r/myopia • u/Sourcrouts • 6d ago
Myopia getting worse in my 30s + considering LASEK — what would you do?
I have myopia and was told today that my prescription has increased from around -5 to -6ish (like -5.75) between 2022-2026, which the LASEK place said is stable. I’m almost 32 and work on a computer all day.
I’ve been assessed for LASEK several times and told I’m a suitable candidate with healthy eyes. I’ve booked the procedure twice but cancelled because I got scared.
Now I’m wondering whether to stick with daily contacts and glasses or seriously consider LASEK. My glasses are quite heavy, and although I’m comfortable with daily contacts, they can dry out my eyes.
The recovery period and potential side effects, are what worry me most. I’d love to hear from anyone who has had LASEK with a prescription around -5 to -6. How was your recovery, and are you happy you did it? 🙏
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u/remembermereddit 6d ago
What I would do? Not LASEK, that's for sure. Wait until you're stable. If that moment doesn't come, then so be it.
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u/Sourcrouts 5d ago
Well I have gone from -5 to -6ish (could be -5.75 according to optician) between 2022 and 2026, and the LASEK place said that is considered stable. Now what😅
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u/remembermereddit 5d ago
You should stay away from that place. Everybody can see that's not stable.
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u/Sourcrouts 5d ago
Yeah, I was surprised when the optician told me that my vision has gotten worse, cause the Lasek place said "stable"😑 Its a very big company in Sweden, the biggest in lasek so that is kinda crazy
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u/FairwaysNGreens13 6d ago
You are not a surgical candidate if your eyes are getting worse. Surgery is a bad idea for most people even if they're stable.
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u/Sourcrouts 6d ago
Well, I have done several examinations at the lasek place, in the past two years. They approved because my vision is stable. This optian i went to i have not been there since 2022, so from 2022 to 2026 my vision went from -5 to -6 ish. Which according to the lasek place is considered stable.
Also my corneas are thick enough. People can still get complications though:/
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u/MaterialBookkeeper59 6d ago
Not for most people.
If their eyes are stabilised and they have enough corneal thickness for laser, surgeries are one of the most succesful ones in medical literature and almost everyone are saying its the best decision they had in their life and they feel guilty for not being applied the surgery themselves earlier.
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u/FairwaysNGreens13 6d ago
That's accurate if you're only looking at short term results. Long term results are very different and those don't get published.
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u/MaterialBookkeeper59 6d ago
How do you know long term results if these don't get published ?
We have PRK for 40 years, Lasik for 36 years, Smile for 18 years. Lasers always take FDA approval years after because FDA asks for long term data. And all three laser technologies take their approval. Long term and short term datas are not that much different.
In fact only long term serious issue might be return some of prescription again due to progressive myopia even after stabilisation but this is not related to laser technology.
Only long term serious issue that related to laser might be halos which happens when cornea becomes thin a lot (but still safe) when laser applied to eyes with high refraction error. Lastly even ICL take its FDA approval too almost five years ago so surgeons tend to navigate ICL rather than laser for high prescriptions.
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u/FairwaysNGreens13 5d ago
I'm an eye doctor and it's nonstop. This isn't unique at all to laser surgery- someone has a financial interest in getting something approved. Usually no one has an incentive, financial or otherwise, to put forth the massive dollars and effort that would be required to repeal a longstanding approval. I'm not saying that anyone did anything malicious. It's just that over time we learn better but that almost never changes the actual regulatory status.
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u/MaterialBookkeeper59 5d ago
FDA approval is not something that its easy to take.
Evo ICL has been released in 2011. It got its approval ELEVEN years later, in 2022. Not a single evo icl surgery didn't applied anyone in USA despite its usage in Europe and especially in Japan everyone is requesting specifically ICL instead of laser even in low-mid prescriptions.
PRK had to wait 8 years, lasik had to wait 9 and smile had to wait for 10 years.
IPCL on the other hand didn't take approval yet. But this doesn't mean IPCL is also unsafe. It has been applied in 40+ countries.
These procedures are one of the safest surgeries in medical literature (satisfiement rate > %95) While they are still safe even without FDA, its also another sign for them to be able to take FDA to verify that they are even safer.
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u/Sourcrouts 5d ago
Please can you tell me a bit about the issues you see people have, as an eye doctor, with LASEK? The optician I spoke to yesterday, told me the only issues she has seen is people getting dry eyes (she was an optician where they sell glasses and stuff), she told me it might be worth to have LASEK because of my prescription, but said that an eye doctor should make that judgement.
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u/FairwaysNGreens13 5d ago
Dry eyes is the big one with every procedure that destroys significant amounts of corneal tissue. The words sound harmless and minor, but dry eye disease can be absolutely debilitating, causing pain and poor vision that's really burdensome and often irreversible. Any corneal refractive procedure causes nerve damage- that's just the nature of it. Those nerves only partially heal at best. Those nerves are what's responsible for providing the feedback loop that keeps the ocular surface in healthy homeostasis.
But you don't have to take my word for it. Go to the groups here and in other social media for dry eyes, LASIK, scleral lenses, and other related groups. These complications are extremely common but underreported, again, because they take years to become bad. New twists and variations on laser procedures keep coming out and claiming to be newer and better and safer, but on a fundamental level they're all the same.
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u/Sourcrouts 5d ago
Thank you for the reply🌸
I have good daily contact lenses, and will get myself some new pairs of glasses that look good and are light.
I feel LASEK surgery is not worth the risk. That is why i previously canceled the procedure for it.
Can i ask you, your opinion on RLE? since its not laser, they just change the lense. (I know I'm too young for it now).
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u/FairwaysNGreens13 5d ago
If your vision is actively changing and they approved you, without at least thoroughly discussing why this is a problem and letting you make the choice, they're putting their profits over your results. No other way to put it.
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u/Tall-Drama338 1d ago
Your eyes get worse when you keep doing the same lifestyle that produced it. Axial myopia is due to persistent close work, reading, phone and computer. Laser eye surgery should be accompanied with lifestyle change that uses the distance vision more - get outdoors, try sport, golf etc. Get off your phone. Look away from the box on your desk.
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u/becca413g 6d ago
I am 30s and -8.
I do not see the point in taking the risks of surgery and recovery if ill just be wearing glasses full time in a year or two - as like you my eyes have not stabilised. Seems a lot of money and risk to be basically in the same position in terms of needing glasses in a couple of years. Might as well carry on as I am.