I am asking this question as it pertains to my 21 year old son: At age 17-18, his manifest refraction and cyclopegic refraction were
-9.25 after a period of 3 days without the contact lenses. Up until this time (2002), he had been wearing soft contact lenses for approx. 6 years (all day, not at night.)From 2002 - present date his prescription for glasses and contacts have not changed. He recently went for a pre-op exam (for Lasek) after his lenses were removed for 2 1/2 weeks and his refraction was declared to be -8.5. He was told that his eyes were not stable enough to have the procedure done. He has sufficient cornea, and I do not know of any other disqualifier. It appears to me that the delta diopters from the time he was 17/18 years old until now(21 years old) is more a reflection of the length of time the lenses were removed than a reflection of change (regression??) of the myopia. Any insight would be helpful. His career options rely heavily on his obtaining refractive correction. Any reference to scholarly articles supporting my view would certainly be appreciated.

Contacts temporarly disort the cornea so he must be out of contacts for a month or more before the refraction is stable. Should I assume he wants to join the army or be a pilot and needs lasek(not lasik) to do so and must achieve 20/20? -8.5 is a tuff pescription to achieve 20/20. Have him read all about the risks of laser surgury and decide if the risks is worth a shot at getting his dream carreer.