How much can LASIK improve vision?

As a laser eye surgical procedure that has been performed on millions of people worldwide, LASIK can result in a significant improvement in vision. The aim of laser eye surgery is to improve vision by correcting your spectacle or contact lens prescription so that you see as well as you do with your glasses or contact lenses, without the disadvantages that these forms of correction can result in, such as smeary vision due to dirt, variable vision due to lens movement or restrictions in your field of view.

Before and after LASIK

The differences in vision before and after LASIK can be life changing. For those who have experienced visual problems for many years, the freedom of being able to see clearly without relying on contact lenses or spectacles can be very liberating.

Everyone is different so the extent to which LASIK will improve your vision is hard to quantify. However, a world literature review of LASIK patient quality of life reported that 95.4 percent of patients were satisfied with the treatment. Moreover, those of you wondering ‘how long will laser eye surgery last‘ will be reassured to learn that it is a permanent correction treatment in the majority of cases.

How much can LASIK improve vision as compared with glasses or contact lenses? One study found that LASIK patients reported an after the procedure, in contrast with a control group of contact lens and glasses wearers whose night vision remained the same.

Am I a suitable candidate for LASIK?

LASIK is a good choice for most people, but as with all surgery there are factors that can influence your choice as well as how successful the procedure is and how much of your prescription can be corrected. These include LASIK surgery risks, the degree of your prescription and the anatomy of your eye.

Before embarking on laser eye surgery, your surgeon will discuss these with you, but here are some of the factors that will affect how much the procedure can improve your vision:

Thickness of the cornea. In order for LASIK to improve vision, the cornea must be sufficiently thick for the procedure to be carried out safely. The best results arise from an adequately thick cornea that can be treated without inducing any weakness in the cornea.
Pupil size. LASIK can offer the biggest improvement in vision when modern ‘natural shape’ treatment profiles are used and the treatment profiles are matched to your pupil size. Performing older fashioned surgery on candidates with larger pupils may result in side effects like glare and halos.
Good general health. For your eyes to heal well after the procedure, you should be in good general health, free from degenerative disease or active autoimmunity problems.

As we have seen, not all patients will get the same results and the extent to which LASIK can improve your vision will depend on many different factors, just some of which are listed here. LASIK works best for patients with mild or moderate myopia, a regular eye shape and no other health problems. For people with severe myopia or certain complications, alternative treatments may be more appropriate.

Still wondering if LASIK is for you? Here is a great testimonial from one of our patients.

“A huge thank you to the OCL team – it is now day 5 post LASIK surgery and I am delighted with the results and overall experience. I couldn’t believe how easy and pain free the procedure was and I wish that I’d had it done years ago! My eyes felt a little scratchy on the first evening but after that the discomfort has been minimal. I am loving my new HD vision and would recommend OCL to anyone – in fact my friend has already booked a consultation for next week.”

Shelley Martin