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PRK while active duty
- Thread starter Beefalo
- Start date
I hope this anwers your question.
ea6bflyr
https://navymedicine.med.navy.mil/d...E9008D-802E-D019-ABBA0925B2764081&docid=15143
What is the current policy on corneal refractive surgery for active duty Navy and USMC personnel?
The CNO’s NAVADMIN message of 29 Dec 99 (341/99) announced the start of the Navy’s Corneal Refractive Surgery program.Active duty personnel, regardless of their warfare community status, may request evaluation to determine their suitability for surgery.If the service member is determined to be a suitable candidate, a consult requesting surgery can be submitted to one of the Navy Refractive Surgery Centers (see section 8 for additional information on the process of requesting surgery). The Navy has laser centers in San Diego, Portsmouth, Bethesda, Bremerton, Jacksonville, Camp Lejuene, and Camp Pendleton.
The demand for refractive surgery exceeds the ability to accommodate all servicemembers, and therefore surgery is scheduled on a prioritized basis. Highest priority goes to servicemembers whose military duties require them to regularly work in extreme physical environments that make the wearing of glasses or contact lenses difficult or unsafe. To facilitate the screening process, unit Commanding Officers will be required to determine the appropriate priority category, and grant permission for their personnel to have surgery performed. While personnel in non-warfare communities are not excluded from the possibility of having surgery performed at a Navy center, in most cases they will likely be assigned a lower priority than service members in warfare communities.
Servicemembers that do not wish to wait to have surgery performed in the Navy can elect to have surgery performed at their own expense in the civilian sector.The Navy does not encourage this option.Service members are required to receive counseling to ensure they are aware of Navy/Marine Corps policies pertaining to all elective surgeries performed by civilian physicians, and that they understand the responsibilities required of them before and after surgery.Approval by the unit Commanding Officer is required.Failure to comply with these requirements may result in disciplinary action and/or loss of eligibility for disability benefits in the event of adverse outcomes following surgery. See section 9 for complete details on the requirements before and after surgery in the civilian sector.
ea6bflyr
https://navymedicine.med.navy.mil/d...E9008D-802E-D019-ABBA0925B2764081&docid=15143
What is the current policy on corneal refractive surgery for active duty Navy and USMC personnel?
The CNO’s NAVADMIN message of 29 Dec 99 (341/99) announced the start of the Navy’s Corneal Refractive Surgery program.Active duty personnel, regardless of their warfare community status, may request evaluation to determine their suitability for surgery.If the service member is determined to be a suitable candidate, a consult requesting surgery can be submitted to one of the Navy Refractive Surgery Centers (see section 8 for additional information on the process of requesting surgery). The Navy has laser centers in San Diego, Portsmouth, Bethesda, Bremerton, Jacksonville, Camp Lejuene, and Camp Pendleton.
The demand for refractive surgery exceeds the ability to accommodate all servicemembers, and therefore surgery is scheduled on a prioritized basis. Highest priority goes to servicemembers whose military duties require them to regularly work in extreme physical environments that make the wearing of glasses or contact lenses difficult or unsafe. To facilitate the screening process, unit Commanding Officers will be required to determine the appropriate priority category, and grant permission for their personnel to have surgery performed. While personnel in non-warfare communities are not excluded from the possibility of having surgery performed at a Navy center, in most cases they will likely be assigned a lower priority than service members in warfare communities.
Servicemembers that do not wish to wait to have surgery performed in the Navy can elect to have surgery performed at their own expense in the civilian sector.The Navy does not encourage this option.Service members are required to receive counseling to ensure they are aware of Navy/Marine Corps policies pertaining to all elective surgeries performed by civilian physicians, and that they understand the responsibilities required of them before and after surgery.Approval by the unit Commanding Officer is required.Failure to comply with these requirements may result in disciplinary action and/or loss of eligibility for disability benefits in the event of adverse outcomes following surgery. See section 9 for complete details on the requirements before and after surgery in the civilian sector.
Kolja said:
If you can get traps at night in the back of the war station wagon, then PRK shouldn't scare you.
Did mine at Balboa in Jan 2001. Went from 20/200 in the roght and 20/400 in the left (-3.0 and -5.0 correction respectively) to 20/20 (20/15 on a good day) and have held it for four years.
As for the original poster, if on flight status, you need follow ups every two weeks until your vision is stable before you will be cleared back onto flight status. The minimum is 4 weeks, some guys go 8, some longer, average was about 6 weeks from surgery to med up when I did mine. Then there is the need for a permanent waiver that goes from BUMED to BUPERS for approval. It is then included in your permanent medical and personnel records.
Basically, you are NPQ with a permanent waiver. If you try to do it outside without telling the Navy, they will find out (on your next eye exam) and then you will probably be NPQ'ed with no waiver possible. Go through the system and get it for free.
Time & Money...
I'm not sure that you'd need 2-3 weeks. I had PRK done last March (Thursday of spring break) and was back in class the following Tuesday. I even did an altitude chamber flight the week after. After a few days your vision may not be perfect yet but you should be pretty much back to normal.
Cost-wise, I spent $2500 for both eyes. I shopped around for doctors and prices, and I found that you could have the surgery done for as little as $700 per eye. If you decide to go through with the process, be sure to get a doctor with good recommendations from others. It seemed to me that some places could have cared less about me, and its not that I'm really needy or anything, but we were talking about my eyes!
Beefalo said:
I'm not sure that you'd need 2-3 weeks. I had PRK done last March (Thursday of spring break) and was back in class the following Tuesday. I even did an altitude chamber flight the week after. After a few days your vision may not be perfect yet but you should be pretty much back to normal.
Cost-wise, I spent $2500 for both eyes. I shopped around for doctors and prices, and I found that you could have the surgery done for as little as $700 per eye. If you decide to go through with the process, be sure to get a doctor with good recommendations from others. It seemed to me that some places could have cared less about me, and its not that I'm really needy or anything, but we were talking about my eyes!
T-man
Registered User
I don't know about the Navy, but for the USMC, vision requirements for NFO are 20/100 correctable to 20/20. That said, it should be noted that there is a new contact lens waiver as of April (?) of this year. You have to have worn soft contract lenses for 6 months to be eligable for the waiver however.
T-man said:
wrong
...nevermind that the Marine Corps doesn't have their own medical, and thus, the vision requirements are the same in the Navy.
Designated Same standards as SG1 except:
DVA
Correctable to 20/20-0 each eye (However, if AFVT or Goodlite letters are used a score of 7/10 on the 20/20 line constitutes meeting visual acuity requirements), glasses will be worn while flying (if > 20/100 carry extra pair).
http://www.nomi.med.navy.mil/Nami/WaiverGuideTopics/exams.htm#nfo
/google damnit
Thisguy
Pain-in-the-dick
LaneNFO said:
20/500? Seriously, don't sweat it. That's why glasses and contacts exist. As long as you are correctable to 20/20 and have a refraction less than -8.00, you're in the clear. You don't need PRK to be eligible, and I would caution against getting that while so youg. Usually mid-20s after your vision has stabilized is a good time to get it.