Anyone had laser eye surgery???

[davecav 0]

hi all

just had laser eye surgery and am trying to find out how long to wait before jumping again???

my surgeon doesn't seem to know how long to wait but thought some poeple on here might hve some experience and give me some idea?

thanks for the help

[Andy9o8 0]

Suggest you do a search, as you'll find several threads about this, many of which are contributed-to by a DZ.com'er who's an optometrist.

Click on the link at the top of the page that says "Search Posts".

[Baksteen 84]

I'd rather have PM'd you this, but you cannot receive any

Can't you at least put the guy in the right direction? 140 results for the exact phrase "laser eye surgery"
is a lot to sift through, maybe you remember something of specific interest, like a thread or username to check out?

"That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport."
~mom

[slotperfect 7]

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=search_results&search_forum=all&search_string=laser+eye+surgery&search_type=AND&search_fields=sb&search_time=&search_user_username=&sb=score&mh=50

Arrive Safely

John

[JohanW 0]

Up to 166 search results now. But most of them point to only a handful of threads.

I know dragon2 on here has had her eyes lasered. Judging from the search results plenty of other people have, also. And what's wrong with having the surgery and simply waiting until it feels good enough again? Need to plan competitions? Trainings? In winter?

Johan.
I am. I think.

[dragon2 0]

2 month wait for lasik is safe. For other methods, no idea.

ciel bleu,
Saskia

[madhatter 0]

I had lasik done in 1997 as my contacts kept blowing out of my eyes in delta's & the like.

Spent 1 week on the ground & started jumping again - going on 11 years now & no deterioration, so can't say that I damaged my eyes by getting back in the air too quickly...

A VERY MERRY UNBIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!
D.S # 125

[BASE841 3]

FWIW, I did a low (:02 delay) BASE jump the weekend after I had my Lasik and a goggled skydive the weekend after. That was almost ofur years ago.

Outside of the expected farsightedness that has no effect on my jumping, I have had no troubles. I LOVE not having fogged glasses and perfect distance vision!

[PrairieDoug 0]

Hopefully Dr. Jen (peregrinerose) will see your post and give you some guidance... this is right up her alley.

Doug

[speedy 0]

Depends on the laser.
My wife would have had to wait four weeks for one type of laser, only two weeks for the other. The other is only available in Germany and Switzerland.

The better the laser, the less time you have to wait.

Dave

Fallschirmsport Marl

[lauraliscious 0]

A friend of mine is having lasik in a few weeks and she told me she can't jump for 2 weeks after that. I'm surprised your doctor can't give you better information...how long would they have you wait before doing other sports like skiing or something??

Enemiga Rodriguez, PMS #369, OrFun #25, Team Dirty Sanchez #116, Pelt Head #29, Muff #4091

[Lastchance 0]

A couple weeks ago I told my wife that I wanted to get lasik eye surgery. She came from the other room and asked what the hell is lazy guy surgery? I couldn't help but tell her that I got that surgery years before I met her.

I may be getting old but I got to see all the cool bands.

[kelpdiver 2]

As Jen as mentioned, there is higher risk for a considerably long time (years) after Lasik, so many of them would like us to wait 'longer' before resumption.

I waited a month to resume scuba diving, which has the pressure concerns of mask squeeze. But it was many years before I had a jump where my goggles were blown up to my forehead.

[peregrinerose 0]

If you do a search with posts by me, you'll find a crapload of information on this.

But which laser procedure did you have done? That does make a difference.

LASIK is most common, so we'll go with that... I wouldn't recommend any sooner than 2 months. The reason is that the cornea has no blood supply, so no raw materials delivered to it to regenerate itself. That flap will never heal to 100%... research shows that the flap can be unflapped even 18 years after the initial surgery was done. You want to wait at least 2 months to get some degree of corneal integrity back, the last thing you need is a dislodged flap in freefall.

It also takes several months to get your tear film back up to par after LASIK... the problem is that the corneal nerves are severed, so it's harder to tell that your eye has dry eye related damage, since it doesn't hurt. Don't get back in the sky just because your eye feels fine and your vision is good.... feeling is definitely misleading in this case.

With PRK, closer to one month is fine, there's no flap to dislodge, and by a month, you're back to a reasonably healed cornea and decent vision.

That's assuming that your surgeon has said that you are healing on track and have no side effects (epithelial ingrowth, wrinkled flap, etc.), as that will change things.

If you have any more questions let me know.

Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

[chaoskitty 0]

I'm having Lasik in about 10 days. I asked my doc the same question last week, and he said that I shouldn't jump for about a week, but I should swap out my gatorz for goggles for a good while. So I ordered a couple of pairs of goggles from sq1.

[dragon2 0]

They're your eyes. My doctor used to fly earobatics, he said to definately wait 2 months before jumping (and longer for aerobatics). If you move the flap at all, like losing your goggle, you're in deep trouble. They're your EYES.

ciel bleu,
Saskia

[phoenixlpr 0]

LASIK or LASEK, PRK ?

[Andy9o8 0]

Quote

I'd rather have PM'd you this, but you cannot receive any

Can't you at least put the guy in the right direction? 140 results for the exact phrase "laser eye surgery"
is a lot to sift through, maybe you remember something of specific interest, like a thread or username to check out?

Sorry, I wasn't trying to be rude to him - I basically just didn't want to presume to take the liberty of giving him Jen's name w/o her say-so.

[Shell666 0]

I had Lasik a year and half ago.

From their website, here is THEIR recommended schedule to resume activities.

As some have said, they're YOUR eyes. Treat them as if you want to keep them.

'Shell

[chuckakers 370]

Quote

hi all

just had laser eye surgery and am trying to find out how long to wait before jumping again???

I'd wait till the weekend...unless your local DZ is open sooner than that!

[bomb420 1]

I ended up having Lasik with Intralase to cut the flap almost two years ago. I was jumping within 2 weeks as per doctors orders. It could be marketing, but from my understanding the Intralase bevels the cut therefore making it sit more securely then standard flat cuts. Again though take everything on DZ.com with a grain of salt and error on the cautionary side of your doctor.

-Trunk

HYPOXIC

[dannydan 0]

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They're your EYES.

Quote

error on the cautionary side

PRECISELY the reason why i have VALUED my sight more than ANY other part of my body! I would never think of letting an MD touch my eyes with a scalpel muchless a "RayGun".

NOW when i have NO frickin choice, I might consider this procedure, but for now its eye exams and cheaters tell my Rx needs filled!!

[peregrinerose 0]

Intralase still cuts through the stroma (middle layer) though more superficially. No studies on a long term comparison between it and LASIK since it hasn't been around as much... but avascular cornea is still avascular no matter where in the stroma you cut it... you will still probably be able to flip that flap in 10 years without re-cutting the cornea. Not a good thing in freefall.

If the doc actually told you it was ok to jump in 2 weeks, they don't know shit about skydiving.... they may have only been considering pressure changes (which would be a non-issue at 2 weeks), not all the rest of the issues that can happen with skydiving (120mph wind).

Jumping at 2 weeks PO LASIK is insane... you drop that much cash on a surgical procedure and then play russian roulette with un-doing it (plus causing more problems) by jumping before it's even remotely close to healed up.

Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

[Speer 0]

Good luck with your recovery, I suspect you will be very pleased with the results whatever procedure you had!

PLEASE... pay attention to what Jen (Peregrinerose) has posted regarding recovery times for the various procedures! I have no doubt that the surgeons who have advised their LASIK patients a two week wait was sufficient were well meaning, but the only thing that really counts is the truth. No one wants you to stay away from jumping longer than is warranted, but I think it wise to listen to an adviser whom is expert in both domains...eye surgery, AND skydiving!

To others considering eye surgery, don't get pushed only into the LASIK mill... it may very well be the best solution for you, and certainly is compatible with skydiving. But how do you know which is the best choice if you don't check out other options?... in particular PRK. It is similar to LASIK, but there is no "flap". It is a "shallower" procedure, cutting less deeply into the eye.
On the down side, PRK may be a little less comfortable the first couple days, and, it takes a couple days for your vision to improve...

Ask questions, be informed... YMMV

Regards,

Russ

Generally, it is your choice; will your life serve as an example... or a warning?

[peregrinerose 0]

Quote

On the down side, PRK may be a little less comfortable the first couple days, and, it takes a couple days for your vision to improve...

Hehehehehe.... 'may' is an understatement Short term, PRK tends to hurt more and vision be worse (by short term, I mean first 1-2 weeks, depending on the patient's healing rate and initial Rx). Long term, no difference visually and probably safer health wise than LASIK. If it was me, PRK is what I'd get in a heartbeat.

Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda