Gregg Feinerman MD, FACS

Light Adjustable Lens Success Rate: Our 2025 Results

Patients ask me some version of this question every week: what is the Light Adjustable Lens™ (LAL®) success rate, really? Here is our answer, from our own 2025 outcomes, published in full: 98% of all Light Adjustable Lens eyes at our practice finished within 0.50 diopters of their target prescription, 91% of distance-targeted eyes saw 20/20 or better without glasses, and every single distance-targeted eye saw 20/40 or better, the legal driving standard. This article explains where those numbers come from, how they compare with the published literature, and why we decided to put our complete data on a public page for anyone to inspect.

Why We Publish Our Numbers

Most practices ask you to take their results on faith. A brochure says “excellent outcomes,” a website says “state of the art,” and you are left to guess what that means for your eyes. We think patients deserve better, especially patients choosing a premium lens precisely because they care about precision. So we compiled our complete 2025 Light Adjustable Lens outcomes with the RxSight outcomes analysis program, every treated eye included, and published the full dataset on our Light Adjustable Lens results page. Nothing cherry-picked, sample sizes stated for every figure, and the published literature shown alongside for honest context.

What Is the Light Adjustable Lens Success Rate?

“Success” needs a definition before a number means anything. In lens surgery, the standard yardsticks are accuracy to target (how close your final prescription lands to the plan) and uncorrected visual acuity (what you see without glasses). Here is how our 2025 eyes did on both.

Feinerman Vision 2025 Outcomes, All Eyes

Accuracy: across all 137 eyes, 98% finished within 0.50 diopters of their target prescription and 88% finished within 0.25 diopters, the smallest step an eye doctor can prescribe. Astigmatism correction landed within 0.50 diopters of target in 95% of eyes.

Vision without glasses: of the 77 eyes targeted for distance, 91% saw 20/20 or better and 100% saw 20/40 or better. Of the 47 eyes targeted for near in blended-vision plans, 77% read J2 print or better, roughly the print on a medicine bottle.

Efficiency: 46% of eyes needed only a single light treatment, 30% needed two, and 25% needed three, followed by two quick lock-in treatments.

The Light Adjustable Lens Success Rate After LASIK, PRK, and RK

Any practice can look good on easy eyes. The honest test is the hard ones: eyes that had LASIK, PRK, or RK years ago, where the reshaped cornea makes standard lens calculations famously unpredictable. In 2025 we treated 48 post-refractive eyes with the Light Adjustable Lens. 96% finished within 0.50 diopters of target, 86% of distance-targeted eyes saw 20/20 or better, and 100% saw 20/40 or better. If you had laser vision correction decades ago, that subgroup is your preview, and I wrote about exactly why the lens performs this way in post-LASIK eyes in Can You Get the Light Adjustable Lens After LASIK?

Our Light Adjustable Lens Success Rate vs. the Published Literature

Your surgeon’s numbers should be checked against something. Here is the external yardstick.

The Published Benchmarks

In the largest multicenter registry of the Light Adjustable Lens, 91.1% to 93.5% of eyes finished within 0.50 diopters of target (Doane et al., JCRS 2025). In post-LASIK and post-PRK eyes, published series report 86% within 0.50 diopters (Jones et al., JCRS 2024) and 97.1% within 0.50 diopters (Wong et al., Clin Ophthalmol 2023). In post-RK eyes, the hardest of all, 88% finished within 0.50 diopters (Webster et al., JCRS 2025). And in the FDA post-approval study of astigmatic eyes, 92.5% ended with residual astigmatism of 0.50 diopters or less, versus roughly 76% for contemporary toric lenses (Holladay and Haller, JCRS 2026).

Our 2025 figures, 98% overall and 96% in post-refractive eyes, sit at the favorable end of that range. We show every study beside our data on the results page; readers can draw their own conclusions.

The Care Behind the Numbers

Technology alone does not produce results like these. The Light Adjustable Lens is remarkable, more than 300,000 have been implanted worldwide, per RxSight, but the lens only delivers what the process around it allows: careful measurement before surgery, an unhurried surgeon at the microscope, and adjustment visits treated as precision work rather than a conveyor belt. That is the combination we have built our practice around: adjustable-lens precision paired with single-surgeon, boutique care.

One Surgeon, Start to Finish

Feinerman Vision has been a single-surgeon practice since 2001. I perform every consultation and every surgery personally, I call you the evening of your procedure, I see you myself the next day, and I ask every patient to save my cell phone number so you can reach me directly with any question. Your light treatments happen at our Newport Beach office on the RxSight Light Delivery Device, and each visit is a chance to refine your result and to be seen, not processed.

What I Tell My Patients

Numbers like 98% are encouraging, and I am proud of them, but no statistic is a promise about your eyes. Past results do not guarantee any individual outcome. What the data can honestly tell you is how a practice performs across everyone it treats, hard cases included, and whether its claims survive contact with the published evidence. That is why the full dataset is public. Bring your skepticism to the consultation; it is welcome here. When we begin, my first question will be the same one I ask everyone: do you want standard cataract surgery, or do you want custom adjustable surgery? Your anatomy, your goals, and your imaging will guide the answer, because lens choice here is personalized, never one lens for everyone.

The other half of the picture is what the lens asks of you in return. I cover that, and who is not a candidate, in our guide to Light Adjustable Lens problems.

What it costs, with insurance and without, is on our Light Adjustable Lens cost page.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are these results from all of your patients or a selected group?

All of them. The figures come from our complete 2025 Light Adjustable Lens outcomes compiled with the RxSight outcomes analysis program, every treated eye included, with sample sizes stated for every figure on our results page.

What does finishing within 0.50 diopters of target mean?

A diopter is the unit of a glasses prescription, and prescriptions change in steps of 0.25 diopters. Finishing within 0.50 diopters means the final result landed within two of those smallest steps of the intended prescription.

Do these numbers guarantee my result?

No, and no honest surgeon would say otherwise. Past results do not guarantee any individual outcome. Whether the Light Adjustable Lens fits your eyes, your anatomy, and your goals is determined only by a comprehensive evaluation.

Why is the success rate lower in eyes with prior LASIK or RK?

Prior laser surgery reshaped the cornea, which makes every lens calculation harder. Even so, adjusting the lens after healing narrows the gap dramatically: 96% of our post-refractive eyes finished within 0.50 diopters, close to our overall figure of 98%.

Where can I see the complete data?

On our Light Adjustable Lens results page at FeinermanVision.com, updated annually, with the published literature shown alongside for context.

See what your eyes are capable of.

Dr. Feinerman personally performs every consultation and every surgery.

Schedule Your Consultation

(949) 631-4780 · Newport Beach, CA

References

Doane J, Newsom TH, Slade S, et al. J Cataract Refract Surg. 2025. doi: 10.1097/j.jcrs.0000000000001721.
Jones M, Terveen DC, Berdahl JP, et al. J Cataract Refract Surg. 2024. doi: 10.1097/j.jcrs.0000000000001481.
Wong JR, Folden DV, Wandling GR, et al. Clin Ophthalmol. 2023;17:3379-3387. doi: 10.2147/OPTH.S432457.
Webster M, Baartman B, Jones M, et al. J Cataract Refract Surg. 2025. doi: 10.1097/j.jcrs.0000000000001596.
Holladay JT, Haller M. J Cataract Refract Surg. 2026;52(7):666-669. doi: 10.1097/j.jcrs.0000000000001906.

Practice figures compiled from the Feinerman Vision 2025 RxSight Outcomes Analysis. This article is educational and does not diagnose any condition or guarantee candidacy for any procedure. Candidacy is determined only by a comprehensive evaluation performed by Gregg Feinerman, MD, FACS. Feinerman Vision · 320 Superior Ave, Suite 390, Newport Beach, CA 92663 · (949) 631-4780.

Can You Get the Light Adjustable Lens After LASIK?

Yes. If you had LASIK years ago and are now facing cataract surgery or lens replacement, you can absolutely receive the Light Adjustable Lens™ (LAL®), and in my practice it is the lens of choice for most post-LASIK eyes. The reason is simple: LASIK reshaped your cornea in a way that makes standard lens-power calculations less predictable, and the Light Adjustable Lens is the only lens whose final prescription is set after your eye heals, based on how you actually see, rather than predicted before surgery from measurements. The prediction problem that makes post-LASIK eyes difficult is precisely the problem this lens was built to solve.

Why LASIK Makes Standard Lens Calculations Less Predictable

Every intraocular lens calculation depends on two numbers: the length of your eye and the power of your cornea. LASIK permanently changed the second one. Myopic LASIK flattened the front surface of your cornea while leaving the back surface alone, so the natural relationship between the two surfaces, which standard formulas assume, no longer holds. Plug a post-LASIK cornea into a standard formula and it tends to overestimate corneal power. The classic result is a patient who wakes up from cataract surgery unexpectedly farsighted.

The scale of the problem is well documented. In a major review of post-LASIK calculation methods, only 45 to 72 percent of post-myopic LASIK and PRK eyes landed within 0.50 diopters of their intended prescription using the standard calculator formulas (Wang and Koch, Ophthalmology, 2021). Compare that with routine cataract surgery on never-operated eyes, where modern formulas routinely put the large majority of eyes on target. For years, this is why post-LASIK patients were counseled to expect less precision from their lens surgery. That counseling is out of date.

How the Light Adjustable Lens After LASIK Sidesteps the Prediction Problem

The Light Adjustable Lens is made of a photosensitive material whose power can be changed after it is inside your eye. Your surgery proceeds like any modern cataract or lens replacement procedure. Then, once your eye has healed, you do something no other lens allows: you test-drive your vision in the real world. You drive, read, work, and live with the lens, and then we fine-tune the prescription in a series of brief, painless in-office light treatments, typically one to three, based on your actual measured vision. Then, once you are happy with your vision, two quick lock-in treatments make it permanent.

Notice what this does to the post-LASIK problem. The calculation is still harder in a post-LASIK eye, and we still do it as carefully as possible, using modern post-refractive formulas with measurements cross-checked on three separate devices. But with the Light Adjustable Lens, the calculation no longer has to be perfect, because the lens is adjusted to your eye’s final, healed result. Prediction becomes verification.

What the Studies Show for the Light Adjustable Lens After LASIK

This is not a theoretical advantage. It is one of the better-documented findings in modern lens surgery.

Published Results in Post-LASIK and Post-PRK Eyes

In a 2024 study of 76 eyes with prior laser corneal refractive surgery targeted for distance, 74% achieved 20/20 or better uncorrected vision, 88% achieved 20/25 or better, and 86% finished within 0.50 diopters of target, including eyes with two or more prior refractive surgeries (Jones et al., J Cataract Refract Surg, 2024).

In a 2023 study of 34 post-LASIK and post-PRK eyes receiving the second-generation Light Adjustable Lens with a distance target, 97.1% finished within 0.50 diopters of the goal and 82.4% saw 20/20 or better without glasses, with an average of only 1.5 light adjustments per eye and no adverse events from the light treatments (Wong et al., Clin Ophthalmol, 2023).

Set those numbers against the 45 to 72 percent accuracy reported for conventional lenses in post-LASIK eyes, and the size of the advantage is clear.

Our Own 2025 Results in Post-Refractive Eyes

Published studies tell you what the lens can do. Your surgeon’s own numbers tell you what to expect. We publish ours.

Feinerman Vision 2025 Outcomes, Post-Refractive Eyes

Across 48 eyes with prior LASIK, PRK, or RK treated with the Light Adjustable Lens in 2025, 96% finished within 0.50 diopters of their target prescription. Of the eyes targeted for distance, 86% saw 20/20 or better without glasses and every single one saw 20/40 or better, the legal driving standard. For context, across all 137 Light Adjustable Lens eyes we treated in 2025, prior surgery or not, 98% finished within 0.50 diopters of target and 91% of distance-targeted eyes saw 20/20 or better. The complete dataset, and how it compares with the published literature, is on our Light Adjustable Lens results page.

What the Light Adjustable Lens After LASIK Asks of You

I would rather you hear the honest costs from me than discover them later. The Light Adjustable Lens asks three things of you.

First, patience. Between surgery and final lock-in, you wear UV-protective glasses whenever you are awake and outdoors or near bright UV sources, because the lens material stays light-sensitive until it is locked. Most patients wear them for a few weeks. Second, visits. You return for the light treatments, typically one to three plus two lock-in sessions; in our 2025 results, 46% of eyes needed only a single adjustment. Published comparisons are candid that adjustable-lens patients attend more postoperative visits than conventional-lens patients, and I consider those visits a feature rather than a flaw: each one is a chance to refine your result and to be seen, not processed. Third, candidacy. Pupil size, certain medications, and certain retinal conditions require evaluation, so not every eye is a match. You may be a candidate; a comprehensive evaluation is what answers that question.

I have written a fuller account of what this lens asks of you, and who should choose a different one, in our guide to Light Adjustable Lens problems and tradeoffs.

What I Tell My Patients

When a post-LASIK patient sits across from me, my first question is not about lenses at all. It is: do you want standard cataract or lens replacement surgery, or do you want custom adjustable surgery? Standard surgery with a well-chosen monofocal lens is a good operation, and for some patients it is the right one. But you chose LASIK decades ago because you valued precision and freedom from glasses. If that is still who you are, the ability to fine-tune your result after your eye has healed, rather than living with whatever the calculation delivered, is worth understanding before you decide.

Why Experience Matters in Post-LASIK Eyes

I have performed intraocular lens surgery in Newport Beach since 2001. I was the first surgeon in Orange County to implant the Crystalens accommodating lens after its FDA approval in 2003, and I have served as principal investigator in FDA-registered clinical trials of intraocular lens technology. I perform every consultation and every surgery personally, I call you the evening of your procedure, I see you myself the next day, and I ask every patient to save my cell phone number so you can reach me directly with any concern.

Frequently Asked Questions

My LASIK was more than 20 years ago. Does that matter?

No. What matters is the state of your eye today, which is exactly what your evaluation measures. Eyes with LASIK from the 1990s and early 2000s do well with the Light Adjustable Lens because the adjustment happens after healing, regardless of when the LASIK was done.

Do I need my old LASIK records?

They help refine the initial calculation if you can find them, but they are not required. Modern post-refractive formulas were designed to work without historical records, and most of our post-LASIK patients no longer have theirs.

Why not just use a standard lens?

A monofocal lens remains a fine choice for many patients. The difference is what happens if the calculation misses in your harder-to-measure eye: with a standard lens, the remedy is glasses or a lens exchange; with the Light Adjustable Lens, the remedy is a painless in-office light treatment.

Do the light treatments hurt?

No. Each session is brief and painless, performed in our office with your eyes dilated.

Can the Light Adjustable Lens help my reading vision too?

Often, yes. Because the lens is adjusted after surgery, blended vision, with one eye tuned slightly toward near, can be trialed in real life before it is locked in. Whether that suits your eyes and habits is part of your evaluation.

Had LASIK and want your next surgery to be just as precise?

Dr. Feinerman personally performs every consultation and every surgery.

Book Your Evaluation

(949) 631-4780 · Newport Beach, CA

References

Wang L, Koch DD. Ophthalmology. 2021;128(11):e121-e131. doi: 10.1016/j.ophtha.2020.06.054.
Jones M, Terveen DC, Berdahl JP, et al. J Cataract Refract Surg. 2024. doi: 10.1097/j.jcrs.0000000000001481.
Wong JR, Folden DV, Wandling GR, et al. Clin Ophthalmol. 2023;17:3379-3387. doi: 10.2147/OPTH.S432457.

This article is educational and does not diagnose any condition or guarantee candidacy for any procedure. Candidacy is determined only by a comprehensive evaluation performed by Gregg Feinerman, MD, FACS. Feinerman Vision · 320 Superior Ave, Suite 390, Newport Beach, CA 92663 · (949) 631-4780.

LASIK Chains vs. a Private Surgeon: A Patient’s Guide to Who Actually Performs Your Surgery

By Gregg Feinerman, MD, FACS, Founder, Feinerman Vision

When most people start shopping for LASIK, the first thing they compare is price. That is understandable, but it is the wrong place to begin. Vision correction is surgery on the only pair of eyes you will ever have, and the questions that matter most are not on the price sheet. Who will actually perform the operation? Who examines you beforehand and decides whether you are even a good candidate? And who is responsible for you, by name, if something needs attention five years from now?

This guide walks through the real differences between large LASIK chains and a private surgeon’s practice, so you can decide what kind of care fits the stakes.

Who Actually Performs Your Surgery

This is the single most important question, and it is the one patients least often think to ask.

At many large chains and corporate LASIK centers, the surgeon is a traveling specialist who rotates between multiple locations, sometimes in different cities, on different days. You may meet that surgeon only briefly on the day of your procedure. Your initial measurements and screening are frequently handled by technicians, and much of your follow-up care is handed off to optometrists or other staff rather than the person who operated on you. The model is built for throughput.

In a boutique private practice built around a single surgeon, the surgeon who evaluates you is the surgeon who operates on you and the surgeon who sees you afterward. There is no handoff, because there is no one to hand off to. At Feinerman Vision, Dr. Feinerman personally conducts every consultation, performs every procedure himself, calls each patient the evening of surgery, and sees them for their post-operative visit the next day. That continuity is not a marketing feature. It is how surgical accountability is supposed to work.

Practice Differentiator

Ask any practice a simple question: “Will the surgeon who examines me be the same person who performs my surgery and sees me at every follow-up?” In a single-surgeon practice, the answer is yes by definition. At Feinerman Vision, that surgeon is Dr. Feinerman, every time.

Surgeon Credentials and Experience

Marketing can make any practice look equally qualified. Credentials cannot be outsourced.

When you evaluate a surgeon, look at board certification, years in independent practice, and depth of experience with the specific procedure you are considering. Pay particular attention to whether the surgeon was an early, deliberate adopter of the technologies they use, because first-mover adoption usually signals command of a procedure rather than a recent addition to a menu.

Dr. Feinerman founded Feinerman Vision in 2001 and has built that kind of record. He was the first surgeon in Orange County and greater Los Angeles to perform WaveLight® Plus LASIK following its FDA approval in 2025, and the first on the West Coast to perform Ziemer bladeless LASIK. On the lens side, he was the first surgeon in Southern California to implant a premium intraocular lens following FDA approval, and the first to implant a premium intraocular lens in a Medicare patient. A track record like this is the opposite of the rotating, interchangeable model, and it is difficult for a chain to replicate.

First-mover adoption is one signal of that command. Direct participation in the research is another. Dr. Feinerman has served as principal investigator in numerous clinical trials of new ophthalmic devices and therapies, including the FDA clinical trial of the Teneo excimer laser for LASIK (Bausch + Lomb), the trial of the enVista toric intraocular lens, and the trials of the Trulign toric IOL, the toric version of the Crystalens, the first FDA-approved accommodating lens. A surgeon trusted to help evaluate technology before it reaches the market brings a different depth of understanding to the technology he uses in practice.

Personalized Care, Not an Assembly Line

The throughput model treats patients as broadly similar. Good refractive surgery treats every eye as specific.

Your candidacy, your ideal procedure, and (for lens-based patients) your ideal lens all depend on your anatomy, your lifestyle, and your visual goals. There is no single best procedure or best lens for everyone. When we discuss options, we weigh the same set of tradeoffs every time: range of vision, night-driving quality, dependence on reading glasses, and long-term flexibility. The answer that is right for a 28-year-old marathon runner with thin corneas is not the answer that is right for a 58-year-old who reads for a living, and a single surgeon who sees you through the entire process is in the best position to tailor it.

When the surgeon who will operate is also the one personalizing the plan, nothing is lost in translation between departments.

Long-Term Follow-Up and Accountability

Surgery is a single day. The relationship should last much longer.

Ask who is responsible for your care if you have a question at an odd hour, or a concern years after your procedure. In a chain, that responsibility is diffuse, spread across staff who may not have been involved in your surgery and who may not even be at the same location. In a single-surgeon practice, there is one name attached to your outcome for the life of the relationship.

At Feinerman Vision, that accessibility is literal. The call you receive the evening of your surgery comes from Dr. Feinerman himself, not from a staff member reading a checklist. He answers patient calls personally after surgery, and he asks every patient to save his cell phone number so they can reach him directly, at any time, with any question or concern. When the person on the other end of the line is the surgeon who performed your procedure, nothing gets lost between you and an answer.

This continuity also affects the value of guarantees. Feinerman Vision offers a lifetime enhancement guarantee on LASIK, and a guarantee like that means the most when the same surgeon who performed your original procedure is the one standing behind it.

Technology Adoption

Patients sometimes assume that a large chain must have the most advanced equipment because of its scale. In practice, a focused private surgeon often adopts leading technology earlier and uses it more deliberately.

At Feinerman Vision, LASIK is performed with WaveLight® Plus, the most advanced LASIK platform in the US, using INNOVEYES SightMap™ ray-tracing to build a detailed map of the entire optical system and guide a highly individualized treatment.

Clinical Data

In a peer-reviewed study of WaveLight® Plus outcomes, 50 percent of treated eyes achieved 20/12.5, which is sharper than the 20/20 long considered the benchmark for excellent vision. Source: He G, Bala C. J Cataract Refract Surg. 2023;49(11):1140-1146.

What matters is not the brand name on the laser, but a surgeon who chose the technology intentionally and has the experience to use it to its full potential.

Pricing: Read Past the Headline Number

Price deserves honesty in both directions.

The very low introductory prices advertised by some large chains often apply only to the lowest prescriptions and the most basic technology. By the time the treatment you actually need is added in, the real cost can look quite different from the headline. A clear, complete quote for the procedure you require is worth far more than a teaser number.

A boutique practice can be, and at Feinerman Vision is, competitive on price while delivering care directly from the surgeon. Our pricing is straightforward: LASIK starts at $4,100 for both eyes, and WaveLight® Plus, our most advanced platform, is $5,100. The quote you receive at your consultation is for the treatment you actually need, with no upgrade ladder waiting behind it. You should never feel that you are choosing between affordability and the reassurance of knowing exactly who is treating you.

Questions Worth Asking Any Practice

Before you commit anywhere, these questions will tell you most of what you need to know:

Will the surgeon who examines me be the same person who performs my surgery?
Who handles my follow-up visits, and is it the operating surgeon?
How many years has the surgeon been in independent practice, and how experienced are they with the exact procedure I need?
Which specific technology will be used for my treatment, and why was it chosen for me?
Is the quote I am being given for the procedure I actually need, with no further upgrades required?
If I have a problem years from now, who is responsible, by name?

The answers will reveal quickly whether you are choosing a practice or simply a price.

The Boutique Single-Surgeon Model, In One Place

Feinerman Vision was founded in 2001 as a boutique, single-surgeon practice for exactly the reasons in this guide. One surgeon evaluates you, operates on you, and follows you afterward. The technology was adopted early and deliberately. The pricing is competitive and transparent. And the accountability has a name on it.

If you are comparing a large chain against a private surgeon and want to experience the difference firsthand, schedule your consultation with Dr. Feinerman. He will personally evaluate your candidacy, walk through your options, and make the tradeoffs clear so the decision is yours.

Call Feinerman Vision at (949) 631-4780 or book your evaluation online.

Gregg Feinerman, MD, FACS

Board-Certified Ophthalmologist & Refractive Surgeon