Does eyeball size change after LASIK surgery? Mine now is 26.8 mm. Will it be reduced to 26 or less?

No.

It is important to understand that after LASIK or any lens implant surgery you still have (and will always have) a "nearsighted" eyeball, i.e. an eye that is "too big" in diameter. [This is typically the cause of the nearsightedness itself.] These procedures only adjust the focusing power at the front of the eye to take into consideration your longer eye.

The reason this is important is because the growth of a large eye has "stretched" the retina, the "film" lining the back of the eye. This stretching will often have thinned the retina in its periphery, creating a risk of holes or tears later in life. If unrecognized, such retinal breaks can develop into a retinal detachment, a very serious condition.

LASIK and lens implant surgery do not do away with this risk because the eye is still "too big" -just no longer nearsighted. You should be familiar with the signs and symptoms of retinal problems and not think they have been banished along with your glasses!

_Written by J. Trevor Woodhams, M.D. - Chief of Surgery, Woodhams Eye Clinic