Traditionally, vision correction surgery has been seen as a permanent change, with LASIK, PRK or lens replacement surgeries providing patients with a new visual baseline.

But people are increasingly looking for an ‘exit strategy’ if they’re not happy with the procedure.

Consultant ophthalmic surgeon and medical director at the Wellington Eye Clinic Dr Arthur Cummings said this is “an interesting psychological phenomena”.

“Maybe it’s just a sign of the times, but people want a permanent solution – and hence they think about laser or lens replacement – to replace their glasses or contact lenses,” he told The Pat Kenny Show.

“But they’re also afraid sometimes of the permanent solution, because if they don’t like it, they’re sort of stuck.

“So, what we’re seeing recently is this trend that people are opting, when they have two choices and one is permanent and one’s reversible, they’re opting for the additive reversible option.”

Dr Cummings said that, for example, many patients suffering from myopia - the medical name for near-sightedness – might opt for an implantable contact lens treatment rather than anything permanent.

“[It’s a contact lens] which is permament until the day you take it off,” he said.

“For most people, it only comes out at the time when they get cataracts, and then you remove this lens plus the cataract and replace it with a singular intraocular lens.”

Male eye doctor examining patient with medical equipment. 23 March 2010. Alamy.com

According to Dr Cummings, he has never been asked to remove one of these lenses.

“We would tell people that, and they’d say, ‘Well, that’s fine, but I know I have the option of having it removed if I don’t like it,” he said.

“So, it’s reassurance, absolutely.”

One listener texted into the show to ask if laser eye surgery was worth it at the age of 47, or if it would cause their eyesight to deteriorate even further.

“Corneal laser surgery is completely permanent on the cornea,” Dr Cummings said.

“We’ve seen patients treated 25 years ago, and whatever the change was then is still present today.

“What changes over time is the lens inside your eye; [it] has the same origins as skin and nails and hair, so it never stops growing.”

Permanent results

According to Dr Cummings, way doctors tell how effective the surgery will be is to put a drop in the patient’s eye that paralyses the lens.

The patient's prescription is then tested again with the drops in their eyes.

The closer their usual prescription is to the prescription that they need with the drops in, the more permanent the results of the surgery are expected to be.

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