What are the possibilities for a person having 6/9 (20/30) vision wearing lens of -10 to get rid of glasses by correction through LASIK, etc.?

You may not be asking the right question here, although I can guess at what you mean: 1)How well will LASIK work for myopia (nearsightedness) as high as -10 Diopters?, and 2) Can I expect to get full correction of my myopia or would I have to settle for something close? The best, most useful question, though, is: Is LASIK a good idea to treat -10 D. of myopia?

In my experience, the answer is probably "No." While the American FDA originally approved most excimer lasers used in LASIK to treat myopia as high as -12 D., real world experience has shown that the possible complications of LASIK increase with the number of Diopters (degree of myopia) you are trying to correct. For example, there is a direct, proportional relationship between how much myopia you are treating with the laser and how much corneal tissue will have to be removed, i.e. how thin you will leave the cornea. The thickness of the cornea (called pachymetry) will not grow back at all, much less to near normal. This can weaken the cornea over time, causing a slow bulging in the area treated, that can undermine your visual results and in a worst case scenario, require a corneal transplant. Unwanted distortions of vision, especially at night, are another potential problem that increase with treating very high myopia. While LASIK surgeons may argue about the upper limits of safety for LASIK, most would agree that treating over about -8 D. is probably not a good idea for most people.

The other issue I infer from your question is whether getting a partial treatment, just a reduction in myopia, would be worth it. In my own experience, with some very few exceptions, most people are not very happy unless they can see 6/6 (20/20) at distance. Fortunately, there are alternatives to LASIK. The ICL, for example, is an implantable "contact lens" that can correct -13 as easily as it can -3 D., and with no added risk for the higher degree of myopia. You may well want to investigate this as well as the other options you may have depending on age, etc.

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