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Corrective Eye Surgery?


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Currently in college and when I finish, I want to drop a WOFT packet. My vision is awful and I decided to get a Corrective Eye Surgery consultation. The optometrists said I was a candidate for PRK, LASIK, and a procedure I wasn’t familiar with called SMILE (Small Incision Lenticular Extraction)

I know about the 6 month follow up period after you get surgery. What procedure is recommended/allowed? Or is there anywhere I could find Army regs in regards to eye surgery? I can’t find much about SMILE but know PRK isn’t disqualifying. I would prefer whichever procedure has the quickest recovery time and I believe LASIK has the quickest. I have considered trying to email a flight surgeon down at Ft. Rucker but don’t know if that would work. Any guidance and advice would be very helpful. 

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PRK and LASIK are both acceptable if done properly. Before getting any surgery email Fort Rucker, ask for the exact requirements and provide them to your optometrist. There are certain standards required both before and after the surgery, depending on how bad your eyes are or what condition causes the poor eyesight you might not be eligible even with the surgery. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I was 20/400 in each eye, so I got LASIK in 2019 before my packet process started. I'm going to flight school in January, so it worked out for me.

I'll start by saying I highly recommend getting advice from a flight surgeon. I reached out to a flight surgeon at a local Guard unit near me and he was super helpful in ensuring I filled out the forms I needed before, during, and after so that I had a clean paper trail. DM me with your email address and I'll send you what he sent me...I would still reach out ensure nothing has changed. I will say you probably won't get a response from Rucker flight surgeons (worth a shot, just fyi) as they are incredibly busy processing the entire Active, Guard, and Reserve components. 

When I went through, aeromedical said LASIK/LASEK/or PRK were the only allowed procedures. My eye doctor wanted me to do SMILE, and said he did it to military members all the time, but I didn't want to risk it as Aeromedical specifically said no. Just ask the flight surgeon to see if anything changed. Either way, LASIK/SMILE are different ways to do the same thing, and completely changed my life. I wouldn't do PRK.

Are you prior service or street to seat?

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Oh and as far as recovery time, not too bad. Idk if it's normal but I was in searing pain (eyes and intense headaches) from about 5 minutes after the procedure until I knocked myself out with Advil PM about 4 hours later...you must have someone drive you after. When I woke up a few hours later I could open my eyes in the dark relatively pain free. By morning I drove myself to the checkup just fine with sunglasses.

Be patient with it. It may feel weird the first 2-4 weeks, and at times it may not feel like your 20/20 vision is consistent. It will stabilize over the course of a month or two and you'll be good to go.

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7 hours ago, titanmc11 said:

LASIK/SMILE are different ways to do the same thing, and completely changed my life. I wouldn't do PRK.

 

 

I had PRK done 17 years ago and it's still holding up perfect. I've had a couple soldiers recently get either PRK or LASIK depending on what the optometrist recommended - some smart people stuff about what is better for specific corrections needed. 

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On 7/2/2022 at 10:44 AM, titanmc11 said:

I was 20/400 in each eye, so I got LASIK in 2019 before my packet process started. I'm going to flight school in January, so it worked out for me.

I'll start by saying I highly recommend getting advice from a flight surgeon. I reached out to a flight surgeon at a local Guard unit near me and he was super helpful in ensuring I filled out the forms I needed before, during, and after so that I had a clean paper trail. DM me with your email address and I'll send you what he sent me...I would still reach out ensure nothing has changed. I will say you probably won't get a response from Rucker flight surgeons (worth a shot, just fyi) as they are incredibly busy processing the entire Active, Guard, and Reserve components. 

When I went through, aeromedical said LASIK/LASEK/or PRK were the only allowed procedures. My eye doctor wanted me to do SMILE, and said he did it to military members all the time, but I didn't want to risk it as Aeromedical specifically said no. Just ask the flight surgeon to see if anything changed. Either way, LASIK/SMILE are different ways to do the same thing, and completely changed my life. I wouldn't do PRK.

Are you prior service or street to seat?

I am street to seat. Thanks for the response! 

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On 7/2/2022 at 6:37 PM, Thedude said:

 

I had PRK done 17 years ago and it's still holding up perfect. I've had a couple soldiers recently get either PRK or LASIK depending on what the optometrist recommended - some smart people stuff about what is better for specific corrections needed. 

This is true, not trying to badmouth PRK. My opt wanted me to do LASIK or SMILE.

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  • 3 months later...

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