Class 1 med and Lasik.

[mackey]

If anyone is interested,I had Lasik surgery at the end of December and I went for my Class 1 med in April. The opthalmic doctor tested my eyes and he was quite impressed with the result of the proceedure.I could read the bottom line of the chart unaided with my left eye and the next line up with my right eye with slight correction from him.As for all the other tests he did with the eyes I passed them all,colour blindness etc.
They would'nt release the medical until there was a year post op,but the chief med doctor said there wouldn't be much of a problem after the year if the re-test was ok.
Also he said there was no problem flying with a current Class 2 med........So I am flying ppl - P1 !!!

[rmmonteiro]

hi mackey, did they do corneal topography to your eyes?or did you told them you had laser surgery?
cheers
RMM

[mackey]

Hi rmmonteiro,
I rang and told the caa that I had,had the laser surgery.They asked me which proceedure I had because they dont really like the PRK method.This method can cause halo's or starburst effects because of the surgical cutting of the cornea they have to do.The side effects really happen at night,so not much good for night flying!!.
The lasik proceedure that I had has not given me any side effectsin the day or night,but,the strength of the prescription depends on the results of the surgery.My preoperative prescription was: Right eye -02.75/-1.50x155, Left eye -02.75/-2.00x21. My post operative prescription was Right eye 0/-0.50x180 and Left eye +0.25/-0.25x25.
I was short sighted and had an astigmetism!!
The caa didnt do a topography test, just all the other ones,but
the trouble is, the tests they perform,they will know if you have had any form of treatment carried out on your eyes so just be honest with them,it will save alot of time.
I had the lasik carried out by Ultralase in Hammersmith London
Hope this has helped.
mackey

[rmmonteiro]

hi mackey, thanks for the answer,
my eye doctor told that lasik ( i think) was realy undetectable. they can only dicover it with the corneal topography. should i believe him? did your´s told you it was detectable?
cheers
RMM

[mackey]

Hi rmmonteiro,

Any form of surgery ,scalpel or laser, will leave scar tissue.It can be detected on the slit lamp because of the scarring.As for the detection from the topography,I would not be sure.

One thing I would say is do lots of research on the proceedure you want to have

Laters,

Mackey.

[rmmonteiro]

no no mackey, my doctor told me that laser does not leave any detectable scar fo sure. only with corneal topography.
my fear is if they do IT on me
cheers
RMM

[eject]

Lasik will sometimes be detectable with the slit lamp examination. In my case, it isn't. Corneal topography, which tends not to form part of normal JAA med. exam. will detect Lasik and is used by US military to screen for lasik. Any optitian worth his or her salt will in many cases be alerted to Lasik or PRK having been carried out due to a correlation that exists between eyeball length and short/long sight.
If your vision is within the limits set down by the authorities you have nothing to lose by being up front about your eye surgery. If it's outside those limits or if for any reason you conceal information, you have everything to lose. It's quite possible the barriers may be lowered in the future and equally possible more advanced examination procedures may be introduced.

[ravenx]

but will the arilines accept it. I am lead to believe they have higher standards in some cases than the CAA. Has anyone actually tried this out yet. I also have a JAR class 1 having had Laser surgery and to be fair the CAA medical people were really helpful

[rmmonteiro]

do the airlines accept lasik?

hi ravenx, some DO some DONT, as yhtey wish