LASIK and accommodation

Started by Rony
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Rony

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Hey guys, I am visiting from the Surgery forum. I am considering undergoing the LASIK operation in the coming weeks. Everyone I know who had it has been pleased with the result.
I am starting general surgery residency soon and was concerned about accommodation (which LASIK does not address). Will I have a problem say when I reach age 40 and can't accommodate as well? Any bearing on doing my job in the future? Or should I stick with my contacts?
Thanks a lot!
 
At the age of 40, whether or not you had refractive surgery (i.e., LASIK), presbyopia kicks in and you'll have trouble accommodating.

If the LASIK surgery doesn't go well, then this will certainly have a negative impact on your future as a surgeon. The risks of surgery should be considered before you decide to have LASIK done.
 
Rony said:
Hey guys, I am visiting from the Surgery forum. I am considering undergoing the LASIK operation in the coming weeks. Everyone I know who had it has been pleased with the result.
I am starting general surgery residency soon and was concerned about accommodation (which LASIK does not address). Will I have a problem say when I reach age 40 and can't accommodate as well? Any bearing on doing my job in the future? Or should I stick with my contacts?
Thanks a lot!
Click to expand...

If you wear spectacles, and are a moderate to high myope (this would not apply to a contact lens wearer) you gain a certain level of “accommodative advantage.” That is to say while wearing your glasses your near point will be a bit closer than if you were wearing either contacts or had refractive surgery. The degree of this advantage depends on both the power of your RX and the vertex distance of the frames you wear. You would be giving up this “accommodative advantage” when having refractive surgery (or begin to wear contact lenses for that matter) and as a result you may notice your presbyopia sooner.

In addition, depending on the level of myopia, many patients can read comfortably by simply removing their glasses. For middle-aged moderate myopes (-2.00 ish) refractive surgery can be viewed as a trade off of near vision for distance vision. In short unfortunately presbyopia, at this point, is inevitable, but you may be bothered with it sooner if you have refractive surgery. Of course all of this only applies to myopes and not to hyperopes who would be at an "accommodative disadvantage" when wearing spectacles.
 
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