Lasik / flying?

Matt Barrow wrote:


Do you have a cite for that?

Was told to me by Dr. James Freeman, an opthamologist and pilot
(Cirrus, RV-8 and Air-Cam) from Memphis. He was one of the first to do
LASIK and does a lot of them, but my correction was fairly small so he
recommended PRK. He posts to the rec.av groups on occasion.

Basically, with PRK you're waiting for the epithilium to re-grow, and
that takes a while. With LASIK you aren't waiting for it, but there's
a possibility of the flap getting a wrinkle when it's replaced, being
mis-positioned, that kind of thing.

wrote on 06/02/06 13:13:

gatt wrote:
Anybody had lasik surgery?

My vision is stable, correctable to 20/20, but things like pollen or the
neighbor mowing his yard can bother my contact lenses. Glasses suck and
contacts aren't good for your eyes over time, so my wife is encouraging
lasik. The #1 facility in the region is half a block away from my workplace
and they have a deal with our company which is why I know so many people
who've had it, but I'm still undecided.

Everybody I've known personally who has had it done raves about it, no bad
experiences at all...but none of them fly.

Thoughts?
-c

I had PRK (the pre-cursor to LASIK) 10 years ago, and I still have
20/15 vision and almost no astygmatism. It was well worth the money.
I have been flying since 1991.


Similar here. I had PRK 15 years ago, still have 20/20, the docs can't see any
evidence of the surgery in my eyes. Flying since 1995, without problems. The FAA
of course knows about the surgery, no problem from their side. They gave me a
letter to inform them of changes.

-Joe

I had it about 5 years ago. Initially I was disappointed because my vision
with glasses was very sharp. After the lasik, it was good enough to pass
driving and aviation tests, but not as sharp. This is particularly
noticeable at night, where my vision is rather blurry. On the other hand,
at the beach (where the pupils are "stopped down" in photographic terms) my
vision is nearly ideal (and where better to have great vision).

I got some prescription shooting glasses with interchangeable lenses, and a
nose bridge which allows the lenses to be raised a little. The optometrist
said that she would make them "a little in the green," which was trade talk
for better than 20/20. I usually use these for flying, although legally I
don't have to.

All in all, I would do it again, but it is not perfect (at least in my
case). Also, everyone told me it was essentially painless. The first night
hurt like hell. They told me sometimes they give medication to patients,
but they were sure I wouldn't need it. I wish I had their home numbers that
night. I just got a bottle of liquor and started doing shots.


"gatt" wrote in message
...

Anybody had lasik surgery?

My vision is stable, correctable to 20/20, but things like pollen or the
neighbor mowing his yard can bother my contact lenses. Glasses suck and
contacts aren't good for your eyes over time, so my wife is encouraging
lasik. The #1 facility in the region is half a block away from my
workplace and they have a deal with our company which is why I know so
many people who've had it, but I'm still undecided.

Everybody I've known personally who has had it done raves about it, no bad
experiences at all...but none of them fly.

Thoughts?
-c

LWG wrote:

I had it about 5 years ago. Initially I was disappointed because my vision
with glasses was very sharp. After the lasik, it was good enough to pass
driving and aviation tests, but not as sharp. This is particularly
noticeable at night, where my vision is rather blurry. On the other hand,
at the beach (where the pupils are "stopped down" in photographic terms) my
vision is nearly ideal (and where better to have great vision).

I got some prescription shooting glasses with interchangeable lenses, and a
nose bridge which allows the lenses to be raised a little. The optometrist
said that she would make them "a little in the green," which was trade talk
for better than 20/20. I usually use these for flying, although legally I
don't have to.

All in all, I would do it again, but it is not perfect (at least in my
case). Also, everyone told me it was essentially painless. The first night
hurt like hell. They told me sometimes they give medication to patients,
but they were sure I wouldn't need it. I wish I had their home numbers that
night. I just got a bottle of liquor and started doing shots.

And you wonder why your night vision is blurry. :-)


Matt

In article ,
"gatt" wrote:

Anybody had lasik surgery?
Everybody I've known personally who has had it done raves about it, no bad
experiences at all...but none of them fly.
Thoughts?

One thing to consider is your age.
If you are in your 20's, early 30's, 50's or 60's, it may be worthwhile.
If you are in your late 30's or 40's, you eyes may soon or are in the
process of changing. In which case the benefits may be short lived.
Do you wanat to pay for the procedure twice in a short time span?
Also, there are occassions where the procedure may need to be repeated
to get the correction right.

john smith wrote:

One thing to consider is your age.
If you are in your 20's, early 30's, 50's or 60's, it may be worthwhile.
If you are in your late 30's or 40's, you eyes may soon or are in the
process of changing. In which case the benefits may be short lived.
Do you wanat to pay for the procedure twice in a short time span?
Also, there are occassions where the procedure may need to be repeated
to get the correction right.

I had mine done in my early 40's, on the theory that when I needed
reading glasses, I just wanted magnifiers, not bifocals. I ended up
with a little "monovision" - one eye is slightly nearsighted. I'm now
46 and don't need reading glasses yet. I know they're coming, but the
monovision should put it off for a few years.

Thank you everybody for your information! Still haven't decided to make the
jump, but I've yet to hear a real horror story so I'll continue to look into
it.

Looks like it's getting pretty competitive, down to under $300 per eye.

-c

gatt wrote:
Thank you everybody for your information! Still haven't decided to make the
jump, but I've yet to hear a real horror story so I'll continue to look into
it.

Looks like it's getting pretty competitive, down to under $300 per eye.

It's not something I would go bargain shopping for. My opthamologist
has a nice business patching up people that did it on the cheap. If
they're charging less that $1500 an eye, they're cutting corners.

Richard Riley wrote:

gatt wrote:

Thank you everybody for your information! Still haven't decided to make the
jump, but I've yet to hear a real horror story so I'll continue to look into
it.

Looks like it's getting pretty competitive, down to under $300 per eye.


It's not something I would go bargain shopping for. My opthamologist
has a nice business patching up people that did it on the cheap. If
they're charging less that $1500 an eye, they're cutting corners.

How do you cut corners with LASIK since most of the hard work is
automated? Are there better and worse LASIK machines? I thought all
had to be FDA approved.


Matt

How do you cut corners with LASIK since most of the hard work is
automated? Are there better and worse LASIK machines? I thought all
had to be FDA approved.

Off the top of my head - don't have a laser tech on staff. Use the
laser tube itself for more than 1000 procedures - it's still within FDA
spec, but not as accurate as it was earlier in it's life. Use a laser
that's 5 years old (same thing). Hire people that graduated at the
bottom of their class, from a foreign med school.