Eye laser surgery for cabin crew
 

My friend is booked in to have laser surgery to have her eyesight corrected next week. She has spoken to oc health at her airline who have said that they dont reccomend crew to have it done, but its down to what the surgeon/consultant says.
consultant doesnt seem to think its a problem and I know of many crew who have had it done.
Does anyone else out there know anything about this, or have had this done while they were crew?

Don't think about it although I know some who have had a good result a mate of mine now has trouble driving at night.He is having trouble with the on coming lights from other cars.

Basically they are burning your eyes with a laser and if they stuff up they cannot undo the damage.You have only two eyes and you need both .

Two of my CC friends have done it, with excellent results and no side effects. One of them, who works in France where there is a CC medical to be passed every 2 years to validate the CC licence, had to request a medical derogation to go back to flying. Basically he had to undergo a medical check to prove he still met the requirements, which he did meet.
The other one, who works in another country, had to stop flying for a few months in order to recover completely and then, after a company medical check, went back to flying.

Considering the permancy of the procedure what is the matter with glasses?

I don't use glasses but they are quite trendy and I know of some crew who don't even need them but wear them with a plain lens for the effect.I don't know how much the laser op is where you live but I would think twice before any op which is elective.

As flyblue has said there are a number of people who had had successful results but if you have my luck it only takes one mistake with any operation.

Not CC, but I had both eyes done around ten years ago (and it has improved procedurally since then) and I have found it excellent, used to be blind as a bat (-6 which is veeeery short sighted), now spot on!

I had mine done about 2 months ago and dont regret it for a second, it's changed things for the better in so many ways. The problem is that people who don't have to wear glasses 24/7 don't really understand how frustrating it can be. You have to be aware that there are risks associated with the surgery, however the chances of having irreversable damage are less than 1 percent. If you're willing to pay for the procedure (it's NOT cheap) and you're willing to accept that it does carry a risk, then go for it. If you can't make up your mind, have another consultation - at least you can claim the consult on medicare, the rest is mostly out of pocket until tax time.

I had a laser operation on my eyes nearly 4 months ago and the reason was that i got accepted for a CC position and as I was wearing glasses 24/7 and couldnt do without them at all ( and didn't want to bother with contact lenses) this was the solution for me. The result is excellent, no side effects, no pain, no trouble night vision...and it cost me only 600 $ as they had a special summer offer at that time.
Defenately the best decision of my life :ok:

Thanks Desert and sailor,
Were either of you crew at the time? if so how long was it untill you returned to work? My friends consultant says that most people return to work next day but because of her occupatiion she has advised her to take a week of. So was surprised Fly blue when you said that your friend had to be of for a few months, was it because there were complications or was it the airlines requirements?

Sukigirl,

I am ground staff and i had the surgery thursday afternoon and was back at work for a 4.30am shift on the saturday. I doubt that there would be any requirement for staff - cabin or ground - to be away from normal duties for anything longer than a week or so by now, unless there were some kind of complications. There have been a lot of improvements & advances in this area in the last decade, so i think taking a month off flying duties may have been valid 10 years ago but surely not anymore.

Hi Sukigirl, I had my eyes done 3 years ago. And back flying after 2 days. My eyes felt a little dry (just like when you have had your lenses in too long), but that soon passes, and I now have perfect vision. By the way I was
-4.25 R –4.00 L.
Hope this helps :ok:

I also had mine done about 7 years ago. I had no problem with medicals since then, have only now reverted to glasses, for reading. You tend to have "drier" eyes and a drops do help. Go for it!

Thanks everyone for all your positive comments, I thought that oc health were being a bit akward about the whole thing.

Hi Sukigirl
 

Sounds more like the "oc health" didn't really know, so just recommended "not" to be on the safe side; rather than do some work and get a definitive answer for your friend.

Plenty of pilots and CC get their eyes lasered. I got my eyes done in 1997 and have never regretted it.

It's hard to describe to someone who's never relied on glasses for normal vision what it is like to wake up, open your eyes, and SEE, without having to fumble for glasses, contacts, etc!

The recovery times for people generally vary depending on the laser procedure. LASIK has a very short recovery time (around 24 hours), where other procedures may have a recovery time of a week or two.

There is plenty of info on the net about laser eye surgery.

Cheers

DIVOSH!

I'm considering laser eye surgery too, I've been thinking about it for as long as I can remember, there's a special where both eyes can be done for about $2500.

I've been wearing glasses since I was 5 and my prescription is -6.00 also, so I'm about ready now to experience the feeling of being able to see when I wake up. Anyway, thanks for the posts, it's helping me choose a great deal. I always flew either with contacts or glasses depending on my mood. Whilst I'm not flying at the moment, I do hope to return to it very soon and I was a bit unsure as to what the rules where here (Aus).

Thanks!:ok:

?
 

What about if you have a stigmatism (I hope that's the right spelling?) in your eyes - can you still have laser surgery? I'm considering it done also. :confused:

Sweety you can still have the treatment if you have astigmatism, there are varying treatments you can have regarding on the severirty of astigmatism and short sight. have a browse on the interenet, their is loads of info about. My friend had it done on wednesday and although it was 2 days of pain and major discomfort she is starting to see the major benefit of having it done.

WOW exmax if you can get access to the surgery with BOTH eyes for $2500AUD then go for it!!! Mine cost $6500 and none of it is redeemable on health benefits - i should be able to get about 20% back on tax but that's it. Like i said, it isn't cheap.

Hi

Im not sure of the regulations with cabin crew medicals, however I know for pilots a 6 month healing period is required with a full eye test before a return of medical is issued. Try calling the CAA medical dept sorry havent got the med centre number but caa main line is 01293573700, bear in mind this is uk caa but im sure they will be able to advise you of any regulations.
I suspect the cabin crew requirements if any would be less restrictive, but take advice from as many people as you can before you do it.
I decided not to as I felt for me the risk was to great, but that was more to do with my personal medical condition rather than anything else. So take in the options and good luck with what you decide

Ick
 

Not sure how true this is, or even where I heard it……………..there was concern, when this was a relatively new procedure, that in the event of a decompression the vitreous humour could leak (or explode) out of the cornea. Something to do with peeling back, and therefore structurally weakening the cornea. I’m assuming this has been either resolved or disproved as I know plenty of crew who swear by this operation.