What is high short sightedness?
High short sightedness generally means a prescription beyond the moderate range, and there is no single boundary that every clinician uses. What matters practically is that higher prescriptions ask more of the cornea, which is why they are planned from thickness and shape measurements rather than from the prescription alone.
- Subject
- Vision problems
- Topic
- Myopia (short sightedness)
- Kind of question
- What is…
- Procedures
- LASIK, PRK, ICL
- Last reviewed
- 22 September 2026
In more detail
Higher short sightedness is also associated with a greater chance of retinal problems later in life, which is a reason for regular dilated examinations rather than a reason for alarm. That monitoring question is separate from whether laser surgery is suitable.
What this answer depends on
- The measured prescription
- Corneal thickness and the shape of the cornea
- Whether a lens-based option would be safer for your eye
Related guides
People also ask
The questions readers move to next from this one: the closest subjects first, from either question bank.
Where this answer sits
It is one of 483 answers in the vision and eye health knowledge base, filed under Vision problems & prescriptions in Myopia (short sightedness) . 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.
- Condition Myopia (short sightedness)
- Procedure LASIK
- Procedure Femto LASIK
- Comparison LASIK vs SMILE
- Comparison LASIK vs PRK
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
- EyeSmart: eye health information for the public
Patient-facing material from the largest ophthalmology professional body, covering conditions, tests and treatments outside refractive surgery.
Used for Cross-checking patient-facing explanations of non-refractive eye conditions; Describing what tests such as dilation and OCT involve.
Link checked 23 September 2026