Varifocal Contact Lenses

[soggyboxers]

I was visiting an old friend in France and was impressed that despite his age he wasn't wearing spectacles. Then he told me that he now has varifocal contact lenses, which seemed like a jolly good idea. Does anybody know if they're available in UK as well and if they're approved for use when flying?

[Flyin'Dutch']

Not sure if I have come across this question before on here but seem to remember something similar a few months ago, interestingly enough also with someone from France.

I am pretty sure that if they have them in France that you should be able to get them over here (in the UK) too.

For the FAA you are not allowed to use contacts for near vision but not sure if you are allowed them for the CAA/JAR.

FD

[Vee One...Rotate]

Hello,

You can check the CAA's website but I'm 99.9% sure that the limitation is the same as the FAA - contacts can't be worn to correct near vision (short-sightedness).

Regards,

V1R

[er82]

Actually you are completely wrong. Contact lenses can be worn for short-sightedness. I know because I wear them! Not sure about long-sightedness though.
And just so people don't get too confused - short sighted is when you CAN see things close up, but things far away are blurred.
Long sighted - you CAN'T see things close up, but can see things far away.

[Bird Strike]

This might clear it up - you can't wear contacts to correct near vision according to the following documents on CAA's site:

For Class 1
http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/49/SRG_MED...isual_Stds.pdf

For Class 2
http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/49/SRG_MED...isual_Stds.pdf

er82 I think Vee One...Rotate just got the terminology mixed up....

[Bad medicine]

I think we need to clear up some terminology here. Short-sightedness is a problem with distance vision (ie you can only focus at short distances).

Cheers,

BM

[er82]

BM - exactly what I said!

[Whirlybird]

You definitely CAN get varifocal contact lenses in the UK. You definitely CANNOT use them for flying. I know this for certain, as I used to have them. I had a Class 2 medical at the time, and I think I misunderstood what my AME said about them, so I carried on using them for flying. When I went to Gatwick for my initial Class 1, I was told that neither varifocal nor bifocal contact lenses are accepted by the CAA.

I now have bifocals (glasses) for flying, which I have to admit give me the best vision, despite the fact that I hate glasses. For everything else, I found that one contact lens to correct for distance, one for close-up, works better for me than the varifocal contact lenses. This is now quite an accepted way of using contact lenses; but I think your eyes need to work fairly well together for it to work. Naturally, the CAA won't accept that for flying either! I found varifocal contact lenses a bit awkward; sometimes I had to blink a bit to see through the right bit of lens, as it were. You also can't get daily disposable varifocal contact lenses, and I can't get used to that cleaning routine; I have a habit of losing mine or knocking them out, and it has to be daily disposables for me.

[Fly3]

I don't know about contacts but I have worn varifocal glasses for years and find them excellent. They allow me to focus at any distance making cross checking of FO's pressure setting for instance easy even in darkened flight deck at night. My recommendation would be swallow ones pride, admit that we all get old, and wear specs!