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Wear contacts, want laser treatment during service

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neilrobinson

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I currently wear contact lenses, need to order the lenses for my respirator. How do I order these? I'm blind as a bat when during CBRN.

And if I go for laser treatment further down the line, what happens when I go for my medical upon asking for extension of service/promotion? Do they stop you for having laser treatment?

What happens if you go for laser treatment when you are in? Do they still frown upon it? I know it's risky, but having decent sight is worth taking a risk for.
 
neilrobinson said:
I currently wear contact lenses, need to order the lenses for my respirator. How do I order these? I'm blind as a bat when during CBRN.

And if I go for laser treatment further down the line, what happens when I go for my medical upon asking for extension of service/promotion? Do they stop you for having laser treatment?

What happens if you go for laser treatment when you are in? Do they still frown upon it? I know it's risky, but having decent sight is worth taking a risk for.
Click to expand...


1. Wearing contact lenses is YOUR personal choice.

2. The RAF provide free lenses for your gas mask (yes I'm old)!

3. As far as I am aware, going for private treatment (laser surgery) could leave you open for major trouble later as the military frown on you not going through "their" system. The fact that the military does not provide this treatment is irrelevant - point 1 applies again!
 
Go see the med centre for an FMed 79 (Prescription for Spectacles) - go get your eyes tested and get the optician to complete the form then return it to the med centre. They will order the respirator inserts and the lovely NHS stylee defence spectacles.

With regards to laser surgery, the info is in AP1269A leaflet 5-14 para 7b.
 
If you want laser treatment ....go for it, you can ever get military discount, I did.
Go to med centre speak to the quack, they will tell you will be temp downgraded for 6 months.

Get op
Get downgraded
Get upgraded with letter from optician after 2 months ( I did).
2 years down the line.....No probs.

Simples

SCJ
 
a

a

SORRY CJ said:
If you want laser treatment ....go for it, you can ever get military discount, I did.
Go to med centre speak to the quack, they will tell you will be temp downgraded for 6 months.

Get op
Get downgraded
Get upgraded with letter from optician after 2 months ( I did).
2 years down the line.....No probs.

Simples

SCJ
Click to expand...

cheers thanks for that help
 
A word of caution. Make sure your downgrading doesn't conflict with anything such as pending OOA's or anything else your Management has planned.

I plan to get laser treatment sooner or later but in a quiet point of my first or second tour.
 
I would love to get laser too, but just can't afford it at the moment.

Sorry to hi-jack the thread, but Woodja mentioned "lovely NHS stylee defence spectacles". I didn't know the RAF provide you with glasses aswell as dental?

I have RTC in 4 weeks and am worried about the stage where we have to don respirators etc, it's going to be a royal pain in the backside taking off glasses, putting them somewhere and getting the respirator on within x seconds!!

I do have contact lenses, but my eyes sometimes reject them (it's a bit hit and miss).
 
You can't wear contacts with your respirator anyway, if CS gets behind them you're going to be in pain. As for donning your respirator with glasses, you wear an old pair and launch them into the haversack, no probs. Thousands of us before you have done it and thousands more will, don't worry.
 
Joe_90 said:
You can't wear contacts with your respirator anyway, if CS gets behind them you're going to be in pain. As for donning your respirator with glasses, you wear an old pair and launch them into the haversack, no probs. Thousands of us before you have done it and thousands more will, don't worry.
Click to expand...

Brilliant, thanks.
Tesco do a "value" range of glasses for £15, might be worth picking some of them up before I go!
 
on the contact lenses/ CS note...

Whilst I wouldn't advise it, I wear my contacts for CCS etc, including in the RTF. I find it focuses my mind rather well on getting my drills right - on the basis that a bit of CS in my eyes through a duff drill is probably preferable to blister agent.
 
Go see your med centre about it all. Check it won't interfere with your trade.

Bear in mind that the ophthalmologists who are doing these procedures are normally wearing glasses. That's the reason I've never had this done. My eyes are hopefully going to be lasting me another 60+ years. No one knows what laser surgery will do to them long-term.
 
JPJ83 said:
Go see your med centre about it all. Check it won't interfere with your trade.

Bear in mind that the ophthalmologists who are doing these procedures are normally wearing glasses. That's the reason I've never had this done. My eyes are hopefully going to be lasting me another 60+ years. No one knows what laser surgery will do to them long-term.
Click to expand...

Yep this is true there is always a risk and there have been concerns, infections, treatments that didn't work . Its been around in various forms since the Berraquer (Columbia) in the 50's and Fyodorov (USSR) in the 70's.

The results from a March 2008 poll performed by the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery of over 3,000 peer-reviewed articles published over the past 10 years in clinical journals from around the world, including 19 studies comprising 2,200 patients that looked directly at satisfaction, revealed a 95.4 percent patient satisfaction rate among LASIK patients worldwide.
LINKY
ANOTHER LINKY

There are over 100,000 treatments every year in the UK alone and yes the risks are there as with most things we do....Smoking, drinking and eating crap foods. The percentage although small are very real and great thought should be taken before surgery is undertaken.

The link below is from 2003; near on 9 years ago telling of the woes and pitfalls of treatment....A lot of new tech and procedures can happen in 9 years.
Check it out before you buy into it.

FINAL LINKY THING

Hope this helps?

SCJ
 
Bionic

Bionic

:PDT_Xtremez_19:I went to the Med centre after listening to people some say you must tell them- some say dont tell, so i bit the bullet saw the SMO to which he said its totally up to you and good luck all i had i had to do was bring in the letter the surgeon gives you after the surgery and they scan it in to your records.
No downgrade
No fuss
Best thing i have ever done
 
ItsAbigWorld said:
I would love to get laser too, but just can't afford it at the moment.

Sorry to hi-jack the thread, but Woodja mentioned "lovely NHS stylee defence spectacles". I didn't know the RAF provide you with glasses aswell as dental?

I have RTC in 4 weeks and am worried about the stage where we have to don respirators etc, it's going to be a royal pain in the backside taking off glasses, putting them somewhere and getting the respirator on within x seconds!!

I do have contact lenses, but my eyes sometimes reject them (it's a bit hit and miss).
Click to expand...

I am a reservist and have been in your situation before, I had to take out my contact lenses at Halton and do my drills virtually blind, it wasn't nice as I couldn't really see what I was doing and where I was going. You take your glasses out before you even don the respirator and suit. You don't swap and change them.

I am ordering lenses for my respirator, as I have to got to Halton again in October as I am switching to full time. I tried wearing contact lenses earlier this year in the CS chamber, but the dose of CS was low compared to at Halton. I didn't feel as much of the effects as I thought in my eyes, but they still burned, I do not recommend wearing contact lenses whatsoever in the chamber, even if it makes you focus harder.

Get prescription lenses for respirator asap. This is no1 on my agenda.
 
Woodja said:
Go see the med centre for an FMed 79 (Prescription for Spectacles) - go get your eyes tested and get the optician to complete the form then return it to the med centre. They will order the respirator inserts and the lovely NHS stylee defence spectacles.

With regards to laser surgery, the info is in AP1269A leaflet 5-14 para 7b.
Click to expand...


what do they look like? lol
 
Laser eye surgery

Laser eye surgery

I had laser eye surgery 18 months ago. Booked for it when I got back from OOA as I knew I would not be going away again any time in the near future. I did not go through the med centre, just went and got it done.
Had it done on the Friday afternoon, back in work Monday morning no problem. The optician told me to lay off contact sports for 6 weeks but that I could go running after 1 week. Plus I used the money from my OOA to pay for it. If you mention you are in the RAF they may give you 25% off. My surgery was meant to be £2250 but got it for just under £1700. Best money I have ever spent.
I have had no further problems with my eyes or any medicals I have completed. This inc my extension of service one.May cause a problem if you go aircrew.
The way I done it may not be the best way to do it but it worked for me. Dont see why you need to be down graded for 6 months, just make sure you dont have CCS or Pre deployment trg etc coming up anytime soon.:PDT_Xtremez_30:
 
dozyscopie1 said:
I had laser eye surgery 18 months ago. Booked for it when I got back from OOA as I knew I would not be going away again any time in the near future. I did not go through the med centre, just went and got it done.
Had it done on the Friday afternoon, back in work Monday morning no problem. The optician told me to lay off contact sports for 6 weeks but that I could go running after 1 week. Plus I used the money from my OOA to pay for it. If you mention you are in the RAF they may give you 25% off. My surgery was meant to be £2250 but got it for just under £1700. Best money I have ever spent.
I have had no further problems with my eyes or any medicals I have completed. This inc my extension of service one.May cause a problem if you go aircrew.
The way I done it may not be the best way to do it but it worked for me. Dont see why you need to be down graded for 6 months, just make sure you dont have CCS or Pre deployment trg etc coming up anytime soon.:PDT_Xtremez_30:
Click to expand...

Well the RAF have access to your medical reports when you go for a trade, remuster, or get promotion. or a new offer of service, so i think it would be a bit silly to cover it up. i think honesty is the best policy.

For those who keep PM me about glasses and the respirator - you do not wear glasses at all, or put them on during your decontamination drills! you keep them off, or get lenses for your mask.
 
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