Does Age Matter? Correcting Your Vision With Lasik Eye Surgery

It's true that LASIK can eliminate a person's dependency on eyeglasses and contact lenses. It can correct a variety of refractive errors, such as myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism. However, LASIK surgery is not for everyone. There are certain conditions that might preclude LASIK in case of a particular patient. Age is one such factor taken into account when determining whether a patient is a viable LASIK candidate or not.

It is a known fact that people experience a constant change in vision throughout adolescence and sometimes well until the mid to late 20s. That is, the refraction stabilizes typically around the age of 18. For myopic people, the benchmark is somewhere between the mid to late 20s. Undergoing LASIK prior to that age is nothing but a futile attempt to achieve enhanced visual acuity, since the patient will nevertheless require another surgery when the prescription stabilizes.

A preoperative examination conducted prior to the age of 18 might result in incorrect measurements, and consequently, an appropriate correction via LASIK. Patients suffering from a higher degree of myopia or astigmatism should defer the surgery a wee bit longer than others - normally until the age of 21 or so. In essence, you must have had a stable prescription for at least two years, and then only you should plan to undergo LASIK surgery. If you wish to go for custom LASIK, the minimum age is the same as that for conventional LASIK.

There is no upper age limit for LASIK surgery. Even a 50 or 60 year old person may opt for LASIK. The point is that LASIK can very well correct the refractive error of a myopic patient at any stage of the patient's life, provided the patient's eyes are otherwise healthy. That is, LASIK will impart clear distant vision to any person irrespective of the age. However, age related deterioration of the vision may still occur. For instance, almost every person suffers from presbyopia (or short arm syndrome) beyond the age of 40. Presbyopia entails the loss of accommodation power of the lens. Hence, people typically require reading glasses after the age of 40.

Theres no doubt that many people have LASIK surgery to improve their looks. And this is a perfectly legitimate reason to have eye surgery. We all want to look better and feel better, both about ourselves and to other people.

But what happens if you are not a good candidate for surgery?

I have several friends who were unhappy about the way they looked and had pinned their hopes on eye surgery as they grew older, and they were devastated when they learned that they were unable to get laser eye treatment.

I suggested that they look at some of the new anti-ageing treatments that are available on the high street such skin peels and dermal fillers.

My best friend Monica opted to have some of her facial wrinkles treated with botox in Glasgow and she is delighted with the results. She looks younger, and more importantly, she says that she feels great too.