Western Laser Eye Associates | Dr. Anderson Penno

Airline pilots rely on their sense of sight more than any other sense to safely transport people from location to location. The burden of wearing eye glasses or contact lenses to help correct nearsightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism leads many pilots today to look into LASIK eye surgery.

While most people can resume work in a few days after LASIK eye surgery, it is recommended that pilots be especially cautious about their recovery time. In fact, many airlines require a six-week waiting period after LASIK surgery before piloting to ensure they meet Federal Aviation Administration vision standards.

As with any elective surgery, LASIK eye surgery does have potential risks and complications that could hinder a pilot’s ability to properly do his or her job. Those possibilities can include:

• Visual aberrations (double vision, glare, starbursts, etc.)
• Dry eye
• Blurring
• Haze
• Irregular flap healing
• Corneal scarring
• Infection

These risks are greatly reduced when your eye surgery is performed by a qualified, experienced surgeon like Dr. Anderson Penno. Dr. Penno has performed several thousand refractive surgeries since 1996 and personally takes time to ensure each patient is a good candidate for LASIK.

The possibility of a pilot losing or breaking glasses or contacts prior to a flight can have a potentially disastrous effect on the outcome of the flight. If you are a pilot and would like to learn if you are a candidate for LASIK, please contact our eye surgery office today to arrange a free LASIK evaluation.