During summer vacation and the holiday season, eye clinics begin to fill up with people considering vision correction surgery. The procedure has now become relatively familiar to the public, but in consultations, patients often worry less about the surgery itself than about when to have it. They ask, "Am I too young to undergo surgery?" or "On the other hand, I’m a bit older. Will it still be effective if I have it now?"
To put it simply, vision correction surgery is not decided by age alone.
The human eye goes through a growth period, passes its prime in the 20s and 30s, and then inevitably begins to age after the 40s. So if you are thinking about vision correction now, the focus should be less on when to do it and more on finding the best method for your age and eye characteristics.
For minors, the standard for surgery timing is often hidden in the number 18. When people say their eyesight is bad, they usually mean myopia, or nearsightedness, which tends to progress along with physical growth during adolescence.
The key is the growth of the eyeball’s front-to-back length, known as axial length. As the body grows taller, the eyes also lengthen. The longer the eye becomes, the more the focal point shifts in front of the retina, and myopia worsens. If laser surgery that reshapes the cornea is performed before eye growth has fully stopped, the eyeball may continue to grow afterward, causing vision to change again. In that case, patients may end up needing glasses again or even a second corrective procedure.
In general, eye growth stabilizes to some extent after age 18. However, some people continue to experience slight myopic progression into their early 20s. That is why it is better to check whether recent vision changes have remained stable rather than relying on age alone. If eyeglass prescriptions have not changed for the past six months to a year, the eyes are usually considered stable enough for surgery.
Once eye growth has stopped, the 20s and 30s can be considered the ideal time for vision correction surgery. Recovery is at its best, and presbyopia has not yet become a factor. For people in their early 20s, especially those preparing for military service or employment, SMILE Pro, which is more resistant to external impact and allows a return to daily life the next day, can be a strong option.
After the 40s, however, vision correction surgery must be approached from a completely different perspective, taking presbyopia into account. As the lens loses elasticity and focusing on nearby objects becomes more difficult, correcting only myopia may improve distance vision but still leave patients feeling severe eye strain when looking at smartphones or documents.
That is why customized planning becomes essential after 40. One effective option is Presbyond, a presbyopia correction procedure that guides the dominant eye to see far and the non-dominant eye to see near, allowing the brain to naturally merge the visual field. If a patient has high myopia or wants to avoid corneal tissue removal, VIVA ICL presbyopia lens implantation is an excellent alternative. It uses extended depth of focus, or EDOF, technology in the center of the lens to provide smooth, continuous vision from distance to smartphone screens.
In addition, the older the patient, the greater the likelihood of accompanying lens diseases such as cataracts. For that reason, a comprehensive diagnosis that also considers future treatment plans must come first.
Courtesy of Kim Ji-seon, Director of Onnuri Smile Ophthalmic Clinic
This article has been translated by GripLabs Mingo AI.
