Still wearing contacts every day? When it may be worth asking about LASIK

By Your Health Magazine Contributor

Your Health Magazine Contributor

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Still wearing contacts every day? When it may be worth asking about LASIK

For plenty of people, contact lenses work just fine. You put them in, go about your day, take them out at night and don’t think much about them.

But the routine can start to feel different when lenses become uncomfortable by late afternoon, when travel means packing solution and backups, or when swimming and sports turn into a recurring hassle.

David T. Vroman, M.D., from Carolina Cataract & Laser Center, evaluates patients interested in LASIK in Charleston alongside other refractive options. [6] For someone tired of relying on contacts, a consultation can answer a more useful question than simply, “Can I get LASIK?” It can help determine whether surgery makes sense for the eyes you actually have, the prescription you wear and the way you use your vision every day.

When contacts start feeling less convenient

If contacts are comfortable and you’re using them safely, there may be no reason to change simply because LASIK is available.

Still, the routine matters.

Contact lenses come with handling and replacement requirements, while reusable lenses also need regular cleaning and storage. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises contact-lens wearers to keep lenses away from water, avoid sleeping in them unless specifically directed, follow replacement schedules and maintain proper lens and case hygiene. [1]

Travel can make those habits more noticeable. You may need solution, a clean case, extra lenses and backup glasses. Swimming adds another consideration because the CDC recommends removing contact lenses before swimming, showering or using a hot tub to reduce exposure to germs in water. [1]

For some people, none of that is particularly bothersome. For others, years of planning around lenses start to feel like enough reason to at least learn about surgical alternatives.

Convenience can start the conversation, but it does not determine whether LASIK is appropriate.

Dryness and irritation can change the equation

Recurring contact-lens discomfort is another reason people begin asking about refractive surgery.

An eye that feels dry late in the day may make contacts harder to tolerate. Redness, irritation or the feeling that a lens is constantly noticeable can also make someone wonder whether eliminating contacts would solve the problem.

That discomfort is worth sorting out before assuming surgery will solve it.

Dry eye is one of the factors surgeons evaluate before LASIK. The FDA specifically includes tear production and existing dry eye among issues that should be assessed when determining whether someone is a good candidate. It also cautions that dry-eye symptoms can worsen after surgery or develop in patients who did not have them beforehand. [2]

Research supports taking ocular-surface health seriously. A systematic review of post-refractive-surgery dry eye identified preexisting ocular-surface problems and other patient and procedural factors as relevant to postoperative symptoms. [3]

Sometimes the first step is figuring out why the lenses are uncomfortable. That may mean addressing dry eye, reviewing lens fit, changing the lens material or replacement schedule, or treating another ocular-surface problem before deciding what comes next.

Your lifestyle matters more than you might expect

A refractive-surgery consultation should include more than an eye chart.

Think about the situations where contacts are most inconvenient.

Someone who swims several times a week may be tired of removing lenses and arranging other vision correction around the pool. A frequent traveler may dislike carrying lens supplies and backup glasses. People who work long shifts may find that their contacts become less comfortable as the day goes on.

Sports can be another factor. Glasses may interfere with some activities, while contacts may require extra planning depending on the environment.

But lifestyle cuts both ways. Surgery involves recovery, temporary activity restrictions and the possibility of visual symptoms that matter more to some people than others.

Night driving is a good example. The FDA advises prospective LASIK patients to discuss the possibility of glare, halos, starbursts and reduced vision in dim light. [2] Someone who routinely drives at night may weigh that information differently from someone whose visual demands are mostly daytime.

What matters will depend on how you use your vision day to day.

LASIK candidacy is about more than your prescription

People often start with a simple question: “Is my prescription too strong for LASIK?”

Prescription is important, but it is only part of the evaluation.

The FDA’s LASIK checklist includes prescription stability, corneal thickness, pupil size, tear production, medical conditions, medications and other eye problems among the factors that may affect candidacy. [2]

A surgeon also needs to understand the overall health and shape of the cornea. Someone may have a prescription that can technically be corrected with a laser but still have findings that make another procedure more appropriate.

Age also changes the conversation.

LASIK reshapes the cornea to correct refractive error, but it does not stop the normal aging of the eye. Presbyopia the gradual loss of near focusing that commonly becomes noticeable in the 40s can still mean reading glasses are needed later. The FDA specifically advises patients to understand that LASIK does not eliminate the possibility of needing reading correction. [2]

This is also why a consultation may lead somewhere other than LASIK. Depending on the person’s eyes, age and prescription, other refractive options may come up in the discussion.

What are the tradeoffs?

The biggest potential benefit is straightforward: reducing dependence on glasses or contact lenses.

That can be meaningful. But it should be weighed against the fact that LASIK is surgery and does not guarantee perfect vision.

The FDA warns about possible undercorrection or overcorrection, persistent need for corrective lenses, dry eye and visual symptoms such as glare, halos and starbursts. [2]

Patient-reported outcomes also show why both sides belong in the conversation. In the FDA’s PROWL studies, more than 95% of participants reported satisfaction with their vision after LASIK. At the same time, some patients who did not report certain visual symptoms before surgery developed new symptoms afterward, including halos, glare or starbursts. Up to 28% of participants who had no dry-eye symptoms before surgery reported them three months later. [4]

Those numbers are not an argument for or against LASIK. They show why satisfaction rates alone do not tell the whole story.

A patient may be very happy with the result while still noticing dryness or nighttime visual effects. Another may decide that even a little possibility of those symptoms matters more than reducing dependence on contacts.

Staying in contacts can still be a perfectly reasonable choice

There is no requirement to “graduate” from contacts to LASIK.

If your lenses are comfortable, your eyes are healthy, you follow good hygiene and you do not mind the routine, continuing to wear them may be entirely reasonable.

Contact lenses are medical devices, however, and they do require appropriate care. The CDC notes that improper wear and maintenance can increase the risk of keratitis and other eye infections. Sleeping in lenses when not advised, exposing them to water and poor cleaning habits are among the behaviors that can raise risk. [1][5]

For some people, improving those habits or switching lens types solves the issue that prompted interest in surgery.

For others, the reason to explore LASIK is not that contacts have become medically unacceptable. They simply want to know whether another form of vision correction would fit their priorities better.

A consultation may confirm that contacts still suit you, or show that another form of vision correction is worth considering.

Questions to bring to a LASIK consultation

You do not need to understand every laser platform or surgical term before seeing a refractive surgeon.

You do need enough information to understand why a recommendation is being made.

Useful questions include:

• Is my prescription stable enough for LASIK?
• Is my cornea healthy and thick enough for the procedure?
• Do I have dry eye or another ocular-surface problem that should be treated first?
• How might my age affect my distance and reading vision after surgery?
• What visual result is realistic for my prescription?
• What are the risks most relevant to my eyes?
• How often do your patients experience dryness, glare or halos?
• Would PRK, EVO ICL or another option make sense for me?
• What should I expect during recovery?
• Could I still need glasses or reading glasses afterward?
• What would make you advise me to stay with contacts instead?

The practice provides refractive evaluations within an ophthalmology group that also includes cornea, cataract and glaucoma care. Its refractive options include wavefront-guided, all-laser LASIK and EVO ICL. For appropriately selected patients, EVO ICL may be considered when higher prescriptions or certain corneal limitations affect the available choices. [6]

For someone who has worn contacts for years, asking about LASIK does not commit you to surgery. The value of the consultation is finding out which options actually fit your eyes and your priorities, including the possibility that your current contacts remain a good choice.

References

[1] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2025). Preventing eye infections when wearing contacts.https://www.cdc.gov/contact-lenses/prevention/.

[2] U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (n.d.). LASIK surgery checklist.https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/lasik/lasik-surgery-checklist.

[3] Dossari, S. K. (2024). Post-refractive surgery dry eye: A systematic review exploring pathophysiology, risk factors, and novel management strategies. Cureus, 16(5), e61004.https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.61004.

[4] U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (n.d.). LASIK Quality of Life Collaboration Project.https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/lasik/lasik-quality-life-collaboration-project.

[5] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2025). What causes contact lens-related eye infections.https://www.cdc.gov/contact-lenses/causes/index.html.

[6] Carolina Cataract & Laser Center. (n.d.). Facts.https://www.carolinacataract.com/facts/.