Would like to start with saying that this site has really been of assistance in gaining information about the Armed Forces( a tad sight more than the staff at recruiting offices).
After countless enquiries on the Army's policy on laser eye surgery(with no straight answer of course) I decided to go ahead with it (performed on January 2003) and the results have been excellent. 20/20 in both eyes with no complications. I applied for the armed forces in june and was turned down by the medical board. I received a letter from them stating that I was eligible to reapply in February 2004 and would then be evaluated by their own eye specialist.
I'm turning 26 next April and therefore my time is running out. Has anyone in this forum any knowledge on this topic or been in a similar situation? Basically I'm wondering if they're just mucking me about or if I should wait it out. My opthalmologist says that my eyesight will remain stable and they can go through strenuous physical activity (skydiving etc) Any thoughts or comments?
A buddy of mine had laser eye surgery and he wasn't able to join the forces as it may have an effect on your night vision, personally I know it to be a load of crap as he has better vision than I do now, something like 20/13. And it has maintained that level since he got it done 2 years ago. Best of luck to you mate, its a stupid burocracy you could call and make an appointment with the Armys eye laddy but I doubt it will make a difference in the reapplication period.
If a man has nothing he is willing to die for then he isn't fit to live.
I had laser eye surgey whilst serving in the Corps so i managed to miss all that medical board nonsense.
I've heard several reasons why the forces are wary of laser eye surgey the most common are:
1. It affects night vision - utter cr*p, you may get a bit of 'starlighting' soon after surgey but this usually goes after 4 - 6 months, and the benefit compared with glasses / contact lenses is immesurable.
2. Laser eye surgery works by removing the damaged areas of the eye that cause distortion, and hence lack of vision, there is a thought that this weakens the eye so things like scuba diving are not allowed - the pressure may cause the eye to fracture. I haven't been able to ascertain this but I would suggest that you get in touch with a recognised diving association (BSAC, PADI etc) and see what their medical bods say on the subject.
I don't know of any tests actually conducted on servicemen/women regarding the appropiatness of eye surgery all the information has been obtain from BMA reports - but as eye surgey is advancing year on year then this information is out of date by the time it reaches the people who have to make the decisions on policy.
It has alyaws amazed me that the forces think it ok to wear 'long term' contact lenses in the field but not allow eye surgery, the potential for eye problems through protracted use of contact lenses is far greater than through eye surgery.
Laser eye surgery works by removing the damaged areas of the eye that cause distortion
Not quite. Most people with poor eyesight have no damage to their eyes. Generally the eyeball is slightly the wrong shape. In someone shortsighted the eyeball is a bit to long and so light coming in is focused in front of the retina. The laser reshapes the cornea so the light is focused exactly on the retina.
thanks for your quick replies chaps. What really pisses me off is that my recruiting office told me that everything would be OK when I reapplied in February. Its also strange that the MOD as yet has no fixed policy on laser eye surgery while most of Britain's allies have done it yonks ago. Even the Metropolitan police have fixed policies regarding laser eye surgery. The minister defence has also stated that the MOD has relaxed its policies on LES, as well as general eyesight requirements in the Armed Forces. It also no longer appears on the list of disqualifying medical conditions on the RG8. There it only mentions squint surgery.
Does anybody have any idea of the criteria used by the Army when they examine applicants who've undergone LES? At least then I could get my opthalmologist to examine me with the same criteria in order to determine if I should bother to wait until Feb 2004 to reapply.
Can you get away with not informing the army that you had laser surgery? Does the company who carries out the procedure tell your doctor you've had it done and he in turn puts this on the medical questionnaire the army gives out?
Problem is that I put it on my application. a mate who's already in the forces told me that if they were to find out later they could boot me out and leave me high and dry. Sounds quite plausible
on a further note to this topic: I've just been browsing through the FAQ's in the Armed Forces website and the issue of laser eye surgery is addressed. There it states
Not to long ago any form of laser eye treatment was an instant medical rejection for service in the Army. They recently changed the policy to look at each case individually. Depending on the type of treatment carried out, the time since carried out and the final outcome of the surgery you may be considered. This is subject to final medical approval.
As you can see the MOD has once again outdone itself in the art of communication. I included concise documentation(written by my surgeon) of my surgery along with the RG8 and I dont think they even read it. The letter I received from the Medical Board stated(among other things) that when I re-applied they required evidence from my surgeon on what type of surgery I had performed!
Your experiences are nothing unusual, when you join you'll soon learn that admin in the forces is f*cking sh*te - especially when is being done by some centralised self important ar*ehole somewhere in his nice warm office - they probably 'lost' your additional information somewhere between preening themselves in front of the mirror and ordering lunch in the pub - whilst explaining to the barmaid they are 'soldiers'.
Photocopy everything and ask for confirmation that they have received the additional documents.
gash-hand,
thanks for the advice. After dealing with the recruitment office for a couple of months I can very well picture the recruiter as u described 'em. Luckily I did make photocopies of all the documents I sent along with my application, medical journals are a pain in the ass to get a hold of and since I'm living in Norway I had to get them translated to English on top of evrything else! The letter of rejection that I received from the Medical Board gave me an address to write to if I had any queries so I think I'll do just that. U wouldn't by any chance know of anybody who has any idea of the criteria they go after when evaluating canditates who've undergone laser eye surgery?
1 The process of correcting the eye involves using a laser to cut steps into the cornea. This can cause problems when using NVGs or at night as glaring or flares can occur.
2 There have been cases of laser eye surgery drastially reducing night vision ability. For civvis - doesn't really matter. For us not good news.
The Americans are conducting extensive trials with their pilots at the mo and they expect the results next year sometime.
Hope that's some help......
Last edited by sp10122 on Thu 11 Sep, 2003 2:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
utter rubbish! I've regained 20-20 vision in both eyes, have experienced no side-effects and my night vision has been tested and received the all-clear! On top of that my hobby(taekwondo) exposes me to quite a few blows to the eyes and the flap hasn't "opened" back up as the MO's claim. Maybe the problem lies in the fact that when the Mo's got their degrees the concept of a laser was only to be dreamed of. Time for them to start adjusting alongside developments in modern medicine!
As I said, in some cases there have been problems with night vision. If it was all cases then obviously it would be an instant disqualification.
I've not heard that there are worries about the eye flap reopening. The major current worry is that due to the 'stepping' created by the surgery will cause flaring especially when using night vision kit. For pilots this would be a major problem. There may well be different standards for infantry and so on. As I said they're letting the Yanks spend the money doing trials and I suspect we'll go with their results.
I mut say I think the MO's I know are generally good people...the one's in aviation medicine all qualify as pilots and they understand the problems involved. They don't make Army medical policy and they don't have much leeway to make decisions against policy either.
sp10122: I was probably a bit hard on the Mo's and I realize that they don't make the policies. I've received a letter from the MO stating that I can reapply 12months after surgery(Feb 2004). The Metropolitan Police have an official 12month policy on laser-eye surgery and I get the impression that the Army is doing the same. The problem is that I cant get a straight answer or any info on the criteria they look for. You wouldn't per chance know of anybody who has any answers to this?
It's MOD main that dictates policy so you'd porbably want to speak directly to the office there and appeal directly to them. If you can reasonably demonstrate no side effects I think they'd be mad not to take you.
I'm afraid I only see the flying side of the MOs....I'll certainly ask if I get the chance but your best bet is to see your ACIO and they'll be able to get the address for you or at least give you the number. If you speak to your GP as well he might be able to sign a letter for you.
