Laser eye treatment

[Volume]

I´ve just seen the ´ultralase´ laser eye treatment banner on the pprune homepage.
I have talked about this with the chief of the medical department of our aviation authority and he states very clearly that everyone who had a laser treatment to his eyes will never be allowed to fly again in his life.
He told me, NASA studies show very clearly that under negative g´s laser cicatrices can break up even after many years.
I know a few pilots who had their eyes laser corrected and still fly.

Does anyone know more about this ? Are there different rules in different countries ? Is there nothing stated directly in the regulations and the doctors decide on their own wheter to give a medical or not ? Did the pilots who got their medical after such treatment told their examiners about it ?
:confused:

[mackey]

Hi Volume,

I had lasik laser surgery in December 2001 with Ultralase.I went for my class 1 med in April and when I had the eye exam,the optician said that my eyes were healthy and I flew (no pun intended!!), through the tests.

The only thing he said was that I would have to wait for 12 months to pass before they would let me have the certificate.This was also backed up by the chief medical officer.
So I now have to wait 6 months then go back for another eye test in December.The CMO said there would probably be no problems but also no guarantees. As for the rules in other countries I'm not so sure.

I did lots of research before under taking this treatment , so it is advisable for you to do the same,although I would definitly recommend Ultralase.The lasik treatment has definitly made a difference to my life whatever the outcome.

All the best,

Mackey

[gofer]

Volume,

Nothing against laser technology it is almost 100% - but do 3 things before going ahead:

1) Check it out with your employer, and the National authority in your country for the rules & regs... and get any statements in writing... so go a step further than MacKay suggests.

2) Check out your options if it goes wrong - its very rare - but I do personally know one of the "problem" cases (a Brit in Oz) - send me a mail if you want to talk to him personally.

By the way he says he would do it again, and he did both eyes at the same time. One eye is greatly improved, the other a real problem, but it seems to be getting better however with time - very interesting case.

3) If you need both eyes corrected - do it in 2 seperate sessions - (the case above was probably caused by software cross contamination, trying to do all in 1 session).:) :cool:

[Hone22]

A friend of mine had it done in NZ. He was very happy with the results (5yrs now and a week between each eye).

A mandatory 6 mth standown + retest before being cert to fly again.

I've found some eye docs pooh - pooh the procedure, some think its ideal if you fit certain criteria.

Thankfully this is no longer "experimental" and has evolved with at least 20 yrs and the advent of lazer surgery.


If I had the coin and 6-8 mths of non flying, I'd que up tommorrow.

:)

[silverknapper]

I hate to be the one putting a dampener on things. I would love to have it however on talking both to my AME and CAA opthamologist at LGW I will never consider it for 2 reasons:
1. You are grounded for a year regardless of the outcome to allow any long term effects to develop.
2. Whilst it decreases correction, it can damage general vision, ie peripheral, eye reaction. This is due to corneal scarring caused by the laser.

I have thought long and hard about this one, wearing specs is a pain in the a!£e. My opinion though is why chance it. Sorry to be mr negative again

SK

[Steamhead]

The UK CAA has just published a paper on this subject
titled
"The effect of Laser Refractive Surgery on visual performance and
its implications for Commercial Aviation"
CAA Paper 2001/4
Cannot give you a link but its on their web site 100 pages on PDF

Regards