The age of LASIK patients are changing over the few years LASIK surgery has been in development. There use to be a main crowd of people in age from roughly 18-40 that had this procedure and that market still exists. However, there are some changes being made, some which are somewhat controversial that allow people of almost any age to have a LASIK eye surgery.
Like in cosmetic surgery, when the age of LASIK patients is very young it is almost universally frowned upon to perform this elective surgery on their eyes. Other than social taboos there are solid medical reasons to avoid this young age range of LASIK patients. Most surgeons will refuse to performing LASIK on children because their eyes are not fully developed yet, they are constantly growing, adjusting their position in relation to the skull and even changing shape.
It is recommended that at this age, LASIK patients use glasses or contacts. As a LASIK surgery would only be a temporary fix to their problem. And it will expose them to all the rare but serious risks of a LASIK surgery that they would then have to experiences again a few years down the road. Also there is the issue that when a surgeons age of LASIK patients are this young there becomes an issue of actually performing the surgery that some adults have a major issue with, as they need to be fully conscious as the knife and laser are applied directly to their open eyes.
Conversely, when the age of LASIK patients is older there can be other issues and warnings. Middle age patients may have some advanced conditions that can no longer be really helped all that much by a LASIK operation. Such conditions are presbyopia, when a person’s natural lenses become less flexible and therefore make it hard to change focus, are not able to be fixed by LASIK. To fix this problem you would need to correct the eye’s focusing muscle that gradually gets weaker with time. This age of LASIK patients must accept that as fact of aging.
Another condition that is common when the age of LASIK patients is getting up there is cataracts, a common but detrimental condition in which the natural eye lens becomes clouded over years and result in blurred vision. It is the leading cause of loss of visual acuity in those of an advanced age. A LASIK surgery only lifts up that lens to address the issues underneath and therefore could not help a cataract patient who should instead elect for a cataract surgery.
In all ages of LASIK patients there are both risks and benefits involved; these need to be weighed against how well a treatment will stick and if it is doable at all in their current situation. Many surgeons in less than reputable practices will take on any age of LASIK patients to get extra money at whatever risk to the patient’s well being or long term outcome. Even if nothing would have gone wrong from the operation you are wasting your money.