Eye surgery and diving

[Ian Wetherall]

This may have been covered already so apologies in advance

Being a myopic magoo I was seriously considering PRK or Lasik etc

Obviously this thins out the corneas so the questionis what effect on diving this would have??

Im not planning on diving below 50 metres at any point

Cheers

Ian

[garethwoodruff]

I had mine done when I was 21 / 22 (PRK) happily diving sinces i was 23, now 35 and been diving down to 60 meters with no worries.

Gareth.

[Mike Halligan]

According to fellow members with vastly more experience than I, the only effect is that they see better.

[ChristianG]

This subject comes up periodically on my favourite u/w photography forum.

The upshot has always been that (a) it lets you see better and (b) diving has no significant effect post procedure. The only caveat, as I see it and no-one here can help you in that regard other than an eye surgeon with significant hyperbaric experience, preferably the one that "did" your eyes, can advise you as to when you can go diving again. Speaking personally I'd suggest that you take particular care not to allow your mask to pressurise on descent. Although I've not had the procedure I nevertheless always exhale via my nose on descent and often so even when levelled out.

[Jo Brooks]

I had Lasik surgery in February 2009 and in April 2009 I was diving again. I should stress I had the OK from my surgeon - he was happy that there had been no complications and that I was healing well.
The main concern is risk of infection so voluntary mask clearing was certainly out of the question.

[Jo Brooks]

Forgot to add.....

If anyone is considering LASIK surgery in both eyes, I have several £500 off vouchers for Optimax.
Basically it is a win, win situation, you get £500 off and I get a £50 reward for someone using them!

[Gary Sedgwick]

Being a myopic magoo I was seriously considering PRK or Lasik etc

Obviously this thins out the corneas so the questionis what effect on diving this would have??

Hi Ian,

Firstly, good luck on your quest - if you're like me, the period leading up to the surgery will feel like you've undertaken a major academic research project!

I had LasEk surgery in one eye a few years back, and the result was great - it's now my better eye, and I haven't had any issues from diving. I was only slightly myopic in each eye, but enough in one to require glasses for driving, and for seeing clearly in a cinema/theatre etc.

I went for Lasek over Lasik precisely because of the concerns with diving. Lasik permanently alters the structure of the eyeball in a much more significant way than Lasek due to the corneal flap that is created. Lasek is less popular as the healing time is longer, however the procedure involves removing the epithelium (outer membrane of the cornea) instead of cutting a flap deeper in the cornea itself. So, you might want to consider Lasek over Lasik for greater peace of mind when it comes to diving, but you do have to pay a price - the healing time is a fair bit longer.

I don't know where you're based, but if it's near London, I'd highly recommend Advance Visioncare (http://www.advancevisioncare.co.uk/) where I had my surgery. I had consultations at some of the "big names", but found the service at Advance Visioncare much more personal (Mr. Pillai is the only surgeon, so you'll always be talking to the man that matters) with all the time I needed during consultations to ask detailed questions. They're also comparable price-wise to most of the big names once you factor in what you will actually spend when you select things like Wavefront (I decided early on to not go cheap but go for the best service and technology - it was my eyesight after all!). I had Wavefront because I have very large pupils, but surprisingly it also improved my night vision significantly (less halo/star effects around lights - I'd never noticed it as a problem before, but post-surgery I definitely noticed an improvement).

PM me if you want any further advice on anything, and good luck!

Gary

[ChristianG]

Forgot to add.....

If anyone is considering LASIK surgery in both eyes, I have several £500 off vouchers for Optimax.
Basically it is a win, win situation, you get £500 off and I get a £50 reward for someone using them!
Really?

Sounds much more like a marketing ploy to me, but then I was ever the cynic.

Edit/: If I were to have this procedure, what chances that Optimax would lop £500 off because "I'd heard of their, well, ploy"? What chance that I'd also get a £50 credit for something in the future? But then, does that imply that, in the foreseeable future I'd need another procedure?

Bah! Humbug! And that seems appropriate given the season.

[Laura M]

I had LASIK surgery a month ago by a surgeon who was a diver himself and was told as long as your eyes have healed correctly and you check with your surgeon before going you can dive after 4-6 weeks. Will be getting back in the water in a few weeks so will let you know if there's any issues!!