[ddbach]

As an eye surgeon:

PRK or LASIK are both very good procedures but not perfect. They are not for everyone. If you expect to gain 20 year old eyes for life you will not unless you are Dorian Gray at 20. Sometimes you will still need glasses for select activities.

Loss of accommodation is almost universal with age and generally starts between 40 and 50 years of age. Refractive surgery so far has been unable to restore both distance and near in the same eye using laser. There are lens implants that are multifocal (clear lens exchange surgery) but these have their own set of potential issues so not everyone is a good candidate and sometimes the individual fails to adapt and they need to be removed and replaced with a single focus lens. Not everyone tolerates monovision either.

Do your research -
Who will do your pre-op evaluation? Answer questions?
Who is doing your surgery?
Who will do your post-op care?
Think hard about what you want the procedure to do for you, which is most important for what you do - distance or near? If you have worn contacts or wear them now try monovision in contacts first to see if you like it.

Get and KEEP records of what your correction is before refractive surgery, the amount of correction planned and your final results. (K card) This will be important in the hopefully far future should you develop cataracts and need surgery. The change in shape of the cornea causes the standard lens implant calculations to be wrong so the more information your future cataract surgeon has the better the result should you ever need it.

As with anything in life there is risk so make an informed decision.

Disclaimer: I do not currently perform laser refractive surgery - location, clientele, volume related