PRK, LASIK and the French Foreign Legion
jeremiah...@my-dejanews.com
LASIK to correct this. How hard is it to detect that surgery has been done? Is
it obvious during a normal eye exam?
The reason why I'm asking is that I'm also considering joining the French
Foreign Legion, and I read in a message posted in 1996 (message id
<4g2i57$g...@teaser.fr>) by a French doctor that the FFL does not accept
applicants who has had refractive surgery done. Does anybody know if that is
still their position?
What about other military forces? I read on a website that the US Navy SEALs
are experimenting with refractive surgery. Are there any particular reasons
for not accepting eye surgery for soldiers, or is it just that it's a new
technique?
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Oliver Lu
>>I'm myopic (-2.50D on both eyes) and am currently considering doing PRK or
>>LASIK to correct this. How hard is it to detect that surgery has been done? Is
>>it obvious during a normal eye exam?
>>
>>The reason why I'm asking is that I'm also considering joining the French
>>Foreign Legion, and I read in a message posted in 1996 (message id
>><4g2i57$g...@teaser.fr>) by a French doctor that the FFL does not accept
>>applicants who has had refractive surgery done. Does anybody know if that is
>>still their position?
>>
>>What about other military forces? I read on a website that the US Navy SEALs
>>are experimenting with refractive surgery. Are there any particular reasons
>>for not accepting eye surgery for soldiers, or is it just that it's a new
>>technique?
This is a very interesting question; I thought of getting LASIK for the
same reason (it's generally accepted by now btw that LASIK is better than
PRK, especially for higher myopes like myself (-6.00)).
About six months ago I saw a post on an unofficial site about the FFL, the
guy was wondering whether he could join with glasses. The host of the
unofficial site said it was not a problem, and that he also might consider
surgical correction to minimize any hassles. I don't remember if the host
was connected in any official way to the Legion, or was an ex-member, but
I don't believe so.
I think certain military are wary of surgically-corrected because they
believe that under *extremely* high pressure situations (notin a
psychological sense but in terms of altitude and so on--like with
parachuting, underwater work, etc.) the eye may disintegrate because of
the structural weakening induced by surgery. HOWEVER, I would say that
that is *much* probable with LASIK than with RK and even PRK. In the world
of refractive surgery 1996 (the date of your message) is somewhat
outdated, especially if the doctor *at the time* was merely going off of
something he heard months or years *before that*. You should contact the
FFL directly and ask them; they have an official web-site connected to
their embassy in Washington (I'm assuming you are American from your post)
at:
http://www.info-france-usa.org/america/embassy/legion/legion.htm
Bonne chance!
Ivan Jacobs
>
> I'm myopic (-2.50D on both eyes) and am currently considering doing PRK or
> LASIK to correct this. How hard is it to detect that surgery has been done? Is
> it obvious during a normal eye exam?
>
> The reason why I'm asking is that I'm also considering joining the French
> Foreign Legion, and I read in a message posted in 1996 (message id
> <4g2i57$g...@teaser.fr>) by a French doctor that the FFL does not accept
> applicants who has had refractive surgery done. Does anybody know if that is
> still their position?
>
> What about other military forces? I read on a website that the US Navy SEALs
> are experimenting with refractive surgery. Are there any particular reasons
> for not accepting eye surgery for soldiers, or is it just that it's a new
> technique?
>
> http://www.dejanews.com/rg_mkgrp.xp Create Your Own Free Member Forum
topography which sometimes even fails to detect it. So if you don't
tell, no one will know.
zen
<groan>) and the possible physical weakening of the eye or that the concern
is the general consensus that night vision could suffer after
surgery(another <groan> from me).
jeremiah...@my-dejanews.com wrote in message
Selwyn
or LASIK during a routine slit lamp examination. Lying (even by
omission) on your military entrance application could cause you
serious problems later on in your career.
But, more importantly, the reasons that the military (and police,
firefighters, pilots, etc.) do not embrace refractive surgery have
certain merit. Laser procedures certainly compromise the integrity of
the cornea to a lesser degree than RK, but depending how much
correction was accomplished, the cornea IS structurally weakened,
because Bowman's membrane is compromised. This membrane, which
provides strength for the cornea, is either cut with the microkeratome
during a LASIK procedure, or ablated during PRK.
Also, surgically "flattening" the optical zone of the cornea reduces
the amount of available light entering the pupil. This has the
potential for troublesome night vision.
While none of these issues should effect the average person, they
could be problematic for those who are occupationally exposed to
extremely low atmospheric pressure (e.g. pilots), high pressure (e.g.
divers), risk of blunt trauma to the eye (e.g. soldiers, police). Of
course maximum visual acuity in low contrast and low light conditions
is imperative for all these occupations.
Sel
Tom Morrow
Dr_S...@ucsd.edu (Selwyn) writes:
> Also, surgically "flattening" the optical zone of the cornea reduces
> the amount of available light entering the pupil. This has the
> potential for troublesome night vision.
Are you sure it reduces the amount of light entering the pupil? If so,
can you explain further how the flattening reduces the amount of light
entering?
The conventional wisdom is that the troublesome night vision after
refractive surgery is from unfocussed light entering the pupil, not
from less light entering.
-Tom
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Selwyn
Morrow) wrote:
>In article <35d37321.579835@mail>
>Dr_S...@ucsd.edu (Selwyn) writes:
>
>> Also, surgically "flattening" the optical zone of the cornea reduces
>> the amount of available light entering the pupil. This has the
>> potential for troublesome night vision.
>
>Are you sure it reduces the amount of light entering the pupil? If so,
>can you explain further how the flattening reduces the amount of light
>entering?
>
>The conventional wisdom is that the troublesome night vision after
>refractive surgery is from unfocussed light entering the pupil, not
>from less light entering.
>
>-Tom
You are referring to "night myopia", which can also create troublesome
night vision for LASIK patients, but for another reason.
Because LASIK reshapes only the central portion of the cornea, when
the pupil dilates, light may enter through the portion of the
peripheral cornea that has not been reshaped.
What I was referring to is a somewhat different problem. When the
cornea is surgically "flattened", the light passing through it is less
focused, more diffused (effectively a more minus, less plus lens).
Since the pupil allows only a portion of available light thorough
anyway, the increased focal length of the cornea, places the pupil in
a larger portion of the "convergence cone" than it was prior to
surgery. More available light simply falls outside the pupil.
Actually, this can also cause vision problems during the day too,
especially in bright, low contrast situations like when skiing or
sailing.
I hope this helps.
Sel