Safer, cheaper vision correction without lasers or surgery

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/05/260528074032.htm

by bookmtn • 2 months ago

37 22 2 months ago

_wire_• 2 months ago

Misleading lede "Forget..."

Corneal Electromechanical-Reshaping (EMR) experiments suggest that optical correction of vision may someday be possible by reshaping the cornea via electro-chemistry and a corneal mold, rather than tissue removal. Animal testing shows promise.

bglusman• 2 months ago

Curious for anyone who understands the science/optics here... if/when this is available, would it still have the downsides LASIK (and contact lenses) have for older people where you no longer need distance glasses, but now you may need reading glasses, when you didn't before, etc? Or might this be able to improve both distance vision and preserve nearsightedness/reading vision at the same time? That tradeoff is the reason I personally never got LASIK, as it was just trading one pair of glasses for another, for me...

SV_BubbleTime3• 2 months ago

There is no case where you need reading glasses and weren’t going to before lasik.

That’s a myth and completely unrelated.

You need reading glasses because muscles at your eyes lose the ability to pull tight and focus up close. LASIK is a correcting of the lens. Entirely different systems.

If you put off lasik because you thought you would need readers, congrats, you could have been seeing sharp at distance this whole time and will likely still need reading glasses.

FriedPickles• 2 months ago

There are several errors here. When the eye ages, the lens stiffens, effectively decreasing the focal range. For nearsightdness, Lasik alters the cornea and moves the relaxed focal distance outward. It's possible that a nearsighted person wouldn't need reading glasses even as their focal range decreases, but would after Lasik.

SV_BubbleTime3• 2 months ago

Man, lasik was the best $3000 I ever spent. 20/15 laser eyes for almost twenty years now. Traveled around the world, no contacts, no glasses, no missing anything because I just woke up on a train or stepped off a boat or a bus.

kingnothing• 2 months ago

On the opposite side of the experience, after wavefront LASIK on my very very high prescription eyes, I've had dry eyes for the past 15 years and needed glasses again about 5 years post-surgery. It's now a very mild prescription and I'd definitely say my vision is better now than it was before LASIK, but it didn't last long. I opted not to get a touch up out of fear of my eyes getting even more dry. I use eye drops 5+ times per day. My dark night vision is worse than it was before, mostly a lack of contrast. It doesn't impact driving, but being in a very dim room feels like the gamma was slightly raised.

EvanAnderson• 2 months ago

It would be interesting to know if this could work w/ my floppy and misshapen keratoconus corneas. I'd resigned to having corrective lenses for the rest of my life.

cyberax• 2 months ago

Have you looked at PRK? It can fix some of very gnarly corneas. There are also implantable contact lenses.

wolfi12• 2 months ago

I know a guy for whom LASIK wasn't an option, he needed a lens implant. I wonder what the new method would make possible

OutOfHere2• 2 months ago

Lens implant isn't a great option either because it is believed to kill cells in the eye with it taking extra space. One can just wait for cataract, then get a corrected replacement lens.

wolfi12• 2 months ago

he is in his 30s, so he would have to wait another 30 years, approximately

throwerofstone• 2 months ago

Studies with promising early results like these, such as the tooth-regeneration study that is expected to complete its Phase I trial soon, really give me hope for being able to grow old while staying healthy.

It does make me wonder how long it'll take until we've reached the end of things to cure, and what might come after.

TheSkyHasEyes• 2 months ago

10 - 15 years from now I won't be surprised if artifical eyes with IP(or some sort of digital connectivity) with either self-charging via solar or heat from our bodies will be a product.

UncleOxidant• 2 months ago

A bigger problem for old age is cataracts. In that case you need an entirely new lens anyway. By age 75 at least 50% of people are developing cataracts.

tomhow• 2 months ago

Electromechanical reshaping offers safer eye surgery - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45125816 - Sept 2025 (79 comments)

Electromechanical reshaping, an alternative to laser eye surgery - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44938818 - Aug 2025 (132 comments)

StillBored• 2 months ago

I'm surprised that these articles never method Orthokeratology (Ortho-K), which are basically retainers for your eyes and reshape the cornea at night and wear off if not worn regularly.

I've considered it just based on that basis for the last 10 years but still haven't done it because I don't know a single person who has.

elektor• 2 months ago

I think Ortho-K is meant for kids as a preventative solution. It would be too late for us adults.

I also have never actually met someone who has used it.

no-lan• 2 months ago

I got Ortho-K lenses last year, and I'm over the age of 40. Seeing all day long without contacts or glasses is incredible. They're actually better for dry eyes than dailies, as you wear them for less hours

apt-apt-apt-apt2• 2 months ago

There's a niche in TikTok content about corneal neuralgia.

People who got LASIK, but the nerves didn't heal right afterwards. The result is permanent, severe eye pain for the rest of their lives.

OutOfHere2• 2 months ago

Yes, Lasik is pretty bad if you think about it. Between that, serious dry eyes, and continued changes in the eye's prescription, it is not a good answer at all.

apt-apt-apt-apt2• 2 months ago

My prescription recently changed and I would have needed contacts again. Permanent solution to a potentially changing problem doesn't sound good.

Safer, cheaper vision correction without lasers or surgery

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