Eye Surgery Revolutionizes US Military Careers and Life
Aging fighter pilots can now remain in the cockpit longer, reducing annual recruiting needs. And recruits whose bad vision once would have disqualified them from the special forces are now eligible, making the competition for these coveted slots even tougher.
Almost every Thursday during the academic year, a bus carrying a dozen or so Naval Academy midshipmen leaves Annapolis for the 45-minute drive to Bethesda, where Navy doctors perform laser eye surgery on them, one after another, with assembly-line efficiency.
When Ensign Michael Shaughnessy had the surgery in his junior year at the Naval Academy, his new 20-20 vision qualified him for flight school. And that is where he decided to go after graduating last month ranked in the top 10 percent of his class, rather than pursuing a career as a submarine officer.
The procedure used by the Navy, photorefractive keratectomy, or PRK, is different from the one used on most civilians. That approach, known as laser-in situ keratomileusis, or Lasik, requires cutting a flap in the surface of the cornea and then using a laser to reshape the cornea. But military doctors worry that the flap could come loose during combat, especially in a supersonic fighter. So rather than slicing into the cornea covering, Navy doctors grind it away. The approach requires a longer recovery as the covering re-forms but leaves the eye more stable.
Filed under Eye Treatment, Lasik Eye Surgery |
You may also like to read
- Stronger Warnings For Lasik Surgery From FDA
- Free LASIK Surgery for Iraq Bound Soldiers
- Developer of LASIK Eye Surgery, Dr. Mani Bhowmik Returns to Indian Roots
- More Attention to the Eyes of Injured Combat Veterans Needed
- Eye Surgeon Revolutionizes Corneal Transplant
- Free Lasik Surgery for US Army
- Advanced Technique to Control Glaucoma
- Advanced Lasik Surgery On Astronauts Got NASA Approval
- Clear Your Eyes from Eye Floaters by Laser Beam Zabs
- Princeton Eye Group Revolutionizes Cataract Surgery in Central New Jersey
