Dog said:
As far as pilots having laser-eye surgery, they do not, generally speaking, get LASIK. Instead they get PRK.
No...they get neither...*if* they want to keep flying...
(Following applies to US pilots only. I haven't heard if the CF will follow suit...but I doubt it. My personal experience shows that the med rules in the States can get waived *if* you're good enough, but up here, they are mostly inflexible. But...as with all things in life...YMMV, especially if the Board is in a good mood...)
All corrective procedures damage the eye, whether by the 'cheese slicer' of LASIK or the 'chunk remover' of PRK. Long term effects are not known on how the eye will stand up to high G manoeuvres when it has been so effected. For that matter, *long* term effects for the general public, non-flying use, are not known, as in the 50 year plus range.
On the other hand, RK makes incisions in the cornea that do *not* go all the way through, as in LASIK. Think of a layer of 10 wet tissues; RK surgeons cut through 9 of them while leaving the last intact. While this weakens the eye temporarily, once healed...3-4 months...the eye is as strong as it was. The theory behind this is because there was never a complete cut through. And no material was removed, as per PRK. It comes down to the fact that in LASIK and PRK, the integrity of the eye has been violated, while in RK, the 'damage' is limited to some deep scratches.
Also, RK has a 30 year plus long term effect database from actual procedures. (Databases come into effect once the 'mass production' type of surgery is done. I don't know the 'real' name for this type of database...but this one works...) Prototype procedures are tracked but not included; if so, then RK has a 60 year long term effect database.
Best bet with *any* type of surgery; research *all* methods, find their pros & cons, sit back, read them, get some questions, research those, then get a second opinion. For vision correction, seek out a third, and ensure all of them perform different or multiple surgery types. Costly...but it's your
eyes you're talking about!