PRK and LASIK Information

[deaddebate]

This is not uncommon.

Realize you won by qualifying for a pilot slot despite your originally poor vision, and wear contacts/glasses as necessary.

I'll double check the regs tomorrow, but don't tell yourself this is a bad outcome.

[81L BLR]

Short answer: It is not disqualifying to need corrective lenses after refractive surgery as long as the postoperative refraction is within the refractive error standards listing in AFI 48-123.

[IFlyAMileHigh]

So follow up to my other post... my info was sent out to MEPS and was kicked back. My left eye had a shift in manifest diopter of over 0.50. That was unbeknownced to me because my doctor said everything was fine after I specifically told them the requirements.

With this being said, am I now "unwaiverable"? Its definately depressing seeing the one thing in life you've wanted taken away like that. My Sergeant said he is putting a waiver request in for it, but what are the odds of actually recieving one?

Thanks much as always gents!

[deaddebate]

<div>

CONDITION: REFRACTIVE SURGERY (RS)<br />

Updated: Jun 2013<br />

Table 2: Waiverable Examination Results<br />

Stable, no more than 0.50 diopter shift in manifest sphere or cylinder refractive power between two readings at least 2 weeks apart*<br />

* If outside these limits, refer to local eye care provider and/or treating refractive surgery center.

Sorry. Looks like you need more evaluation/recovery time. You can re-test over the next month to check your prescription. 81L BLR, again, would know the specifics, but it sounds like your eye hasn't fully healed.</div>

[81L BLR]

Deaddebate is correct. You will need to be rechecked for stability (no more than 0.50 D shift over at least 2 weeks). You also must be 12 months post-op before the waiver can be considered. Most likely, the refraction has stabilized and you will be fine.

You are not "unwaiverable". You just cannot apply for the waiver yet. If the refraction does not stabilize, then, generally speaking, you would not be waiverable.

[rboedeker]

Any new updates on getting Lasik or PRK done? I am a recent UPT grad going through 135 PIQ right now and I would love to get it done. How long would I be DNIF for? Thanks! 

[Rhei]

A lot of info can be found on the Wright Pat site:

 

https://www.wpafb.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=20427

I just had my eyes done 3 June of this year, and the process is still largely the same as has been stated earlier in the thread.  Go to your optometrist and get the process started, they pretty much send you all the info from there.  Your DNIF period can range anywhere from 2-3 months for LASIK, to up to 6 months for PRK.  I would opt for surgery at Lackland, as they have a fairly fast turn around time from application to surgery (I sent in my stuff and had dates for surgery within a month).

 

On a side note, I am trying to apply for the RPA board this October, and am getting stonewalled due to my PRK surgery being within 6 months for a FC-IIU Physical.  My question about this is, my optometrist has already cleared me for Flight Status.  If I receive my waiver to return to fly, could I then use that as a basis for my FC-IIU?  I currently hold a FC-III.

 

PS:  First post, obligatory hi!

[deaddebate]

My question about this is, my optometrist has already cleared me for Flight Status.  If I receive my waiver to return to fly, could I then use that as a basis for my FC-IIU?  I currently hold a FC-III.

Yeah, that's uh... That's a pretty dumb question.

The answer is no. You need a new IFC physical with matching new waiver for the position. See AFI 48-123 Ch 3.

[Hopefulflyer389]

     Can anyone point me in the right direction for the most up to date regulations on PRK/LASIK surgery? I'm about a year out for applying for units and my left eye has apparently surpassed the maximum myopia error (-3.00 is the max and I registered at -3.25) at my eye appointment today. I want to get the ball rolling for surgery, but don't want to jump the gun until I know every detail.

    Also, I would get the surgery done in north Texas and any suggestions for the area would be great. Thank you. 

[#41]

1 hour ago, Hopefulflyer389 said:

     Can anyone point me in the right direction for the most up to date regulations on PRK/LASIK surgery? I'm about a year out for applying for units and my left eye has apparently surpassed the maximum myopia error (-3.00 is the max and I registered at -3.25) at my eye appointment today. I want to get the ball rolling for surgery, but don't want to jump the gun until I know every detail.

    Also, I would get the surgery done in north Texas and any suggestions for the area would be great. Thank you. 

https://www.wpafb.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-150310-028.pdf

[Hopefulflyer389]

On December 22, 2015 at 11:42 PM, #41 said:

https://www.wpafb.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-150310-028.pdf

Precise and direct to the point. I like it. Thank you. Any thing else I should take into consideration before proceeding with the correction? 

[#41]

On 12/24/2015 at 10:13 PM, Hopefulflyer389 said:

Precise and direct to the point. I like it. Thank you. Any thing else I should take into consideration before proceeding with the correction? 

Give a heads up to your surgeon's support staff. Get a copy of the checklist included in your file. Let them know you'll be coming in for more follow-up visits than they likely do normally. I got lucky, mine were totally cool about it and I didn't pay anything for the extra visits, they just did it and filled out the checklist. Speaking of which, make sure you get copies and do your homework on making sure it's filled out. 

As far as type of surgery goes, I did Wavefront LASIK which from everything I've seen is the best option right now (doesn't mean it's especially expensive). I'm happy to answer other questions if you have them. I had an excellent experience and am 20/20 or better 2 years on.

[Hopefulflyer389]

On December 28, 2015 at 11:19 PM, #41 said:

Give a heads up to your surgeon's support staff. Get a copy of the checklist included in your file. Let them know you'll be coming in for more follow-up visits than they likely do normally. I got lucky, mine were totally cool about it and I didn't pay anything for the extra visits, they just did it and filled out the checklist. Speaking of which, make sure you get copies and do your homework on making sure it's filled out. 

As far as type of surgery goes, I did Wavefront LASIK which from everything I've seen is the best option right now (doesn't mean it's especially expensive). I'm happy to answer other questions if you have them. I had an excellent experience and am 20/20 or better 2 years on.

I'll be sure to to inform the staff of what I will be needing. Just a few more questions.

1) What was your vision prior to the surgery? (Curious on how much of correction was needed) 

2) Any complications? (I.e. Haze, halos, night problems) 

3) Were you already flying before the correction or after? 

Thank you. 

 

Edited December 30, 2015 by Hopefulflyer389
Being illiterate.

[#41]

3 hours ago, Hopefulflyer389 said:

I'll be sure to to inform the staff of what I will be needing. Just a few more questions.

1) What was your vision prior to the surgery? (Curious on how much of correction was needed) 

2) Any complications? (I.e. Haze, halos, night problems) 

3) Were you already flying before the correction or after? 

Thank you. 

 

1 - R20/200 L20/300

2 - No

3 - did LASIK a month after I passed my PPL checkride

[Hopefulflyer389]

11 hours ago, #41 said:

1 - R20/200 L20/300

2 - No

3 - did LASIK a month after I passed my PPL checkride

Thank you. 

[JFSkiBumJr]

Currently I am a senior in high school looking at partcipating in NROTC or AFROTC in college. I have little to no doubt that I would get a GPA of 3.8 or higher in college as well as have stellar particpation in extracurriculars and perhaps a leadership position in ROTC. My only doubts lie in my vision problem. One of my eyes has 20/15 vision, with a refractive error of 0.00 diopters, while the other, is 20/400 with a refractive error of -4.00 diopters. As such, I have a rather unique vision situation and only wear one contact lens or a monocle when I need to correct my vision, which when corrected is 20/15 in my left eye and 20/20 in my right eye. I have spoken with my optomologist and he has said LASIK would likely be a successful option for me. Being a AF or Navy pilot is a dream to me that I do not want spoiled Junior year in college after I've already committed and then been told I can't pilot. What are my options? Should I get LASIK the summer before college or the during Freshman or Sophomore year? (i.e., what are your suggestions/routes you have taken that have led to success?)

[#41]

On 2/12/2016 at 6:24 PM, JFSkiBumJr said:

Currently I am a senior in high school looking at partcipating in NROTC or AFROTC in college. I have little to no doubt that I would get a GPA of 3.8 or higher in college as well as have stellar particpation in extracurriculars and perhaps a leadership position in ROTC. My only doubts lie in my vision problem. One of my eyes has 20/15 vision, with a refractive error of 0.00 diopters, while the other, is 20/400 with a refractive error of -4.00 diopters. As such, I have a rather unique vision situation and only wear one contact lens or a monocle when I need to correct my vision, which when corrected is 20/15 in my left eye and 20/20 in my right eye. I have spoken with my optomologist and he has said LASIK would likely be a successful option for me. Being a AF or Navy pilot is a dream to me that I do not want spoiled Junior year in college after I've already committed and then been told I can't pilot. What are my options? Should I get LASIK the summer before college or the during Freshman or Sophomore year? (i.e., what are your suggestions/routes you have taken that have led to success?)

You've got time to get this worked out. The delay after getting LASIK to being OK to take a flight physical is 1 year. You're years away from that point.

HOWEVER - before going down the LASIK path you need to make sure that you're compliant with the pre-op limitations. I'm not a doctor but the -3 diopters of astigmatism may be at play here. PDF below. There are others on this board who can answer questions regarding waiverability if you exceed the limits, I don't know.

https://www.wpafb.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-150310-028.pdf

[deaddebate]

Read the entry in the waiver guide for "Refractive Surgery:"

https://www.wpafb.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-160106-025.pdf

You exceed the pre-surgery astigmatism by a full diopter.  Waiver likelihood is very low.  Sorry.

[TattleTaleStrangler]

Ive tried looking for the answer to this here, but I couldn't find it:

I got PRK when I was 18. I met all the pre-op requirements and was given to go-ahead by AETC/SG, and met all post-op requirements. WINGS tells me that I'm qualified for all rated AFSCs.

My concern is that on some waiver documents, it says that the age requirement is 21 in order to get CRS (which obviously, I do not meet). Would I pass a FC1? Or will that age restriction get me?

[stuckindayton]

On 2/19/2016 at 6:47 PM, #41 said:

 

On 2/12/2016 at 9:24 PM, JFSkiBumJr said:

Currently I am a senior in high school looking at partcipating in NROTC or AFROTC in college. I have little to no doubt that I would get a GPA of 3.8 or higher in college as well as have stellar particpation in extracurriculars and perhaps a leadership position in ROTC. My only doubts lie in my vision problem. One of my eyes has 20/15 vision, with a refractive error of 0.00 diopters, while the other, is 20/400 with a refractive error of -4.00 diopters. As such, I have a rather unique vision situation and only wear one contact lens or a monocle when I need to correct my vision, which when corrected is 20/15 in my left eye and 20/20 in my right eye. I have spoken with my optomologist and he has said LASIK would likely be a successful option for me. Being a AF or Navy pilot is a dream to me that I do not want spoiled Junior year in college after I've already committed and then been told I can't pilot. What are my options? Should I get LASIK the summer before college or the during Freshman or Sophomore year? (i.e., what are your suggestions/routes you have taken that have led to success?)

Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't see any indication the -4.00 D is astigmatism.  In fact, if you're wearing a contact lens it is likely sphere.  In that case the limit is -8.00 and you should be good to go with a good surgical outcome.

[stuckindayton]

On 3/4/2016 at 3:36 PM, TattleTaleStrangler said:

Ive tried looking for the answer to this here, but I couldn't find it:

I got PRK when I was 18. I met all the pre-op requirements and was given to go-ahead by AETC/SG, and met all post-op requirements. WINGS tells me that I'm qualified for all rated AFSCs.

My concern is that on some waiver documents, it says that the age requirement is 21 in order to get CRS (which obviously, I do not meet). Would I pass a FC1? Or will that age restriction get me?

Yes, you will be fine.  The 21 year limit applies to active duty/ANG/Reserve wanting to get CRS while serving in the military.  We've had plenty of pilot applicants show up with surgery before 21.

[RC87]

Hi All,

Looking for some advice here, as I am absolutely not giving up on this. I had PRK completed back in 2012 and haven't had a single issue since it was completed. I received a Guard UPT slot after serving my time in the Marine Corps. I was just informed that I was PDQ'd at MEPS which was a huge shock to both me and my recruiter, and I am aware that PDQ is pretty much a death sentence. Turns out the refraction error they came up with after my outside consultation was +.25 outside the allowable difference from a recent eye exam (in one eye only). This recent exam was a month prior, and unfortunately for me stated both eyes were Plano. Here is the kicker, I just recently found out the reason my doctor wrote down Plano was due to the fact the refraction was never fully completed due to the "stellar" performance with distance and other tests. He didn't notate it since it was so negligible (+/- .25). But of course that +/-.25 is what would have me moving on to the FC1... Could I have altered the course of this? Yes, I could have. I am kicking myself hard on this one for not asking more questions or raising a red flag.

I have already set up 2 more eye appointments to have my vision checked to prove to them its not changing as rapidly as it looked like it was (2.5 weeks since my last exam, 2 different doctors). My recruiter will attempt to resubmit (and plead for mercy) considering the circumstances. If they won't review it, I was told there could be a waiver that can be presented to the Guard Bureau for reconsideration.

Is there anything else I can try? Any opinions or thoughts? I am fighter by nature, and I just want the chance to go to Wright-Patterson. If I DQ there, I DQ. It'd be a shame to be fully qualified and denied the dream and opportunity due to something like this.

 

[deaddebate]

 

Currently I am a senior in high school looking at partcipating in NROTC or AFROTC in college. I have little to no doubt that I would get a GPA of 3.8 or higher in college as well as have stellar particpation in extracurriculars and perhaps a leadership position in ROTC. My only doubts lie in my vision problem. One of my eyes has 20/15 vision, with a refractive error of 0.00 diopters, while the other, is 20/400 with a refractive error of -4.00 diopters. As such, I have a rather unique vision situation and only wear one contact lens or a monocle when I need to correct my vision, which when corrected is 20/15 in my left eye and 20/20 in my right eye. I have spoken with my optomologist and he has said LASIK would likely be a successful option for me. Being a AF or Navy pilot is a dream to me that I do not want spoiled Junior year in college after I've already committed and then been told I can't pilot. What are my options? Should I get LASIK the summer before college or the during Freshman or Sophomore year? (i.e., what are your suggestions/routes you have taken that have led to success?)

Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't see any indication the -4.00 D is astigmatism.  In fact, if you're wearing a contact lens it is likely sphere.  In that case the limit is -8.00 and you should be good to go with a good surgical outcome.

Currently I am a senior in high school looking at partcipating in NROTC or AFROTC in college. I have little to no doubt that I would get a GPA of 3.8 or higher in college as well as have stellar particpation in extracurriculars and perhaps a leadership position in ROTC. My only doubts lie in my vision problem. One of my eyes has 20/15 vision, with a refractive error of 0.00 diopters, while the other, is 20/400 with a refractive error of -4.00 diopters. As such, I have a rather unique vision situation and only wear one contact lens or a monocle when I need to correct my vision, which when corrected is 20/15 in my left eye and 20/20 in my right eye. I have spoken with my optomologist and he has said LASIK would likely be a successful option for me. Being a AF or Navy pilot is a dream to me that I do not want spoiled Junior year in college after I've already committed and then been told I can't pilot. What are my options? Should I get LASIK the summer before college or the during Freshman or Sophomore year? (i.e., what are your suggestions/routes you have taken that have led to success?)

Whoops, meant anisometropia, which has a 2.0 diopter limit for pilot applicants. See top of 5th page of Refractive Surgery entry.

[RC87]

 

On 3/17/2016 at 9:04 PM, RC87 said:

Hi All,

Looking for some advice here, as I am absolutely not giving up on this. I had PRK completed back in 2012 and haven't had a single issue since it was completed. I received a Guard UPT slot after serving my time in the Marine Corps. I was just informed that I was PDQ'd at MEPS which was a huge shock to both me and my recruiter, and I am aware that PDQ is pretty much a death sentence. Turns out the refraction error they came up with after my outside consultation was +.25 outside the allowable difference from a recent eye exam (in one eye only). This recent exam was a month prior, and unfortunately for me stated both eyes were Plano. Here is the kicker, I just recently found out the reason my doctor wrote down Plano was due to the fact the refraction was never fully completed due to the "stellar" performance with distance and other tests. He didn't notate it since it was so negligible (+/- .25). But of course that +/-.25 is what would have me moving on to the FC1... Could I have altered the course of this? Yes, I could have. I am kicking myself hard on this one for not asking more questions or raising a red flag.

I have already set up 2 more eye appointments to have my vision checked to prove to them its not changing as rapidly as it looked like it was (2.5 weeks since my last exam, 2 different doctors). My recruiter will attempt to resubmit (and plead for mercy) considering the circumstances. If they won't review it, I was told there could be a waiver that can be presented to the Guard Bureau for reconsideration.

Is there anything else I can try? Any opinions or thoughts? I am fighter by nature, and I just want the chance to go to Wright-Patterson. If I DQ there, I DQ. It'd be a shame to be fully qualified and denied the dream and opportunity due to something like this.

 

Update on the 2 appointments:

Appointment 1: My eye doctor found that my current script is close to what MEPS provided with a -.25 diopter difference in one eye. We have found that the same refraction is listed on the Auto-refract slip from our first appointment, which is the appointment that caused all the issues. Doctor is able and willing to annotate whatever is needed due to the initial error.

Appointment 2: The second doctor has provided and found the same refraction as the MEPS consult, and believes I was DQ’d due to a poor effort from the original doctor. He is also willing to help and provide any information to have this reviewed again.

As an added note, my refraction is less that 1 diopter in both eyes. OD: -.25x90 OS:-.50x90

These last appointments were done in accordance with the RS Waiver Guide from WP and show a stable refraction.

[Hopefulflyer389]

I'm currently on the fence of getting RS or take my chances of getting a vision waiver. If I am to get the RS than I will need to do it in the next month or two, so my 1 year waiting period will line up with the completion of my degree. Current vision is -2.75 in left and -1.50 on the right. Any thoughts on which direction I should take? RS is looking much better to me, but not sure which waiver would be easier to get in my situation. Thank you.