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Initial-medical limits on uncorrected vision, and Ortho-K

I saw the ortho-k product (a night-only-wear contact lens which gradually reshapes your eye, to correct short-sightedness) some years ago, but it appeared to offer only a very small effect - of the order of 1 diopter.

However when I had a new eye test this week, I spoke to them about this and apparently you can achieve 3-4 diopters, which is obviously a huge improvement.

I have no use for it myself (wear glasses quite happily for driving and flying) but it seems to render obsolete the limits on uncorrected vision that are applied to JAA initial medicals.

Such limits have always been illogical because they are not applied on renewal medicals (on which you get demonstrated ability), and obviously all serving airline pilots have been flying on renewal medicals for some years

So, your vision could be -7, bring it down to -5 with this lens, nobody can tell you have been using it, you get your initial medical, and off you go...

What is the latest on EASA medical requirements, particularly for the Class 1?

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Here you go!

Interesting... thanks FD.

So there is still the -6 limit on the Class 1 Initial but the way I read it, it is no longer a "hard" limit.

There is no longer a -6 limit on the Class 2 Initial.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

its not that difficult to detect someone who uses ok you get an abnormal retinoscopy reflex and i very much suspect you get abnormal ccorneal topography as well

however lots of people have distorted retinoscopy reflex yet hold class one medical

my guess would be that if you are outside the initial limits and used ok to get you from say -7 to say 5.50 then no one would be able to tell

i am sure that someone Will have done this but they are hardly going to own up on some internet forum

(d) Refractive error (1) At initial examination an applicant may be assessed as fit with: (i) hypermetropia not exceeding +5.0 dioptres; (ii) myopia not exceeding -6.0 dioptres; (iii) astigmatism not exceeding 2.0 dioptres; (iv) anisometropia not exceeding 2.0 dioptres; provided that optimal correction has been considered and no significant pathology is demonstrated.

What is interesting here is whether an astigmatism is added to the myopia or whether you can have -6.0 diopters spherical and in addition to that -2.0 diopters astigmatism. In the old JAR regulation, astigmatism was just added to myopia and the combined value was to not exceed 5.0 if I remember correctly.

I'm not sure how I would use that ortho-k product. Let's say I have -7.0 myopia and I start using the ortho-k product at night. From what I gathered, the result will not be stable and gradually worsen during the day. Would I have to wait until a value sort of stabilizes and then order glasses that will correct the remaining myopia, go to the AMC and hope that I'm lucky and the combination of my deformed cornea and my newly made glasses give me good enough results?

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