ICL surgery

[chilpyl]

Good morning gents. I recently found out that I am not a viable candidate for PRK eye surgery because of corneal thickness. However, I did get the go ahead to get another type of corrective eye surgery. This one involves inserting an implantable lens behind the iris. While not an absolute necessity, getting my vision fixed has been a personal goal of mine for quite some time now. And now that Uncle Sam is willing to foot the bill, you could say I'm chomping at the bit.

The problem here is attending selection. I chose PRK because I know that it is an approved procedure through SOCOM. The doctor that told me about ICL could not give a solid yes or no on the approval of this surgery. I have not yet had a chance to speak with anyone with 10th grp (SOCOM training holiday), but plan to on Monday. I was checking here in hopes that someone would have some experience or knowledge of this procedure and its "legalities" amongst SOCOM. Thank you for your time gentlemen.

Chris

[11Ber]

I am pretty sure current literature is still PRK or LASEK, not LASIK. I would not think ICL' would be on the list. Anything implantable is subject to become explanted. But check with the SF recruiter closest to you, I assume on Carson

[chilpyl]

Thank you, I called the recruiters office yesterday and the recruiters weren't in the office, but their SPC was. He was the one that recommended that I speak with someone at group.

[The Reaper]

Thank you, I called the recruiters office yesterday and the recruiters weren't in the office, but their SPC was. He was the one that recommended that I speak with someone at group.

I would stop collecting opinions from anonymous people on the internet and focus on getting a definitive answer from a military physician who knows the current policies.

What difference does an additional day or week make?

TR

[medic41]

As far as ICl, you can attend SFAS and the Q. I went to selection with a soldier who had recently gone through the surgery. He had no hitches getting into selection or slotting a class date for the Q.

[Eagle5US]

As far as ICl, you can attend SFAS and the Q. I went to selection with a soldier who had recently gone through the surgery. He had no hitches getting into selection or slotting a class date for the Q.

This is from the medical authority who makes the decisions...

MAJ K,

ICL's require a waiver. Must have demonstrated stable visual acuity 6 months post-op. No short-cuts on time frame. The issue I see with ICL's is many have pre-operative refractions that are greater than +/- 8.0 diopters, and regardless of the surgery, and how good they see now, they won't get a waiver. Waiver request must include pre-op refraction.

The reason is high diopter refraction leads to substantially increased risk of retinal detachment - which for an SF Soldier, far from the flagpole and western medical standard of care (access to an opthalmolgist who can quickly intervene and prevent blindness in that eye) is problematic.

Thanks,
RL