Am I Too Old for LASIK Surgery?

Have you ever wondered about the best age to get LASIK? Many of our patients have told us that they’ve heard laser eye surgery is best suited for younger people, generally those under 40. But this assumption doesn’t provide the whole story. In fact, there isn’t a singular best age to get LASIK. But there are age-related factors to take into consideration when thinking about this procedure. Here are the top two.

What else is going on with your eyes?

When you’re older than 40, you may start experiencing some other eye symptoms like a loss of nearsighted vision. When this happens, your age itself isn’t a barrier to LASIK, but rather your needs have changed - so laser eye surgery may not be the best option for your situation.

LASIK can’t fix a decline in close-up vision, so while you could still go through with the procedure to fix your nearsightedness, you’d need to pair it with another procedure (like a KAMRA inlay) to address the presbyopia.

Do you need something long-term?

If you’re past 40 and thinking about LASIK, it’s very possible it could be an option for you. But if your eyesight changes in a few years (or even a decade), then you might be faced with having to come back in for yet another procedure.

In order to give you something that will last long-term from the get-go, your eye doctor may recommend something like refractive lens exchange (essentially cataract surgery) which can give you an implanted multifocal lens. This could give you an extended range of vision, which might address all of your potential vision issues and last much longer than the results of LASIK would have for you.

Discovering your best option

The main takeaway is that age isn’t a barrier to getting LASIK in and of itself, but some of the age-related eye problems you experience could make you less of an ideal candidate for LASIK. Even more, it could mean there’s a better procedure out there that will more completely address your specific vision situation. The only way to know for sure to schedule a comprehensive eye exam, and ask your doctor to explain all your options.

If you’d like to explore the best procedures for your vision issues, please contact us today to schedule an eye exam.