from the support that keep your eye open during the surgery, the procedure is otherwise painless. Around ten percent of patients experience some discomfort after the procedure, and need to take medication to relieve it.

Is it permanent? Yes. Furthermore, the cornea is fairly stable after the age of 21, so it should last as long as you do. A very small number of people have problems further down the line, but these can be corrected with further surgery.

Are the lasers sufficiently accurate? Yes. The laser that is used in eye surgery procedures is accurate on a nanometre level, which means that it can sculpt the surface of the cornea flawlessly.

Is there a chance of long term side effects? While the procedure is only a couple of decades old, and as such no true long term studies have been done, every study that has been done has suggested that long term effects are extremely unlikely.

Can I have both eyes treated at the same time? It is possible to have surgery on both eyes on the same day, although the eyes need to be done one at a time. However, it is advisable to have each eye treated separately, with a significant time lapse between them, in case anything should go wrong during or after the surgery.

Can I still wear contact lenses after laser surgery? Most people do not need to after they have had laser surgery done, but if you do, it is best to stick with glasses for a couple of weeks and build up slowly to wearing the contacts for longer periods at a time, as you have to do when you first get contact lenses. Bonny Kominek has been wearing contact lenses for about 10 years now and has tried all the tips and tricks associated with them.