It's pretty well accepted now. Depending on your prescription you need to take from 3 to 6 months off from flying. Then there's a questionnaire that your opthalmologist fills out and you've got the green light... provided it works for you.
I had it done last year and am happy with the results as far as vision goes, but I've had serious "dryness" problems. I had read that dryness was one of the potential side-effects, but I had no idea how bad it could be. Even after almost a year I need to put lubricating drops in my eyes first thing in the morning or I will produce about a gallon of tears from my bloodshot orbs by lunchtime.
I have also suffered "corneal erosions" wherein the outer skin of the cornea splits when I open my eyes in the morning... resulting in several days of pain and discomfort (it happened the first time last January and my eye became so inflamed I couldn't see my watch 2 inches in front of my face... good thing I wasn't planning on flying for a few months).
Since the surgery I have read about many other people suffering similar difficulties. Some clinics rule you out as a candidate if you have dry eyes, which they can easily test prior to your surgery... something not even mentioned in my case. If my eyes eventually recover to the point where I don't need to put drops in them and I can stop worrying that I'm going to suffer another "erosion" then I'll decide the surgery was worth it. Until then the jury's still out.
HV
P.S. Ask lots of questions and check out some of the on-line forums in the U.S. Talk about horror stories! You wouldn't want to be one of the unlucky (statistically insignificant) few.
Had Lasik surgery 6-7 years ago. Other than a bit of halos around lights at night that disappeared after about 3 months I have had zero problems. Of course I went to the most expensive place (Gimbel in YYC) not to one of the cheapos advertized in the newspaper. Best money I ever spent
Unless someone changed the rules lately, I was informed by Aviation Medicine that it was 3 months license suspension for one eye with an eye exam afterwards before re-instatement . Having 2 eyes done at the same time was 9 months, the exam, etc. They are reporting a 95% success rate to date as far as recurring problems. The most frequent complain are the "halos" at night which apparently dissipate and/or disappear completely after about three months.
Grounch 1 pretty well echoes what I've personally heard to date.
The grand poobahs in Edmonton said 3 months didn't say wheterh it was for 1,2 or 3 eyes. Montreal , last I heard was 12 months. As usual it depends who you talk to on what day of the week. I do know a Chief Pilot who lost his job over it as he lost his medical for 12+ months....
A few of the girls at work have had the laser eye surgery done in Vancouver where a few of the clinics offer a "no touch" procedure. Obviously less invasive and everybody that I've talked to has raved about it. More expensive but from the sounds of it, worth the extra dough. Some complaints of dryness and one girl had to go back and get one eye corrected as the other "healed" to better than 20/20. The rumour is that docs can't detect the no touch surgery unless they're really looking fo it and even then it would be a stretch.
Should be able to find a clinic online or in the YVR yellow pages, sorry no url.
it wouldn't, but there is a reason why the medical gets pulled after the proceedure.
Imagine you get it done, you're flying around and your vision goes blurry for whatever reason...then what? I'm guessing you'd be thinking you should have waited the three months like they recommend as your aircraft is spiralling down towards the earth...
Don't forget that this may also be a "regional thing". I learned a long time ago that there is lots of latitude given to the different regions. About 1976 I was grounded as soon as I landed at Orangeville, enroute from Vancouver to Montreal on a ferry flight. Reason? I had a white strobe light and plywood bearpaws. They weren't letting me fly anywheres un til they found out the aircraft was registered in Pacific Region and then they backed off completely and away I went. Those bear paws they laughed at and they said ALL strobes were to have a red lens in the east. I was told that if it would have been registered anywhere in the east, the aircraft would have stayed there until it was an antique before they would have allowed it to move without those changes.
I suspect the different answers here may just be another reflection of that. My info came from a Dr. Danforth in Edmonton and is dated about the last of April this year. I know that what is accepted down east is not necessarily accepted in the western regions or varies somewhat. This may well apply to certain procedures or items with regards Aviation Medicine. I suppose there are valid reasons for the differences, but I have a tendency to check first when moving west to east or visa versa, just to be on the safe side..
