Can I have laser surgery if I need reading glasses?
It is possible, and it is a conversation rather than a yes-or-no. Correction can be planned so that your distance vision improves without making your reading worse, or deliberately set up as monovision. What surgery cannot do is give a 50-year-old the reading vision they had at 25.
- Subject
- Vision problems
- Topic
- Presbyopia & reading vision
- Kind of question
- Can I…
- Procedures
- LASIK, SMILE
- Last reviewed
- 22 September 2026
In more detail
The risk worth naming is the mismatch between expectation and arithmetic. Someone who is mildly short sighted and takes their glasses off to read may find that perfect distance vision removes the reading ability they had been relying on. A good assessment asks what you do without your glasses before answering.
What this answer depends on
- Your age and the state of your reading vision
- Whether you currently take your glasses off to read
- What you would rather give up: distance sharpness or reading comfort
Related guides
People also ask
The questions readers move to next from this one: the closest subjects first, from either question bank.
Where this answer sits
It is one of 483 answers in the vision and eye health knowledge base, filed under Vision problems & prescriptions in Presbyopia & reading vision . The subject page carries the answers either side of it, and the hub is searchable.
Subjects this question touches
The pages that answer the subject behind the question, rather than the question itself.
- Procedure LASIK
- Procedure Femto LASIK
- Comparison LASIK vs SMILE
- Comparison LASIK vs PRK
- Place LASIK in Dubai
This information is for educational purposes and does not replace an examination by a qualified eye-care professional.
General answers cannot tell you what is happening in your own eyes. Only an examination by a qualified ophthalmologist can do that.
Sources & further reading
We prefer primary sources. Where a claim comes from a manufacturer, a single study or a regulator, it is labelled as such below.
- EyeSmart: eye health information for the public
Patient-facing material from the largest ophthalmology professional body, covering conditions, tests and treatments outside refractive surgery.
Used for Cross-checking patient-facing explanations of non-refractive eye conditions; Describing what tests such as dilation and OCT involve.
Link checked 23 September 2026
- Laser In Situ Keratomileusis (LASIK)
The equivalent clinical reference chapter for LASIK, used so that comparisons describe both procedures symmetrically.
Used for How LASIK creates and manages a corneal flap; LASIK complication categories.
Link checked 22 September 2026