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LASIK or PRK

desertflyer

Well-Known Member
I saw that this question has been somewhat asked in another thread, but it was older and I wanted to see if there had been any updates on the issue.

I am currently 20/30 in the left eye, and 20/40 in the right. While I would be accepted as a SNA, I have read countless stories about people being borderline not being able to pass at OCS on 3.5 hours of sleep. For this reason, I think that it would be best to go ahead and get eye surgery and be safe than sorry.

I know that the Navy is now granting waivers for LASIK surgery, pending a follow up at one of their 10 locations. Are these waivers granted pretty freely, or pretty selectively? I'm wondering if I should get the LASIK and avoid some of the pain and recovery time, or do the PRK and potentially have a higher chance of having a waiver granted?
 

Hopeful Hoya

Well-Known Member
pilot
Contributor
According to the waiver guide the Navy prefers wavefront-guided LASIK due to the faster recovery time and less risk of scarring that you get with PRK, but there still is the (small) risk of flap detachment down the road with LASIK. From what I have seen waivers are readily available as long as you meet all of the pre-op requirements and have no moderate or worse complications (minor dry eye and halos are acceptable as long as they don't require constant treatment).

However, the only person who can make a real determination is your surgeon, so if you're serious about getting the surgery I would make an appointment to get a consultation. That being said, I'm not a flight surgeon, but I'm guessing if you already meet the standards, they're going to advise you to roll the dice with your current eyes.
 

desertflyer

Well-Known Member
I found an updated version of the waver guide from April 2015. I'll post some specific points of interest. I am going to call the optometrist at NAMI tomorrow, but it's looking like I'm just going to go Wavefront LASIK, since it seems to be the preferred choice.

http://www.med.navy.mil/sites/nmotc/nami/arwg/Documents/Complete_Waiver_Guide_150430.pdf

"Wavefront-guided LASIK (“Custom LASIK”) is preferred in aviation personnel, as custom treatment may increase visual acuity and final vision outcomes, but in no way is required for a waiver recommendation, as not all patients are candidates for custom treatments."

Something to note, Wavefront PRK is available as well, but they specified "wavefront-guided LASIK".

"The LASIK Study for Student Naval Aviators Study has been closed to new enrollees; but, LASIK is still waiverable for new candidates and students in all aviation classes."

The study is closed and I assume concluded. My only question here is LASIK pretty much being autowaivered like PRK is, pending that the applicant passes all standards?

“All-laser, custom LASIK” gives a better visual outcome over conventional treatments. This has been borne out by repeated Navy research studies."

I'm assuming that PRK falls under "conventional treatments".
 

Hopeful Hoya

Well-Known Member
pilot
Contributor
Like I've said I'm not a flight surgeon so I'm far from qualified to read into the legalese of the stuff, but I checked with my recruiter and with the members here before I got surgery and they said LASIK is good to go from the Navy's perspective.

There have been a number of candidates on AW that have gotten picked up with a LASIK waiver and so if you meet all the requirements then I believe it should be "automatic", however I'm still a few weeks away from going through the process myself so I let you know how it goes for me.
 

Spekkio

He bowls overhand.
The modern day surface ablation procedure is epi-lasik. They use a laser to remove the outer layer of the cornea instead of a mechanical brush.

Regardless of which procedure your opthalmologist recommends, the industry standard is to shape the cornea with a custom wavefront laser. Surface ablation vs. LASIK is simply how the outer layer of the cornea is dealt with. The doc will use the same laser in his office to re-shape your eye for either procedure.

Your opthalmologist is likely to recommend LASIK unless your cornea is less than 500 micrometers thick or you have some other unusual abnormality that would make LASIK high risk.

Having said all that, almost no surgeon will guarantee better than 20/40 with corrective laser eye surgery. Your vision is good enough that you don't even need glasses. If your vision is borderline then I'd be surprised if you can find someone to do it, and if you can you should question why is he taking your money.
 

Astro_Rekt

Well-Known Member
Sorry to bring up an older thread, but I've got a consultation with a vision correction business in less than a week and my OSO hasn't gotten back to me on this: is LASIK also preferred by the USMC? I haven't seen or been given any information regarding whether or not it's waiverable also, just the standard PRK stuff.
 
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