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 That counseling is out of date.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.
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.
(949) 631-4780 · Newport Beach, CA
Related Reading
- Light Adjustable Lens (Pillar)
- Our Light Adjustable Lens Results
- Cataract Surgery After LASIK: What Changes, and Which Lenses Still Work
- Cataract Surgery Overview
- Can You Get the Light Adjustable Lens After RK?
- “My LASIK Wore Off” Is a Myth: What Actually Changed
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.