Laser Eye Surgery (again, sorry)
Join Date: Feb 2002
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Ken
Guess you have to subscribe to get that? Instead I get a free Telegraph every day by spending £10 at local Waitrose which is close to me!
Guess you have to subscribe to get that? Instead I get a free Telegraph every day by spending £10 at local Waitrose which is close to me!
Sadly you don’t get the Matt cartoon or the crossword. There’s no leftover paper for lighting the wood burner either but it’s very ‘green’ (offsets all the emissions from said wood burner).
Had mine done by Jonathan Luck at the Circle at Bath. I can now see a gnats arse at 30 paces and focus down to about 5 inches. No need for glasses ever again. Life changing. PS I am 78 and my vision is right back to where it was when I started flying.
Avoid imitations
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I had lens replacements some years ago, due to sudden onset of cataracts in both eyes. Partly genetic and not unprecedented in my family, I later discovered.
After years of above average eyesight, then in my late forties a need for reading glasses, I unexpectedly failed the distance part of a CAA eye test and was advised to get a full eye check done with regard to getting different corrective lens specs. I did, got new specs and scraped through the CAA check. I later noticed a further degradation, especially when night flying so I went back to confirm I’d got the right type of lenses. The optician told me my prescription was correct but referred me to my GP because he could see signs of cataracts. Very worrying. Apparently I had what is known as “blue dot” cataracts, which begin at birth.
To cut a long story short, after my first cataract op, done on the NHS, the very same afternoon I was looking through our dining room window so my wife jokingly asked if I could now read my own car number plate (it was parked on the driveway). Not only could I do that, but I surprised both of us by also reading out the postcode of the supplier, printed at the bottom of the plate! The difference was remarkable.
The second eye op was done six weeks later. The improvement in eyesight this time was less pronounced, but this had been my better eye so that was expected.
The new lenses were optimised for distance vision (I was offered a choice). Because they have a fixed focus, I will always need reading specs. But I can still pass the Class One medical eye test and I’m in my mid sixties.
After years of above average eyesight, then in my late forties a need for reading glasses, I unexpectedly failed the distance part of a CAA eye test and was advised to get a full eye check done with regard to getting different corrective lens specs. I did, got new specs and scraped through the CAA check. I later noticed a further degradation, especially when night flying so I went back to confirm I’d got the right type of lenses. The optician told me my prescription was correct but referred me to my GP because he could see signs of cataracts. Very worrying. Apparently I had what is known as “blue dot” cataracts, which begin at birth.
To cut a long story short, after my first cataract op, done on the NHS, the very same afternoon I was looking through our dining room window so my wife jokingly asked if I could now read my own car number plate (it was parked on the driveway). Not only could I do that, but I surprised both of us by also reading out the postcode of the supplier, printed at the bottom of the plate! The difference was remarkable.
The second eye op was done six weeks later. The improvement in eyesight this time was less pronounced, but this had been my better eye so that was expected.
The new lenses were optimised for distance vision (I was offered a choice). Because they have a fixed focus, I will always need reading specs. But I can still pass the Class One medical eye test and I’m in my mid sixties.
Join Date: Jan 2008
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Get in touch with Professor Julian Stephens secretary at Moorfields eye hospital, arrange a private appointment and pay for the full examination from your own pocket (approx £300, very professional, seen by 3 experts and tested for about 90 minutes on various devices.) They'll tell you whether you are suitable for the surgery from a medical POV.
Then contact the Wg Cdr Ophthalmologist (Peterborough), send him a copy of your notes from Prof Stephens, and he'll do the RAF due diligence bit. Last I heard, you would expect to be unsuitable for flying duties (at least in FJ) for 6 months, although that number may perhaps change for multi crew environment.
Your initial consultation with Prof Stephens will probably involve a chat with him, he's a fascinating guy with plenty of good yarns to spin, especially about some of the close links he has made with various military units. I think he has a bit of a soft spot for UK Mil, and sometimes offers a very generous discount. He's widely considered to be one of the worlds leading experts, and helped with the introduction of laser eye surgery for USN Aviators. If you do consider one of the high street brands, do your research carefully.
Results were, and continue to be nothing short of exceptional. A real life changing move which I wish I'd taken earlier rather than messing around with combinations of contact lenses, glasses and NVGs etc
Then contact the Wg Cdr Ophthalmologist (Peterborough), send him a copy of your notes from Prof Stephens, and he'll do the RAF due diligence bit. Last I heard, you would expect to be unsuitable for flying duties (at least in FJ) for 6 months, although that number may perhaps change for multi crew environment.
Your initial consultation with Prof Stephens will probably involve a chat with him, he's a fascinating guy with plenty of good yarns to spin, especially about some of the close links he has made with various military units. I think he has a bit of a soft spot for UK Mil, and sometimes offers a very generous discount. He's widely considered to be one of the worlds leading experts, and helped with the introduction of laser eye surgery for USN Aviators. If you do consider one of the high street brands, do your research carefully.
Results were, and continue to be nothing short of exceptional. A real life changing move which I wish I'd taken earlier rather than messing around with combinations of contact lenses, glasses and NVGs etc
DIRECTOR
Join Date: Jan 2001
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Ken Scott
i will keep Kindle in mind but whilst I can walk
To local Waitrose I will get my Telegraph later in day.and not sure I want my breakfast ruined by reading of the death of someone in a Kindle.!!
i will keep Kindle in mind but whilst I can walk
To local Waitrose I will get my Telegraph later in day.and not sure I want my breakfast ruined by reading of the death of someone in a Kindle.!!
I had lens replacements some years ago, due to sudden onset of cataracts in both eyes. Partly genetic and not unprecedented in my family, I later discovered.
After years of above average eyesight, then in my late forties a need for reading glasses, I unexpectedly failed the distance part of a CAA eye test and was advised to get a full eye check done with regard to getting different corrective lens specs. I did, got new specs and scraped through the CAA check. I later noticed a further degradation, especially when night flying so I went back to confirm I’d got the right type of lenses. The optician told me my prescription was correct but referred me to my GP because he could see signs of cataracts. Very worrying. Apparently I had what is known as “blue dot” cataracts, which begin at birth.
After years of above average eyesight, then in my late forties a need for reading glasses, I unexpectedly failed the distance part of a CAA eye test and was advised to get a full eye check done with regard to getting different corrective lens specs. I did, got new specs and scraped through the CAA check. I later noticed a further degradation, especially when night flying so I went back to confirm I’d got the right type of lenses. The optician told me my prescription was correct but referred me to my GP because he could see signs of cataracts. Very worrying. Apparently I had what is known as “blue dot” cataracts, which begin at birth.
A mate who's a retired optician tells me that the age for people requiring help is, by a very large margin, 48...
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
I wore CFS for many years as I’m slightly short-sighted before discovering the joys of contact lenses. I did speak to a doctor regarding corrective surgery but he said that was likely to make me long-sighted as I got older so I’d simply be changing one form of correction for another.
I wasn't allowed to get my eyes layered whilst in the RAF, it was before the rules changed. I also found contact lens unusable because I have dry eyes.
When I left I thought about laser for many years and kept putting it off because of the complications dry eyes can bring, and also the fact that I would be substituting varifocals for reading glasses.
I eventually saw a specialist in Harley Street who sold me on monovision - which is having the dominant eye fully corrected for distance and the other semi-corrected to provide short distance.
It did require a short test with glasses to that prescription to make sure my brain was OK with it, and it was. For a short time things look fuzzy in one eye, then the brain clicks onto what is happening and every thing looks fine.
Specialist opined that, all things being well, I'd never need reading glasses. I do have a pair of glasses which fully correct both eyes for night driving as it does reportedly affect depth perception, but I've never had a problem.
Only thing I carry is a small folding magnifying glass for very small print on bottles, but books and magazines are just fine.
https://www.2020eyesite.com/lasik-in...istance-lasik/
PS - I had both eyes done with multi-focal lenses and they are brilliant. I can read the print on medicine bottles as well as the aforementioned gnats arse at 30 paces.................... slight bloom around oncoming headlights but you soon get used to that.
Avoid imitations
Join Date: Nov 2000
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It’s important for aircrew to check the regulations because some “fixes” aren’t actually allowed.
From my recollections of discussions with the Surgeon General's team when the MOD policy was being changed, LASEK was OK but LASIK was not. This was because there was some doubt about the long-term stability (healing) of the epithelial flap that is lifted during LASIK before they lase away the corneal tissue beneath it, and therefore whether it would lift when exposed to air blast during an ejection. That would not be amusing at all.
That was a while ago now, but ShyTorque is right - if you are serving aircrew you need to check the regulations. Better still, check with your MO, who will be able to unravel the regs better than you can. The conversation will be private, and you would only need to get the chain of command involved if you were going to voluntarily render yourself unfit for a while by having the surgery.
That was a while ago now, but ShyTorque is right - if you are serving aircrew you need to check the regulations. Better still, check with your MO, who will be able to unravel the regs better than you can. The conversation will be private, and you would only need to get the chain of command involved if you were going to voluntarily render yourself unfit for a while by having the surgery.
Be wary of cataract lens replacement surgery. I’ve had mine done and am very, very happy with the result. However, dear old CASA in Australia has seen fit to put a caveat on my medical of Day VFR only.
Not that I need a Class One anymore but the lack of logic in downgrading my medical to a Class 2 because of cataract surgery is breathtaking.
My eyesight is now 6/6 and as good as it was when I was 21 years old. And if I remember the fumbling, cursing and swearing that went on when we did rapid depress drills involving pulling the rubber octopus of an O2 mask over my head, dislodging and losing my glasses in the dark cockpit and not being able to read a checklist, the lunacy of denying anyone a Class One because of no longer needing glasses simply beggars belief.
Not that I need a Class One anymore but the lack of logic in downgrading my medical to a Class 2 because of cataract surgery is breathtaking.
My eyesight is now 6/6 and as good as it was when I was 21 years old. And if I remember the fumbling, cursing and swearing that went on when we did rapid depress drills involving pulling the rubber octopus of an O2 mask over my head, dislodging and losing my glasses in the dark cockpit and not being able to read a checklist, the lunacy of denying anyone a Class One because of no longer needing glasses simply beggars belief.
Avoid imitations
Join Date: Nov 2000
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Lucille, maybe CASA thought you only got fitted with “day VFR” lenses... 
