Skydiving After Lasik Eye Surgery

Is it possible to skydive after LASIK eye surgery? If you’ve recently had LASIK surgery, your world has completely changed. It’s almost as if you’re seeing the world for the first time again. You can choose any kind of sunglasses you want, you can read highway signs, and you almost feel like you’re dreaming more clearly. So if you’re ready for an adventure, like skydiving after LASIK, let’s take a look at all the considerations before making reservations at your local dropzone.

What is LASIK Eye Surgery?

LASIK is an acronym that stands for “laser assisted in situ keratomileusis.” This optional surgery is often an alternative to wearing glasses or contacts. LASIK surgery uses a special laser that precisely alters the shape of the cornea tissue in order to improve vision. LASIK surgery basically creates a “flap” and is prone to be injured while healing. Most patients wear special goggles at night to prevent rubbing their eyes unknowingly and use artificial tears to manage dry eyes. 

It’s noted that the corneal flap begins to heal immediately after LASIK and most of the time, is nearly 100% healed within 24 hours. Usually, after a few days, a doctor may clear you to go skiing or going for a run, and possibly after a month, you may be cleared for the more extreme sports like dirt-biking or skydiving. However, it will take around two weeks to a month for the flap to be completely rebonded to the underlying tissue. 

Can You Skydive After LASIK?

The ultimate question here! Although the answer is yes, it doesn’t go without a few cautions. The main concern is the healing process of the corneal flap and what your doctor says. Depending on how long it’s been since your surgery, we may ask for a doctor’s note stating that you’ve healed enough to consider skydiving. Generally speaking, after 6 months to a year from the LASIK procedure, the eye should be healed enough to handle the wind speeds of skydiving freefall.

Risks of Skydiving After LASIK Surgery

The speed of freefall is approximately 120mph and the eye is exposed to the wind is the biggest risk of skydiving after LASIK eye surgery. This is based on the time of the procedure and the healing process of the corneal flap.  The main concern is to protect your eye so you can heal properly and get back to sports or skydiving after LASIK.

How Long to Wait to Skydive After LASIK Eye Surgery

We give a suggested guideline below, however, how long to wait to skydive after LASIK is ultimately up to you and your doctor. 

Here are a few things to consider. If you are tandem skydiving, we provide goggles for you to jump with. These goggles fit snug on your face but are made with ventilation holes to prevent fogging. Although snug, the wind does pass through them, especially with the ventilation holes. When our guests would like to skydive with glasses or contacts, we usually add scotch tape on the holes to prevent their contacts from falling out. A little bit of tape may keep contacts from coming out, but the circulation of air could still wrinkle a healing corneal flap from LASIK.

Experienced skydivers have the luxury of choosing to wear goggles with an open-face helmet or a full-face helmet. Being able to wear a quality full-face helmet prevents the wind from rushing in and potentially damaging the corneal flap, and gives more range of time when they can skydive again after LASIK. 

Here is our recommendation timetable of how long to wait to skydive after LASIK eye surgery:

So, if you’re ready to take to the skies with your new sight-seeing powers of clearer vision, we’re ready to welcome you to the skies. Please call or click to book your skydive today!