Can Long-Sightedness Be Corrected With Laser

  • Laser eye surgery is a medical procedure that involves the use of a laser to reshape the surface of the eye. This is done to improve or correct short-sightedness, long-sightedness and astigmatism. It can also be helpful in overcoming presbyopia (difficulty seeing up close as we get older).
  • Some people who have laser vision correction will still need to wear glasses or contact lenses to achieve optimum vision.
  • It is an expensive procedure which is not usually covered by health insurance.

Can Long-Sightedness Be Corrected With Laser

Long-sightedness is a very common visual error, and here at Optegra we’re often asked what can be done to treat it. Whilst many people rely on glasses or contact lenses to improve their close vision, laser eye surgery could be a more effective solution in the long run. Find out more about long sightedness, and how laser eye surgery can correct it, with our guidance below.

What is long-sightedness?

‘Long-sightedness’ is the commonly used term for a condition called hyperopia. People with long-sightedness tend to struggle with focusing on objects which are close by, although some people have problems with distance vision at the same time.

Long-sightedness occurs when light rays reach the retina in the eye before they have been able to converge into a focused image, usually due to the eyeball being too short or the cornea being less curved than it needs to be.

How does long-sightedness affect your vision?

For individuals with long-sightedness, objects close to the eye tend to appear blurry, whilst those far away are usually clearer.

This means that people with long-sightedness often have problems:

  • Reading
  • Working with computer screens
  • Performing tasks with small objects up close, such as using a mobile phone

Someone with long-sightedness may also experience headaches, discomfort or squinting, particularly when trying to focus on nearby objects.

When does long-sightedness develop?

Long-sightedness often affects adults over 40, but it can also affect younger eyes. Symptoms can often develop from a person’s teenage years up to their early forties, and it’s also possible for hyperopia to develop in children under five. A key sign to look out for is if an individual is squinting when trying to focus on closer objects. If in doubt, book an eye test with your optician.

What causes long-sightedness?

Long-sightedness occurs when the eye can’t focus light properly on the retina. Possible reasons for this could be:

  • The eyeball is too short
  • The cornea is flatter than it needs to be
  • The lens is unable to focus light properly

As the eye develops between birth and the age of eight, it can sometimes come up a little short. This developmental shortfall is caused by genetic factors, and the severity of it simply depends on the genetic hand that you have been dealt. Environmental factors have little or nothing to do with the condition.

After this period of early development is over, the eye gradually loses focusing power as it ages. That’s why hyperopia is often prominent in patients over the age of 40.

Treatment for long-sightedness

Now we’ve explained exactly what long-sightedness is and what causes it, we can look at how best to treat it. The good news is that there are several options available for correcting long-sightedness.

Glasses or contact lenses

Many people with long-sightedness rely on glasses or contact lenses to help their eyes focus, but these options come with some drawbacks.

Firstly, glasses and lenses are expensive, especially when you consider that they need to be changed to keep up with your prescription, usually every few years. If you develop hyperopia when you’re young, that’s an awful lot of glasses and lenses over the course of your lifetime.

Glasses can get broken, they go out of fashion, they can be left or lost, and they don’t suit everyone. Plus, they are not suitable for some activities, such as sports. Meanwhile, contact lenses have their own set of problems, including discomfort and even risks of infection.

Laser eye surgery

Another option is to have laser eye surgery for ling-sightedness, and this can be a great option for people who are tired of wearing glasses or contact lenses.

At Optegra, our laser eye surgery options for long-sightedness include LASIK and LASEK treatments. Our ophthalmic surgeons will carry out a detailed assessment to see whether you are suitable for laser eye surgery and will recommend the best treatment for your needs.

Laser eye surgery corrects long-sightedness by using a precision laser to adjust the cornea, enabling it to focus light rays correctly. This can permanently improve your vision, and could reduce or even eradicate your reliance on glasses or contact lenses.

Lens replacement surgery

Another treatment option is refractive lens exchange, known here at Optegra as Clarivu. This pioneering treatment involves replacing the eye’s natural lens with a specially selected intraocular lens (IOL). The treatment can be used to treat a range of visual errors, including long-sightedness, as well as treating cataracts.

Long-Sighted Laser Eye Surgery Cost

The cost of LASIK eye surgery varies drastically, ranging anywhere from $1,000 to $4,000 per eye. However, the average price for LASIK surgery in the U.S. in 2020 was $2,632 per eye, according to a 2021 report in Clinical Ophthalmology[1]. It’s worth noting that advertisements offering LASIK for as low as $250 dollars are often for minimal corrections, and are often teaser rates to attract patients to seek more information.

Several factors can affect the cost of LASIK, says Vicente Diaz, M.D, an ophthalmologist and assistant professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences at Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut.

The first is geographical location. “There are macro trends in terms of some areas having a higher cost of living than others and so elective procedures such as refractive surgery tend to follow those trends,” he says.

The doctor’s overhead can also influence price, explains Diaz. For example, if your doctor owns the laser equipment outright, then the marginal cost of doing a procedure is lower and they can pass those savings to the patient. However, doctors who are leasing, or who have a high cost per case, need to raise their price to make it worthwhile economically.

Price also fluctuates depending on the brand power or experience of the doctor or center. “If the doctor is in high demand, usually because of a well-deserved reputation, then that surgeon’s time is at a premium and market forces will drive the price up,” says Dr. Diaz.

However, the cost of surgery should not depend on how bad your eye vision is. “LASIK is typically a set price, as it covers the cost of correction within LASIK’s safe treatment range from minor to high corrections of nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism,” says Neda Shamie, M.D., a LASIK, cataract and corneal surgeon at the Maloney-Shamie Vision Institute in Los Angeles and a Forbes Health Advisory Board member.

However, for patients that are not candidates for LASIK due to severe nearsightedness or farsightedness (or other factors), they may be candidates for higher-cost surgeries such as implantable contact lens (ICL) or refractive lens exchange (RLE). Typically, both ICL and RLE surgery is more expensive than LASIK.

What is Included in the Cost of LASIK?

Your overall cost can also be influenced by what’s included in the surgery and the prices associated with those inclusions, such as follow-up appointments and enhancements. “An enhancement is a second procedure done on a previously operated eye,” says Dr. Shamie.

A small percentage of patients (less than 5%) after an initial refractive procedure (such as LASIK) benefit by having a fine-tuning laser procedure, due to residual nearsightedness, farsightedness or astigmatism after their primary surgery.

“Patients more likely to need enhancements include those with large prescription corrections at their first surgery,” she adds.

While services that are included in the cost of your LASIK surgery will vary depending on the surgeon, Dr. Shamie explains that the total cost typically includes the following:

  • Pre- and post-operative exams for at least one year
  • Facility and surgeon fees
  • Postoperative eye drops
  • Follow-up procedures should there be a need for fine-tuning the correction

Additional Costs of LASIK

In terms of the surgery itself, there shouldn’t be additional LASIK costs, according to Dr. Shamie, “unless you have it performed by a surgeon who offers the procedure at a low upfront cost and charges separately for the more advanced and safer technology, follow-up visits and medications.”

However, any type of a la carte pricing to minimize costs is not recommended, “because the latest technology and follow-up care are essential to an excellent outcome, not optional line items,” she says.

Some LASIK centers, though, may charge more for “custom” procedures over standard.

“Custom surgery is when a map of the patient’s actual cornea is used to treat higher-order aberrations caused by the shape of that particular patient’s eyes,” says Dr. Diaz. This is more time-consuming than standard LASIK procedures, as it takes into account the particular eye shape.

Other costs may include medications needed to recover from surgery, says Dr. Diaz, however, these are typically covered by medical insurance and are subject to copay arrangements.

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Does Insurance Cover LASIK?

Aside from prescriptions, insurance typically does not cover LASIK because it’s considered elective surgery. However, many employers offer a health savings account (HSA) or flexible savings account (FSA), which allow you to set aside pre-tax funds throughout the year to be used for medical expenses such as LASIK.

“This is why January is a popular time to have LASIK because many people have access to their [FSA] funds in the new calendar year,” says Dr. Shamie.