Popular Science: At what age is myopia surgery best performed?

Many people wonder: Why is there an age requirement for myopia surgery?

Liu Hongting, PhD, associate chief physician, master's supervisor, and deputy director of the refractive department of the Aier Eye Hospital affiliated to Wuhan University (Aier Eye Hospital Group Hubei Headquarters), said: The answer is easy to understand, it is for the sake of the surgical effect.

1. Why is myopia surgery suitable for adults?

As we all know, minors are in a critical stage of growth and development. This is reflected in their eyes, which is that myopia worsens rapidly and their vision is unstable. The reason is that the eye axis grows rapidly. For every millimeter the eye axis grows, myopia worsens by a corresponding degree. If you undergo myopia surgery at this time, and myopia continues to grow after the surgery, it will obviously affect the effect of the surgery. In special cases, if the myopia of patients approaching 18 years old has increased by no more than 50 degrees in the past two years and they have the need to apply for the college entrance examination, they can also undergo surgery in advance as appropriate after the patient and their family members understand and agree.

Therefore, before undergoing myopia surgery, ophthalmologists will require the patient to have a relatively stable myopia degree in the past two years, in order to achieve a long-lasting and stable surgical effect.

2. People over 45 should be cautious

Because people over 45 years old will gradually develop presbyopia, low-degree presbyopia can be achieved through some special adjustments and designs during myopia surgery to obtain better near and far vision. However, people over 45 years old have deeper presbyopia and cannot achieve a good balance between near and far vision through myopia surgery. In addition, people of this age will gradually face the onset of senile cataracts. Therefore, myopia surgery is not recommended for people over 45 years old.

3. What is the best age to undergo myopia surgery?

After adulthood, when the degree of myopia is stable, of course, the sooner you do it, the better. Why? Because the sooner you do it, the sooner you can enjoy it. For the same price, the sooner you do it, the longer you can enjoy it, and the more cost-effective it is.

Zhang Qingsong, deputy chief physician, member of the Refractive Subcommittee of the Ophthalmology Committee of the China Association of Non-public Medical Institutions, and director of the Refractive Department of the Aier Eye Hospital Affiliated to Wuhan University (Aier Eye Hospital Group Hubei General Hospital), explained: The basic premise is that you must meet the surgical conditions. In addition to meeting the age requirements and stable myopia, the eyes must be healthy, without active inflammation, glaucoma, keratoconus, severe amblyopia, etc. In addition, there must be no serious autoimmune diseases, systemic infectious diseases, etc. Finally, mental health is required, and there must be no mental illness such as depression. The specific requirements are subject to the results of the preoperative examination.