Is LASIK an Option for Children and Teens?

LASIK Guider

For millions of teens who suffer from , seeing clearly without glasses or contacts is a dream. As the popularity of is increasing everyday, no surprise that many teenagers are eager to know if LASIK is an option for them. On the parent’s side, many of them question if LASIK eye surgery would be effective on their children as in adults. They hope that LASIK would help their children see better in school and enable them to contribute in recreational and sporting activities, which can enhance their social development.


Lasik for children and teens

Why LASIK is not an Option for Children and Teens?

While LASIK has been used to correct , and in adults with good efficacy and visual results, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved the procedure for persons under the age of 18.

Normally, the continues to grow during childhood with significant change in shape and size. As a result, vision only stabilizes, when the eye completes it development around the age of 20 years.


For this reason, in teens may be temporary or unpredictable in contrast to the permanent results in adults. As a result, the LASIK procedure would probably have to be repeated when the teenager reaches early adulthood.


When LASIK would be an Option for Children and Teens?

In current practice, most ophthalmologists will not perform LASIK on a young person until at least the age of 20. However, in very rare circumstances, the may be ignored to treat children or teens who suffer from severe vision conditions such as amblyopia “lazy eye”.

Treatment of those children with LASIK would be an off-label use of the medical device and would be only considered when:

  • Standard treatment measures like , and patching have failed to improve vision.
  • Chronic noncompliance with, or intolerance of, standard treatment threatens normal visual development.

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