Does Laser Eye Surgery Work?

Yes, laser eye surgery works in the majority of cases. Laser eye surgery is the most common form of lifestyle surgery that adults choose to have in the developed world. There have been tens of millions of procedures carried out worldwide. There have been over 6000 peer-reviewed scientific papers on LASIK alone and more on the other, less commonly performed, variants of laser eye surgery. The success rate can vary according to surgeon skill and technology used. Read on to learn more about the laser eye surgery success rate here.

So does laser eye surgery work?

Yes, laser eye surgery works and the results are permanent, which means for the majority of patients only one operation is ever required for vision correction in their lifetime. There are now over 30 years of clinical data on the long term results, stability and safety data for laser eye surgery. However, a minority of patients, particularly those with high prescriptions, may require an enhancement or top-up procedure within a year or two of the main procedure.

With age, it’s possible for the natural lens in the eyes to change and, rarely, for the length of the eyes to increase. For this reason, although not common, occasionally patients will come back after several years with a change in their prescription and if this occurs an enhancement can be carried out.

For younger patients, once they reach their late 40s or early 50s, reading glasses will be required and in such cases, we can carry out laser blended vision using a modified presbymax, which we have pioneered at OCL Vision.

The chances of the vision being made permanently worse by laser eye surgery are exceptionally low and in fact, for most, it is safer to have laser eye surgery than to wear contact lenses regularly. The reason for this is that contact lenses can be associated with infections, some of which can be dangerous and very difficult to treat. For this reason, most surgeons who carry out laser eye surgery have had the procedure done themselves and or had their relatives treated by laser eye surgery.

Our laser eye surgeon, Allon Barsam answers the question, “Does laser eye surgery work?”

Laser eye surgery success rate

The laser eye surgery success rate varies according to the skill of the surgeon and also the technology being used.

One comprehensive review article looking at over 67,000 eyes treated in 97 scientific articles found a satisfaction rate of 98.8% which is exceptionally high for an elective surgical procedure and highlights why laser eye surgery remains one of the most popular operations.

Laser eye surgery has been thoroughly evaluated according to several measures of success including safety, efficacy and accuracy. In the last few years, a study known as the PROWL study (standing for patient-reported outcomes with LASIK) looked at 990 eyes having LASIK in both a civilian and military population. The results showed once again, very high satisfaction levels and also a reduction in dry eye and glare symptoms comparing symptoms before surgery (when patients relied on glasses and contact lenses) to after when they were glasses and contact lens free.

What is the laser eye surgery success rate at OCL?

Our optometrist Purvi Thomson providing information on OCL Vision’s laser eye success rate.

At OCL Vision, we routinely analyse all of our results. We have shown that for myopic (near-sighted) prescriptions with or without astigmatism, 100% of our patients will achieve better than 20/20 vision. This means that patients see better without glasses after laser eye surgery than what is considered to be normal vision.

Almost 90% of our patients see 20/10 which is the limit of human vision and most of these patients enjoy better vision afterwards than they ever were able to see prior to surgery (20/10 means that these patients can see at 20 feet what a normal person needs to be 10 feet away in order to be able to see).

How to choose the best laser eye surgery clinic

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Is laser eye surgery safe?

Yes, laser eye surgery is one of the safest and painless vision correction procedures, with over 30 years of clinical data on its long term ...

How is Laser Eye Surgery Performed?

Laser eye surgery is a quick procedure that involves reshaping the cornea to correct vision. The surgery is performed using a femtosecond laser rather than ...

How to choose the best laser eye surgery clinic

...

Is laser eye surgery safe?

Yes, laser eye surgery is one of the safest and painless vision correction procedures, with over 30 years of clinical data on its long term ...

How is Laser Eye Surgery Performed?

Laser eye surgery is a quick procedure that involves reshaping the cornea to correct vision. The surgery is performed using a femtosecond laser rather than ...