{"id":1968,"date":"2026-10-20T08:54:30","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T08:54:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/laseristanbulclinic.com\/eye-health\/laser-eye-surgery\/what-happens-10-years-after-lasik\/"},"modified":"2026-10-20T12:59:24","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T12:59:24","slug":"what-happens-10-years-after-lasik","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/laseristanbulclinic.com\/en\/eye-health\/laser-eye-surgery\/what-happens-10-years-after-lasik\/","title":{"rendered":"What Happens 10 Years After LASIK? Long-Term Results and What to Expect"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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  4. What Happens 10 Years After LASIK? Long-Term Results and What to Expect<\/span><\/li><\/ol><\/div>\t\t\t

    What Happens 10 Years After LASIK? Long-Term Results and What to Expect<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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    \"Excimer<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

    What happens 10 years after LASIK is, for most people, that distance vision stays good. LASIK permanently reshapes the cornea, but the eye keeps ageing: studies show a slight drift back towards short-sightedness in some people, and almost everyone needs reading glasses from their 40s. Rare problems, such as late corneal weakening, persistent dry eye and cataract planning, are worth knowing about. Surgeons including Prof. Dr. Ahmet Sat\u0131c\u0131 and Op. Dr. Aysan Bayram screen for them before surgery.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n\n

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    Does LASIK last 10 years?<\/h2>\n\t\t\t

    LASIK is permanent in the sense that the corneal tissue removed by the laser does not grow back, so the new shape of the cornea stays. It is not a guarantee that your eyes will never change again. In long-term studies, most eyes still see well 10 years later, with a slow drift back towards the original prescription in some, particularly in people who started with higher short-sightedness.<\/p>\n\t\t\t

    The best evidence comes from groups of patients followed for 10 to 15 years. These patients had earlier-generation LASIK, because the results were published 10 to 15 years after their surgery.<\/p>

    Study<\/th>Follow-up<\/th>Eyes treated<\/th>What was found<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
    Ali\u00f3 et al., American Journal of Ophthalmology<\/em> 2008<\/th>10 years<\/td>97 eyes (70 patients), short-sightedness up to \u221210 D<\/td>73% within \u00b11.00 D of target and 92% within \u00b12.00 D; slight regression that slowed over time; no eye developed ectasia<\/td><\/tr>
    Ali\u00f3 et al., American Journal of Ophthalmology<\/em> 2008<\/th>10 years<\/td>196 eyes, short-sightedness above \u221210 D<\/td>42% within \u00b11.00 D and 61% within \u00b12.00 D; about 27.5% of eyes were retreated; 2 eyes (1%), both with corrections above 15 D, developed ectasia<\/td><\/tr>
    Ikeda et al., BioMed Research International<\/em> 2017<\/th>12 years<\/td>68 eyes (37 patients), \u22123.00 to \u221212.75 D<\/td>75% within \u00b11.00 D and 53% within \u00b10.50 D; no vision-threatening complications; precision gradually fell because of regression<\/td><\/tr>
    Ali\u00f3 et al., Journal of Cataract & Refractive Surgery<\/em> 2015<\/th>15 years<\/td>40 eyes, high short-sightedness (\u22126.00 to \u221218.00 D)<\/td>46% within \u00b11.00 D; 64% saw 20\/40 or better without correction; one eye developed ectasia; significant regression<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div>

    D = dioptres, the unit of prescription strength. “Within \u00b11.00 D” means the eye ended up within one dioptre of the intended result. Figures are from published abstracts (see Sources).<\/p>

    Two things stand out. First, serious complications were rare in all four studies. Second, the higher the starting prescription, the more regression there was at 10 to 15 years. Your own result depends on your eyes, your prescription and your surgeon.<\/p>\n

    A large review shows how modern outcomes look in the earlier years. Sandoval and colleagues reviewed 97 studies published between 2008 and 2015, covering 67,893 eyes. Across them, 99.5% of eyes saw better than 20\/40 without glasses, 98.6% were within \u00b11.0 D of their target, and 1.2% of patients were dissatisfied. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) points out that the first LASIK laser was approved in 1998, so the very longest-term data are still limited.<\/p><\/div>\t<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>\n\n\n\n\n

    Does vision get worse 10 years after LASIK?<\/h2><\/div>

    Slightly, for some people. This is called regression: a slow drift back towards the original prescription. EyeWiki, the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) clinical encyclopedia, reports that in a 12-year follow-up most eyes showed roughly 10% myopic regression, averaging \u22120.12 D a year for short-sightedness up to \u221210 D and \u22120.25 D a year above \u221210 D. In a 15-year study, eyes that began at about \u22129.5 D had drifted by a mean of \u22121.66 D.<\/p>\n

    In the 12-year study by Ikeda and colleagues, regression went hand in hand with the cornea becoming steeper again. In the 15-year study by Ali\u00f3, a thinner starting cornea and less tissue left behind the flap predicted this steepening. This is one reason a careful surgeon measures your corneal thickness and does not remove more tissue than the eye can safely spare.<\/p>\n

    Other reasons your vision can change after 10 years<\/strong> have nothing to do with the laser:<\/p>\n