LASIK

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MSUDavid

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MSUDavid
My brother had LASIK a few weeks ago and is enjoying seeing clearly without contacts. This has me thinking about it a little bit.

I am currently on Basic Med, so just wondered what I would need to do after the procedure. Also, they gave him 2 Ambien to sleep after the procedure to give the eye time to heal. They also gave him a Valium 30 minutes before the procedure to keep him calm. From what I read, that is a medicine that is on the no-go list.

Has anyone else done this? How hard was it to get back in the air afterwards? I just don’t want to do something that could jeopardize the medical.
 
I did it. I reported the surgery and brought the FAA 8500-7 that was filled out by the optometrist doing my follow up appointments. Issued in the office, no problem.

That was before Basic Med was created. If you’re Basic Med I’m sure it’s even easier.
 
Yep. My wife had Lasik and had complications, but once things were stable again, the 8500-7 and a trip to the AME was all it took for her third class.

They didn't give her any ambien, but they gave her some valium both for the procedure and to take home. Frankly, they'd need to whack me up with more valium than they gave her just to get the snail tongs in my eyes, let alone start the procedure.
 
Check out Lasik carefully. Some folks, especially if they have large diameter pupils, loose night acuity, pick up glare, etc.
 
MSUDavid said:
My brother had LASIK a few weeks ago and is enjoying seeing clearly without contacts. This has me thinking about it a little bit.

I am currently on Basic Med, so just wondered what I would need to do after the procedure. Also, they gave him 2 Ambien to sleep after the procedure to give the eye time to heal. They also gave him a Valium 30 minutes before the procedure to keep him calm. From what I read, that is a medicine that is on the no-go list.

Has anyone else done this? How hard was it to get back in the air afterwards? I just don’t want to do something that could jeopardize the medical.
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You can take drugs that are on the no-fly list, you just can't fly while taking them. Refer to the FAA guidance for how long to wait. Of course you need to be seeing normally as well.

As for the procedure, the technology has vastly improved in the 15 years since I had it done, but I've had no bad effects. My wife had it a few years ago, and wondered why she suffered with contacts so long. If you have an eye doctor you trust and he says you're a good candidate, I wouldn't hesitate. But I would avoid the assembly-line operations.
 
If you're flying under BasicMed you don't need to do anything other than follow the post op directives from your ophthalmologist. If you have lasik and seek a medical you need to report it. No big deal. I had lasik done 14 years ago and so far aside from dry eyes for a couple of years it's been great although I'm not quite 20/20 in one eye anymore. However, there can be issues so be sure to thoroughly research before deciding. If you're older, one thing to consider is how far away from cataract surgery you are as you can opt for corrective lenses...
 
I had lasik about 20 years ago. No valium or ambien for me nor was it needed. Procedure itself is painless, but the next 12 hours after the procedure are pretty uncomfortable. The next day you feel like nothing happened. I was back in the air within a week. It was wonderful being able to see without glasses or contacts. But it didn't last. Within about 5 years or so I was back to wearing cheaters to read. A few years after that I was back to prescription glasses. Now I'm in bifocal territory. My Lasik guy told me I'd never wear glasses again. My Lasik guy was a putz.
 
The rate of side effects with LASIK is far higher than they let on. Glasses may be a pain, but they don't have side effects.
 
After the surgery, comply with the medical deficiency requirements of 61.53 and then go fly.

You recognize there's a small chance that you'll have a permanent medical deficiency, right?
 
Juliet Hotel said:
I had lasik about 20 years ago. No valium or ambien for me nor was it needed. Procedure itself is painless, but the next 12 hours after the procedure are pretty uncomfortable. The next day you feel like nothing happened. I was back in the air within a week. It was wonderful being able to see without glasses or contacts. But it didn't last. Within about 5 years or so I was back to wearing cheaters to read. A few years after that I was back to prescription glasses. Now I'm in bifocal territory. My Lasik guy told me I'd never wear glasses again. My Lasik guy was a putz.
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I had my left eye done 30 years ago. They correct for distance, not near vision.
As you get older , your eyes cannot focus as well, so you will probably need reading glasses for near vision.
 
idahoflier said:
If you're older, one thing to consider is how far away from cataract surgery you are as you can opt for corrective lenses...
Click to expand...
This is what I did. I had always been leery of LASIK, especially because I flew for a living, so I put up with glasses or contacts. After I stopped working I looked into implants that go in front of your own lenses. The eye surgeon said that she could do that, but since I was 60+, she recommended clear lens exchange if I wanted to go that route. This is the same as cataract surgery. They remove your own lens and exchange it for an artificial one. It's a slightly more invasive surgery than LASIK (and more expensive), but the recovery time is shorter. No pain at all, just a bunch of drops for about a month to prevent infection. It was amazing lying on the gurney after surgery and being able to read the whiteboard across the aisle. I never would have been able to do that before. The most annoying part was having my two eyes uneven for the two weeks between surgeries. I couldn't wear contacts because they do the final measurement immediately before surgery, and contacts distort that. My glasses with one lens removed would have been just as distracting because of the change in magnification. I opted for single vision, distant, so I need to wear readers, but I did when I wore contacts anyway. Of course I knew there were risks, as with any medical procedure, but I was willing to take the chance.
 
It worked out well for me. I didn't start flying until after I had lazik. They turned me from basically almost legally blind 20/400 to 20/15 and that was twenty years ago. And my eyes are still perfectly fine. There was the halo effect that lasted a few months, but it eventually went away. But I suppose like anything else, it can be a crapshoot.
 
Thank you for al of the replies. I am not certain if I am going to do it, but it did get me thinking. My eyes are like a -4.75, so I can’t really see anything more than 2 ft from my face. It would be nice to wake up and be able to see. I do get seasonal allergies, and the pollen that gets stuck to my contacts can irritate my eyes in the summer.

I am in my mid 30s, so I was hoping I could go 20 years or so until I needed additional correction.
 
I had PRK done about 6 years ago. I’m an eye rubber, so doc said no LASIK for you. You’d rub the flap loose and have a hell of a mess.

Difference? They chemically scald off the top part of your eyeball (instead of opening a flap). The laser is then the same.
Then it takes a pretty itchy not so fun week for your eye to grow back. Once it does, though, you’ve got a God-made eyeball again.

I have readers all over the house for the close up reading (I’m 50). I can see far away great, though.


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DoD did my eyes in 2012 using the USAF approved technique of wavefront guided PRK. Don’t know how this differs from LASIK, which my wife had in the early 2000s.

Neither of us had complications not have we needed cheaters (yet).

FAA accepted the same paperwork USAF generated for my USAF waiver.
 
I almost pulled the trigger on a number of occasions, but decided against it since my near vision has always been perfect and it seems I’d lose that if I corrected for distance vision.

Has that been anyone else’s experience?
 
I’ve looked at it multiple times, but (thankfully) never pulled the trigger. It turns out my vision is not stable and is slowly changing every year. Right now I’m borderline qualifying for lasik. To me, RLE sounds like a better option.
 
I had it done about 8 years ago for myopia of around -4.5 with astigmatism. It was better than going to the dentist, but everyone's experience differs. I had no side effects from the procedure and was corrected to 20/20 binocular. Went back to flying a couple of weeks afterward. Over the years I've had ever so slight regression but nothing that requires correction yet. Even at close to 50, I don't need readers (which doesn't fit the usual pattern of needing them about 5 years prior to the population who doesn't have surgery, per the opthalmologist). There's no guarantee that this won't change, and I accept that.

As for PRK vs. LASIK, I had the same concern about dislodging the corneal flap. My opthalmologist had never seen this complication, and she was a moderate-volume refractive surgeon (her practice was more than LASIK/PRK - not a laser mill).

The most important thing in my view is to have a solid consultation with the surgeon where all your questions are addressed and you walk out feeling confident in their ability. Any second thoughts, just walk away. This is ELECTIVE surgery.

I'd do it again tomorrow. But everyone has their own level of risk.

Stay well.
 
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