What does LASIK correct?
LASIK is used to correct short sightedness, long sightedness and astigmatism, within limits that depend on your prescription, corneal thickness and corneal shape.
- Subject
- Vision correction
- Topic
- LASIK
- Kind of question
- What is…
- Procedures
- LASIK
- Last reviewed
- 22 September 2026
In more detail
Those limits are not fixed numbers that apply to everyone. A prescription that is well within range for one person may be outside it for another whose cornea is thinner, whose cornea is irregular, or whose tear film is unstable.
LASIK does not correct presbyopia, which is the age-related loss of near focus. That is a separate problem with separate solutions.
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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