What are the age restrictions for laser vision correction

Is it possible to be too young or too old for laser vision correction? Yes. However, it’s not that our age has anything to do with our ability to adjust to the realities of the procedure – this one is short and unobtrusive for the patient. Modern laser devices have the function of tracking eye movements, so they are very precise, and the patient does not have to worry that a slight movement of his eye will make the procedure fail.

For young people, it’s all about the eyeball completing the growth process and the visual defect stabilizing.

From the moment of birth, it is possible to distinguish 3 phases of eyeball growth: very fast – up to the age of 1 year, fast – between the ages of 1 and 3 years, slow – after the age of 3 years (another division into 3 stages: the first, very fast, lasts until the 18th month of life, the second – from the 18th month of life to the age of 5 years and is much slower, the third, juvenile, lasts until the age of 13 years). This is when there is an increase in the size of the eyeball and transformation of its various structures.

At birth, a child has an eye the size of 70% of an adult eye. After the second year of life, the eye grows only a millimeter every few years, and reaches its target size at age 16-17.

For the doctor, the completion of the growth process of the eyeball and the process of transformation of its various structures is one of the two considerations that enable him to decide on laser correction of the visual defect. The other is the stabilization of the defect, which is most often seen just after the age of 18 – this is the safe lower age limit, in a situation where a decision on laser surgery is to be made. But if you observe the patient from the very beginning and know the patient’s correction history, you know when you can say the defect is stable. Sometimes the defect stabilizes earlier, sometimes later than around eighteen.

As a general rule of thumb, as long as the eyeball is in the growth phase, each 1 millimeter elongation of the eyeball induces a visual defect of -3.00 diopters. As long as the defect is not stabilized, we do not operate. Not because it is technically unfeasible, but for the simple reason that already after the operation, the defect may need to be corrected after some time, i.e. the need for another operation. And yet we undergo laser vision correction to get rid of the vision defect once and for all.

Due to the individual predisposition of each patient, it may turn out that the eye of a 30-year-old is not yet ready for surgery to remove the defect, while the perfectly hydrated and resilient cornea of a 60-year-old is still perfectly suitable for the procedure – provided that the natural lens is not cloudy. In other words: the upper age limit is determined by the condition of the natural lens – as long as it is not cloudy, you can undergo laser vision correction.

Just after the age of 35, our eyesight, regardless of previously diagnosed defects, begins to deteriorate. Presbyopia, or presbyopia is usually diagnosed as early as 40. year of life, and its highest intensity is when we are 40-55 years old. Around the age of 60 (some believe between 65 and 70) this process stops. Presbyopia is associated with progressive stiffening of the lens and weakening of the eye’ s ability to accommodate. These changes cannot be prevented – they result from the natural wear and tear of our body. Again: usually we will hear that after the age of 55 laser surgery is not performed, but the doctor, after a detailed examination, may decide otherwise. Especially since cataracts can also appear after the age of 50.

Depending on whether presbyopia is the only eye dysfunction or is accompanied by vision defects, the patient can choose from the following laser correction methods:

• without any other vision defect – /Femto-LASIK/Monovision PresbyMAX/ lens replacement, phakic lens
• Hyperopia/myopia +3 to -5 Femto-LASIK/Monovision PresbyMAX/LASIK in presbyopia,
• all vision defects – lens replacement with monofocal or multifocal implants and EDOF

It is worth being aware that age limits for laser vision correction are set very conventionally, and qualification for surgery largely depends on the patient’s overall condition, and individual characteristics and needs.