An upper age limit to laser surgery is a very common misconception! There is no upper age limit to which you can get LASIK surgery! We have patients over 50 who have come in for laser surgery and now enjoy their crystal clear vision. It all comes down to choosing the best procedure for your individual lifestyle needs.
Generally speaking, you can never be too old for LASIK. To be a suitable candidate, you must have good general health, a stable prescription, the correct corneal anatomy, and of course, be over 18. As such, patients are evaluated on a case-by-case basis to see if they meet these requirements.
There is no upper limit preventing seniors from having LASIK eye surgery, but many factors must be taken into consideration before a senior adult is approved as a candidate. Cataracts, an eye condition most often affecting seniors, is one of the reasons for someone in this age group to be considered ineligible.
If you're over 50, but have little to no signs of cataracts developing, you may be a candidate for LASIK. In fact, corneas strengthen with time, so in some ways, patients in their 50s are at less risk than patients in their teens and 20s!
LASIK For Patients 60 and Older
Seniors can typically have LASIK eye surgery without any restrictions. However, many factors must be considered before a senior adult can be approved. An eye condition that most commonly affects seniors is cataracts.
While there is currently no age limit for older adults wanting LASIK surgery, there are some vision conditions affecting adults age 40 and above that can't be treated with this surgery.
But there are plenty of people in their 40's, 50's, 60's and beyond who have relatively healthy eyes and therefore may still be perfectly good candidates for LASIK. So the idea that there is an upper-age limit for treatment is simply false. You're never too old for LASIK if your eyes are healthy enough.
Sadly, laser eye surgery is not covered by Medicare. Laser eye surgery is considered a cosmetic procedure and therefore; not covered under any Medicare scheme.
Most people still see the effects of their LASIK forever. However, some may need to have enhancement LASIK surgery after 10 years. The reason for this can vary depending on the age when getting LASIK and vision health.
The four alternatives to traditional LASIK eye surgery are LASEK, Phakic Intraocular Lens Implants, Epi-LASIK, and Refractive Lens Exchange Surgery.
The patient is advised to put antibiotic medication so the infection does not occur in the eye. LASIK surgery can be done more than twice, but it is not needed further because, in the first surgery, more than 95% of the patient's vision is corrected. Therefore, only a few people need to undergo second LASIK surgery.
You can get LASIK more than once. But undergoing more than three LASIK procedures can be harmful to your health and cause severe vision problems. Each time you undergo LASIK, the surgeon removes corneal tissue. If your corneas are too thin after the first procedure, you may not be able to have a second LASIK surgery.
The best results of LASIK surgery will be achieved when patients' eyes are stable and when their eye prescription has not changed within at least the past two years. Special considerations must be taken in patients over 40 because this is a time in which the eyes are likely to begin to change once again.
The average age for LASIK has historically been from the mid-30s up. We know that when patients return unhappy with their vision about 10 years after a LASIK procedure, the chief suspects are presbyopia and cataract. So the answer is: “It's almost always the lens, not the LASIK.”
The truth is, having LASIK doesn't guarantee you'll never have to wear glasses or contacts again. But chances are, you may not need them for a very long time, depending on how old you are when you have your procedure done.
With modern LASIK, the enhancement rate is 1-2 percent in the first 12 months and then about 1 percent a year after that as patients' eyes can change with time. So, for example, 10 years after LASIK, approximately 10 percent of patients may require an enhancement procedure to maintain their excellent vision.
LASIK, also known as laser assisted in situ keratomileusis, is a common type of laser eye surgery and can range anywhere from $2600 to $3700 per eye, in Australia. Other types of laser vision correction such as SMILE (small incision lenticular extraction) and cataract surgery may also vary in cost.
At personalEYES, your initial LASIK assessment is completely FREE. The actual cost of laser eye surgery ranges from $2,525 to $6,200 per eye in Australia, depending on the clinic and the type of procedure. The cost can also be based on surgeon experience, as the most accomplished surgeons often charge higher rates.
Fortunately, LASIK eye surgery is not painful. Right before your procedure, your surgeon will place numbing eye drops into both of your eyes. While you may still feel a little bit of pressure during the procedure, you should not feel any pain.
No surgical procedure is 100% effective. However, LASIK has one of the highest success and satisfaction rates of any elective procedure, with 96% of LASIK patients reporting high satisfaction after treatment. Effectiveness studies show that 70% to 90% of LASIK patients achieve 20/20 vision or better after treatment.
The ultra-precise lasers used for LASIK surgery can be programmed to reshape the cornea so the front surface of the eye is more symmetrical, thereby eliminating vision problems caused by astigmatism. Most of the time astigmatism can be fully corrected with a single LASIK procedure.
Many LASIK patients do experience vision correction that lasts a lifetime. Patients with vision that's changed several years after LASIK could undergo LASIK again. The first step is to contact the practice that originally performed your procedure. You'll need another LASIK consultation.
Currently, laser vision correction profiles can treat up to +6.00 diopters of hyperopia, astigmatism up to 6 diopters, and nearsightedness up to -12.00 diopters.
Can you get LASIK for farsightedness? Yes, full-distance correction is possible with LASIK. Presbyopia, or farsightedness, is something that occurs in everyone as they age. For most people, symptoms of presbyopia begin to show in the early to mid-40s.