Your eye will also be more susceptible to damage (depending upon the surgery you've had) as the integrity won't be as good as it was before (this is especially true with Lasik because of the free floating flap).
Just had my annual check up (I had cataract surgery +
istent as a glaucoma treatment several year ago. It has been incredibly successful in treating the high eye pressures 16-17 yesterday, before surgery heading north of 30 even with eye drops)
(From reading about this, it seems that my treatment has been particularly effective. Rather more so that typically claimed. The fact that I was also +6 as well is probabally a factor)
I just had the simple replacement lens (Not multifocal/toric) and although the distance correction is spot on, I still have a bit of astigmatism.
I asked my consultant about laser surgery to correct this. He suggested that if i really wanted to do something about it, and I very much got the impression that the attitude was not to bother really since it isn't a big problem, I should go for a surgical option (Small relieving partial depth cuts around the edge of the cornea.) on the grounds that this would not be as invasive as laser surgery and would not compromise the integrity of the cornea anything like as much.
Now we get to the interesting bit, which is the main point of the reply.
I asked him how laser correction works in the first place since if I burn my skin, it grows back as it heals Why doesn't the cornea grow back when it heals.
The answer is basically that it doesn't heal. There is no blood supply to the cornea so its ability to heal after damage is actually quite limited. That is why laser surgery works. The cornea never really heals properly and nor does the flap and the eye is always vulnerable to damage in a way that it would not have been before.
For something that is promoted widely as a simple and inexpensive procedure so that you no longer have to wear glasses, this strikes me as being something that should be a major concern for anybody contemplating laser surgery.
I can understand that it might be worthwhile fo somebody with a stupid prescription lik -7 or something since if you lost your glasses you would be practically blind, I was +6 before cataract surgery and my greatest fear was breaking/losing my glasses while out for the day and not being able to drive home. This is now not a problem. Though I do use glasses for driving/going to the cinema to correct the astigmatism, I can drive perfectly safely without them.
But if you have a less severe prescription and are simply having this sort of surgery to get rid of the glasses for cosmetic reasons, it may really not be that good an idea.
Indeed, It occurs to me that having a Multifocal/Toric lens replacement might actually be a rather safer option, though rather more expensive.
It would also provide some future protection from developing glaucoma, especially if you are long sighted.
(Though this is not without its problems too. Not everybody can get used to them and your low light level vision is poorer, though I am given to understand that the last three years has resulted in significant improvements in the technology and the ability to predict who is likely to benefit and who is not)
As an aside, I was amused to note that the, really not that old, visual field analysis machine ran on XP and had an FDD!