question about wearing contacts/glasses prior to medical exa

TXaviator

Well-Known Member
ok so i scheduled a medical for monday morning and they advised me to take my contacts out 24 hours before my appointment....

now, i have better than 20/20 vision with my contacts in, but im totally stinkin blind without them, to the point that even wearing my glasses, i am pretty non-functional, cant drive, cant navigate my house, due to the super fishbowl effect....

whats the reasoning on wanting me to show up with my contacts out?

any fudge room on this? as it is, ill have to get someone to drive me to the darn appointment or i'd wreck my car on the way, guaranteed.
 
Re: question about wearing contacts/glasses prior to medical

I can't answer the question as to why to take out the contacts, but let me offer just a small piece of advice. Get yourself a glasses prescription that gives you 20/20 or better. My eyes finally got to the point that they wouldn't let me wear contacts for more than a few hours at a time. I tried all kinds of different brands/styles, etc. Every eye doc I talked to said my eyes just got too "worn out" from constant contact use.

It is a pain in the arse, but a good optomologist will get you what you need.
 
Re: question about wearing contacts/glasses prior to medical

The instructions in the Guide for AME's says to check vision with and without correction. This was written before they changed the standards to corrected to 20/20 (previously, a Class 1 or 2 required a SODA for uncorrected vision worse than 20/100). They now accept the corrected vision only (which is what we do here).

If the AME's office will not budge, maybe you are seeing the wrong AME.:)
 
Re: question about wearing contacts/glasses prior to medical

The instructions in the Guide for AME's says to check vision with and without correction. This was written before they changed the standards to corrected to 20/20 (previously, a Class 1 or 2 required a SODA for uncorrected vision worse than 20/100). They now accept the corrected vision only (which is what we do here).

If the AME's office will not budge, maybe you are seeing the wrong AME.:)

right. with contacts i can do the 20/15 line no problem. i was just wondering what the deal with wanting me to show up without my contacts in was all about. seemed odd/pointless.
 
Re: question about wearing contacts/glasses prior to medical

I can't answer the question as to why to take out the contacts, but let me offer just a small piece of advice. Get yourself a glasses prescription that gives you 20/20 or better. My eyes finally got to the point that they wouldn't let me wear contacts for more than a few hours at a time. I tried all kinds of different brands/styles, etc. Every eye doc I talked to said my eyes just got too "worn out" from constant contact use.

It is a pain in the arse, but a good optomologist will get you what you need.


fortunately my prescription has not budged since highschool (about 10 years ago) and i have contacts that are very comfortable for me and rarely give me any discomfort.
 
Re: question about wearing contacts/glasses prior to medical

Yeah I just got a medical last week and for the first time they were giving me a hard time about wearing contacts. I didn't think uncorrected was checked anymore.
He want to put a 7-7-7 code with my medical or something. He finally conceded to let me tell him my uncorrected vision from my last eye exam.

I definitely got my $85 worth.:rolleyes:

Any chance you can do a east coast road show doc?
 
Re: question about wearing contacts/glasses prior to medical

We used to put 777 for the uncorrected vision when contacts were worn. The FAA has stopped that and does not want it reported anymore.
 
Re: question about wearing contacts/glasses prior to medical

Years ago--like in the early 80's, I worked for and ophthalmologist. At that time we had all contact lens patients have their contacts out for 24hrs before the exam. However, at that time---many more people were wearing hard contacts--not soft or gas perm lenses. The shape of the eye was changed by these lenses and to get a good current Rx--you came in with your glasses on--not your contacts.

I now work for an optometrist and this does not seem to apply anymore. Most people are wearing soft or gas perm lenses. This is just my personal opinion and observation from being in the eye care field for many years--I am not a doctor.

I would ask your dr why he wants you to do this. Also, you should have a good up-to-date pair of glasses with a current RX. My son has worn gas perm contact lenses since he was 9 yrs old and has 20/20 vision with cl's and glasses.
 
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