How long does LASIK last?
The corneal reshaping does not wear off, so there is no fixed lifespan for the effect. What does change over time is your eye, and the most predictable change is the loss of near focus that begins around the mid-forties.
- Subject
- Vision correction
- Topic
- LASIK
- Kind of question
- How long…
- Procedures
- LASIK
- Last reviewed
- 22 September 2026
In more detail
Reading glasses after forty are usually presbyopia rather than a failure of the surgery. It happens to people who never had laser surgery too.
A small proportion of people experience some regression in their distance prescription over years, which may or may not be enough to want correcting. Ask your clinic what its policy is on retreatment before you commit to anything.
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Where this answer sits
It is one of 483 answers in the vision and eye health knowledge base, filed under Vision correction & laser eye surgery in LASIK . The subject page carries the answers either side of it, and the hub is searchable.
Subjects this question touches
The pages that answer the subject behind the question, rather than the question itself.
- Procedure LASIK
- Procedure Femto LASIK
- Comparison LASIK vs SMILE
- Comparison LASIK vs PRK
- Place LASIK in Dubai
This information is for educational purposes and does not replace an examination by a qualified eye-care professional.
General answers cannot tell you what is happening in your own eyes. Only an examination by a qualified ophthalmologist can do that.
Sources & further reading
We prefer primary sources. Where a claim comes from a manufacturer, a single study or a regulator, it is labelled as such below.
- Laser In Situ Keratomileusis (LASIK)
The equivalent clinical reference chapter for LASIK, used so that comparisons describe both procedures symmetrically.
Used for How LASIK creates and manages a corneal flap; LASIK complication categories.
Link checked 22 September 2026