Can you still need glasses after LASIK?

Yes — and this surprises people more than it should. Laser refractive surgery reshapes your cornea to correct the prescription you have on the day of the procedure. It is an excellent correction. It is not a freeze button on your eyes.

Here is what that means over the following decades.

Reading vision still changes after 40

Presbyopia is the gradual loss of the eye's ability to shift focus up close. It is caused by the crystalline lens inside the eye becoming less flexible with age, and it happens to essentially everyone from the mid-forties onwards.

Laser surgery works on the cornea. The crystalline lens is untouched. So someone corrected for distance at 28 will still find, around 45, that the menu has moved further away. Reading glasses or progressives at that point are not a sign the surgery failed. They are the normal ageing of a different structure.

This catches people off guard because the mental model was "I fixed my eyes." What was fixed was one part of the optical system, at one point in time.

Some prescriptions drift back

A proportion of people experience regression — a partial return of the original prescription over the years following surgery. It is usually small, and more likely in eyes that started with a strong grade. A mild residual grade can be enough to want glasses for night driving even if daytime vision feels fine.

Surgery also does not stop new changes for other reasons: the astigmatism drift that comes with age, or lens changes later in life.

Night vision and glare

Halos and starbursts around lights at night are a recognised effect after refractive surgery, more common in the early months and in people with larger pupils. For most it settles. For some a degree of it persists, and a well-made clear lens with a good anti-reflective treatment genuinely helps on a dark provincial road or a rainy night on the expressway.

Dry eye is common afterwards

The procedure temporarily affects the corneal nerves that help drive tear production, so dryness in the months after surgery is expected and usually improves. In the Philippine context it is worth planning for: air-conditioned offices and long screen hours put pressure on a tear film that is already recovering. Preservative-free lubricating drops and deliberate blinking help. Persistent dryness is worth reviewing rather than tolerating.

You still need regular eye tests

This is the part that matters most. Good vision after surgery does not mean healthy eyes, and it never did. Glaucoma, retinal changes and diabetic eye disease all develop without affecting how sharp the letters on a chart look — often until late. A comprehensive eye exam looks at eye health, not just acuity.

There is also a practical reason. If you had laser surgery, your corneal measurements are permanently altered. That history affects how future measurements are interpreted, including certain glaucoma readings and the calculations used if you ever need cataract surgery. Keep your surgical records and tell every optometrist and ophthalmologist you see.

What we do and do not do

To be clear: Vision Express does not perform laser surgery, and we are not the right people to tell you whether to have it. That is a discussion with an ophthalmologist who can examine your corneal thickness and shape. What we do is measure your vision properly before and after, screen your eye health, and make the lenses you need if and when you need them.

Book the test

Book a Vision7 eye test at your nearest Vision Express store. The seven-step comprehensive exam includes a visual health check, so a post-surgery eye is screened for the things good acuity hides — and the refraction picks up any residual or returning grade before it starts costing you at night.

If night halos and headlight glare are the complaint, ask for Nikon Seemax Infinite Z at the counter. It is built to hold detail in low light, which is exactly the situation where a small residual correction after surgery makes the biggest difference.

If reading is what changed and you are past 40, ask for Essilor Varilux Physio Extensee instead — one lens covering distance, screen and reading, so you are not carrying a second pair around after years of not needing one.

Every pair includes free lifetime ultrasonic cleaning, free lifetime custom fitting and adjustment, and a 1-year warranty.