Vision Help

[FoxyWhiskey]

(Also posted in Medical section, but thought I'd throw it in here too)

I just had my eyes examined last week and found out my eyes are no longer correctable to 20/20 or better with contact lenses, but I'm still very good to go with my glasses.

The doctor suggested Lasik and I'm interested in it, but obviously vary wary of any procedure that could potentially screw up my vision should it go wrong. I've heard rumors of it ruining a person's night vision...!!!

Honestly, I'm just looking for answers from anyone who has experience with this.

My questions are:

1. Any other pilots on here have lasik (or other corrective eye surgery) done successfully? If so, where & cost?

2. If done successfully: how long was recovery, any problems?

Thanks!

-FW

 

[Airboss]

if you are an alpa member, please call the ALPA Aeromedical Staff. They should be able to give you proper guidance.

 

[Huck]

Talk to Dr. Hudson at ALPA.

I had RK in 1985. Best move I ever made, though it got me kicked out of ROTC and probably cost me a job at DAL (thank Christ.....)

 

[fa50driver]

I had Lasik 7 years ago this month. I went from a strong prescription to 20/15 overnight. My vision and any discomfort stabilized after about 1 week and I began flying again with my doctors approval. Night vision is fine, no worse than wearing hard contact lenses at night which give some distortion. After about 3 years my vision regressed to about 20/100 but it has stabilized there the last 2 years, not bad enough for a re-do. If I had it to do all over again, absolutely, except now the technology is even better.

 

[indianboy7]

(Also posted in Medical section, but thought I'd throw it in here too)

I just had my eyes examined last week and found out my eyes are no longer correctable to 20/20 or better with contact lenses, but I'm still very good to go with my glasses.

The doctor suggested Lasik and I'm interested in it, but obviously vary wary of any procedure that could potentially screw up my vision should it go wrong. I've heard rumors of it ruining a person's night vision...!!!

Honestly, I'm just looking for answers from anyone who has experience with this.

My questions are:

1. Any other pilots on here have lasik (or other corrective eye surgery) done successfully? If so, where & cost?

2. If done successfully: how long was recovery, any problems?

Thanks!

-FW

LASIK has a really good track record....it usually costs around 1200 per eye, or more depending on which procedure you need. The FAA has a pamphlet out on its position on LASIK. 6 months to a year is what most doctors will tell you is the time from surgery to your eyes becoming fully stabilized. You can probably go back to work after 2 weeks...

Whatever you do, get 4 or 5 different opinions from different doctors. The good eye surgeons will do a free evaluation for you. Some places are like factories, charge 300 an eye, and may leave you worse off than you are. Another thing you can try if you're weary of surgery is to move to hard contact lenses. They are able to correct your vision better than soft contact lenses....