Is short sightedness permanent?
The eye’s length and the focusing power of its cornea are not reversed by treatment: glasses, lenses and surgery compensate for them. In children the prescription usually increases as the eye grows, and in some adults it continues to change slowly.
- Subject
- Vision problems
- Topic
- Myopia (short sightedness)
- Kind of question
- Other questions
- Procedures
- LASIK, SMILE, PRK
- Last reviewed
- 22 September 2026
What this answer depends on
- Age, and whether growth has finished
- How the prescription has changed over previous years
- Whether the cornea is stable or showing signs of change
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Where this answer sits
It is one of 483 answers in the vision and eye health knowledge base, filed under Vision problems & prescriptions in Myopia (short sightedness) . 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.
- Condition Myopia (short sightedness)
- Procedure SMILE
- Comparison LASIK vs SMILE
- Comparison SMILE vs PRK
- Place SMILE 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