Old Guy Lasik

[number9]

Before you do anything… run this through your NOSC/NRC medical first..,

I asked a fellow JO and they said no need to worry so long as a) the Navy isn't paying for it and b) I wouldn't be taking an AA from drill to recover. That made sense to me, but happy to be corrected if there's better gouge.

Who at the NOSC should I ask - a medical readiness officer? The corpsman?

 

[FormerRecruitingGuru]

I asked a fellow JO and they said no need to worry so long as a) the Navy isn't paying for it and b) I wouldn't be taking an AA from drill to recover. That made sense to me, but happy to be corrected if there's better gouge.

Who at the NOSC should I ask - a medical readiness officer? The corpsman?

There was a RESFOR message that came out a few weeks ago essentially stating that all changes to medical status be brought up with NRC or unit admin.

Even prior to… I was always fairly precautious with NOSC medical and let them know whenever I saw them.

Biggest thing is CYA.

 

[number9]

There was a RESFOR message that came out a few weeks ago essentially stating that all changes to medical status be brought up with NRC or unit admin.

Even prior to… I was always fairly precautious with NOSC medical and let them know whenever I saw them.

Biggest thing is CYA.

Appreciate it. I'll ask around and see if anyone can remember the message. My NOSC (like probably a lot of them) is pretty understaffed..

 

[Brett327]

I recently turned 40 and am looking to get LASIK. For those who have got it and are in the same age bracket, did you go for this monovision thing? (I picked a website at random; that's not my eyecare provider.) Apparently it obviates the need to wear reading glasses as you age and your eyes naturally deteriorate.

My eyecare provider says if you don't like the way monovision "feels", they can revert me back to both-eyes-optimized-for-distance. But, of course, you can't go the other way. In her opinion, based on my age and occupation (staring at computer screens), she suggested monovision. There is no price difference, FWIW.

FWIW, those kinds of corrective techniques aren't authorized for flight. There's a similar technique they can do with adjusting your contact lens Rx to be more like bifocals, but even that isn't authorized when flying.

If you're getting old and your near vision is deteriorating... embrace the suck and get used to reading glasses.

 

[number9]

FWIW, those kinds of corrective techniques aren't authorized for flight. There's a similar technique they can do with adjusting your contact lens Rx to be more like bifocals, but even that isn't authorized when flying.

If you're getting old and your near vision is deteriorating... embrace the suck and get used to reading glasses.

Sorry, I should have said: I'm an INTEL reservist and have nothing to do with aviation. (I am thinking of getting my PPL soon, though; will the FAA care?)

 

[Brett327]

Sorry, I should have said: I'm an INTEL reservist and have nothing to do with aviation. (I am thinking of getting my PPL soon, though; will the FAA care?)

Yeah, I understand, but others will read this stuff. No idea about FAA, though I would imagine that anything that degrades far vision in favor of near vision would be viewed with skepticism in any aviation context.

 

[number9]

Yeah, I understand, but others will read this stuff. No idea about FAA, though I would imagine that anything that degrades far vision in favor of near vision would be viewed with skepticism in any aviation context.

It isn't dated, but this publication talks about it starting towards the bottom of page 7.

The AOPA weighed in on it (back in 2013) here.

 

[ChuckMK23]

The current gen progressives are amazing - Varilux. I flew with 2.0 readers for years and distance was getting to the point at night that I was really struggling with taxiway signage. Opthalmologist suggested the current gen of progressives with ultra lightweight frames and I could not be happier. At 58, Lasik is a no go.

 

[Gatordev]

I hadn't seen that AOPA article before, but I was told monocular correction was a no-go for the FAA by my ophthalmologist. Looks like that may not be completely true, but the result is that you'll still have to wear glasses while flying, so what's the point?

They seem to be pushing this monocular correction nowadays and it doesn't make sense to me from the practical side. My wife was looking at LASIK after I had mine done and they were really pushing it to her, as well. I think the big thing to figure out is how much do you need readers for what you do where LASIK is beneficial. For me, that's in the cockpit, where I really don't need to see anything up close except the Hobbes meter at night, and that's not at a critical phase of flight (as in, it's not in flight at all). Others that do more close up work for their profession may find the value equation comes out differently for them.

I really need to wander down to Target and look at their readers, but I keep managing to squeak by with whatever I'm doing as each week passes.

 

[ChuckMK23]

I hadn't seen that AOPA article before, but I was told monocular correction was a no-go for the FAA by my ophthalmologist. Looks like that may not be completely true, but the result is that you'll still have to wear glasses while flying, so what's the point?

They seem to be pushing this monocular correction nowadays and it doesn't make sense to me from the practical side. My wife was looking at LASIK after I had mine done and they were really pushing it to her, as well. I think the big thing to figure out is how much do you need readers for what you do where LASIK is beneficial. For me, that's in the cockpit, where I really don't need to see anything up close except the Hobbes meter at night, and that's not at a critical phase of flight (as in, it's not in flight at all). Others that do more close up work for their profession may find the value equation comes out differently for them.

I really need to wander down to Target and look at their readers, but I keep managing to squeak by with whatever I'm doing as each week passes.

@Gatordev try these - I used them for 10 years - very optically correct, light weight, and the half height with no rim on the top shoudl be excellent in and out of the cockpit. Highly recommended. Cheap enough that you can buy 5 at a time.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071GQ5ZYN/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_9?smid=A35ITN9T1P3VFN&psc=1

 

[Gatordev]

@Gatordev try these - I used them for 10 years - very optically correct, light weight, and the half height with no rim on the top shoudl be excellent in and out of the cockpit. Highly recommended. Cheap enough that you can buy 5 at a time.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071GQ5ZYN/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_9?smid=A35ITN9T1P3VFN&psc=1

I'll keep those in mind. I need to try on half-sized glasses to see how much that will bug me. I just don't have any experience with writing (and limited reading) without "full-frame" glasses to know where I'm actually looking. It seems to me that I don't look down as much as half-frame (or bifocals) would require. But again, I'll have to play with some.