So what is the time from from surgery PRK to back flying the line? I am a commercial pilot and just planning on how much time I need to take off?

 

two weeks from day of surgery until "pretty much can do most things"

single pilot ops, give it 30 days. Wear darkest sunglasses you can find during daytime.

vision stablized and completely 110% percent healed ? 1 year

 

What about all laser lasik? I'm hearing 1 week post op exam he will be able to sign my faa eye evaluation form, but I'm skeptical because apparently night vision side effects can last 1 month. Also scheduled surgery for February 28th, so freaking nervous!

 

I recommend PRK. But I am not a doctor nor you. I recommend you take the doctor's offered valium or sedation medication and during the surgery, put your hands in your pockets. they will ask you to fold them and place them near your belt buckle, but I would put them in to your pockets, to help prevent the urge to move them. Help the doctor out, no sugar or caffeine a few days before the exam.

 

Did your doc do any pre-op dry eye treatment? Mine wants me in restasis for two weeks before surgery and 2 months after. Just wondering what your experience was with restasis? We both decided on lasik as I'm a great candidate at 20/400 and have good cornea thickness.

 

I was better than 20/20 at one month, but many folks take 1-3 months to get to 20/20 after PRK. LASIK is much quicker. I'm sure the FAA rules are much more lax, but USAF is minimum two months to submit a waiver, due to the steriod drops. The length of the drops can vary if your healing is non-standard. Even when I was 20/20, things were still a bit fuzzy and I wouldn't have wanted to fly, but I also don't fly place to place for a living (and my pay doesn't change when I can't fly for a few months). My two cents for pre/post care - take the 1000mg vitamin C/day for a few weeks prior to two months after the procedure (fairly common practice now) and look into Omega-3's for the same time period. There is a study you can google that explains it. My optometrist explained that it helps maintain the oily tear layer, which keeps the eye more moist, which helps it heal faster. The study claimed 9/9 who took it were 20/20 in a month and only 4/9 of the contol group were 20/20 in the same time period. It worked for me, but I also was only 20/35 with a decent astigmatism. Less correction means faster healing (or so my surgeon told me). If healing time and getting back to work faster is an issue, I would weigh LASIK over PRK.

 

I took 2 weeks off. I would say at least 10 days, but that's about it. You will have to get checked by an optometrist to make sure that you're good to go visually wise. I was 20/20 by the time I went back to work.

 

FF - you were ready to fly after 10 days? Was that PRK or LASIK?

 

I had PRK. I didn't have any issues besides tearing up for about 4 days. I did take 2 weeks off just to be on the safe side. One year later I was holding strong at 20/15.

 

Any special forms or letters from doctors needed before returning to flying or do you just report it on the next medical?