Eye issues (lazy, surgery, dialation)

[Guest ANG_WANNABE]

I just chatted with a Senior Master Sergeant at GoANG.com and he told me that the current policy of the ANG is not to accept pilots that have had eye surgery. Is this true?

[Guest F16PilotMD]

??????????????????

ANG = USAF = AFRES.....all same medical regs.

[Guest Want135's]

Have been researching this for quite some time, you can find many related posts to this topic as well on this site. With the Guard I believe 10% of pilots are allowed to have the acceptable PRK eye surgery. There is a long waiver process including a waiting period to go through. Currently LASIK, RK or any other procedure is not accepted.

Anyone please feel free to post any new or additional info.

[GreasySideUp]

Absolutely not true. I doubt you'll find a recruiter right now in the guard that knows it is legal and you'll even have a pretty tough time finding an ANG optometrist that knows it is legal as well. Don't let them tell you otherwise, but be very tactful about it by bringing them a copy of the waiver after you've educated yourself. Hit PRK in that search button at the top of the screen and you'll find most of your answers, if you still have questions I'll be glad to try and help out.

-j

[Guest ET]

GreasySide is the man on this subject and I've gotten alot of info from him but I'll add a bit. The important thing to remember is that the guard has the same medical regs as the AF. If a certain unit doesn't allow it, they probably will in the future. This is a topic that most of the pilots in the unit don't know about because it doesn't affect them. You ask 10 different people and get 10 different answers. So don't ask everyone, just those who should know during the application process.

[ 29. April 2004, 02:24: Message edited by: ET ]

[Guest Liger]

wondering if anyone's had experience with this... had prk two weeks ago on the right eye, one week ago on the left. woke up this morning and as soon as i opened my eyes my right eye was screaming-- very painful, vision cloudy. i put in a ton of rewetting drops and i feel fine now, but it's a still a little blurry. the left is fine. this happened to a certain extent yesterday (in both eyes) but my vision quickly returned to normal. i'm currently taking the steroid drops 4 x day. i guess what i want to know is how sturdy are the eyes two weeks after surgery? is this just part of the growing pains or could i be seriously effed up? before today i had 20/20 in both eyes. my doc said to come in tomorrow if my vision doesn't return to normal. i think i'll be okay, but i'm still freaking out a little bit.

[GreasySideUp]

I had pain for a while after surgery. Every now and then my eye would "stick" to my eye lid in the morning. If I thought it was going to happen I put saleen drops in before I opened that eye and waited a few minutes, that usually did the trick. They will get better in a few weeks but until then carry around some drops and use generousouly in addition to the steroids whenever they feel a little dry. I would still go see the doc if you are at all concerned but don't worry too much about it.

Hang in there

-j

[Guest eowizard]

Mine was painful the first week, eventually stabilized at 20/15 in about a month and that's where they are still sitting after a year. I've heard some cases where it can take 3-6 months to stabilize. I found that if I was really dehydrated, my eye would do the "sticking to the eyelid" thing in the morning as well. No worries.

[Guest Aces-High]

I'm a little worred about something that I've just been noticing. There is a little spot in my vision that won't go away. I just started noticing it about a month ago. Basically it will come into my vision when i move my eyeball. When I move my eye the spot moves around. For instance when I look left it moves more towards the center of my vision. When I look right it moves to the right corner of my eye. Sometimes it doesn't seem to always rest in the same spot and if I look up, then stare straight ahead it will actually slide down my field of vision and come to rest near the lower half of my eye.

I don't know what it is, and it worries me that it might effect my brooks physical. If anyone has any input I would appreciate it.

[Guest F16PilotMD]

"Floaters" are normal. Some have more than others, but everyone has them. Try not to fixate on it. You will end up with a headache. And, more important, the only time this becomes important for your physical is if it impairs your vision (very, very, very rare) or if it BOTHERS YOU. So, don't say it bothers you at Brooks or you are in for a twirl.

I can't remember the exact material involved, but basically this is just debris floating in the gel inside your eyeball.

[Guest Aces-High]

Thanks for the response. It doesn't impair my vision, or bother me. The spot just worried me thats all. The only other thing is that I have often seen what appears to be little pieces of link slide across my field of vision, but in this case it is an actual spot instead of a line, does that still count in the "floaters" definition.

Take Care,

Aces

[ 20. December 2004, 14:30: Message edited by: Aces-High ]

[Guest skipplet]

Ignoring them made them go away for me.

[Guest F16PilotMD]

Aces, I think these are still likely to be 'floaters'. Wandering spots, lines, and the like are usually what people 'see'. Something permanent with your retina wouldn't move are change...it would be fixed in space and may just get worse but never better.

I understand your anxiety. My advice is to foget it. If you really want to be 100% sure, go see an optometrist for a complete eye exam. They will be a little cheaper than an ophthalmologist (an M.D.) and should be adequate.

[Guest BigWebs]

I had an IFC1 last week, and ever since my eyes seem to be worse. I believe i have -1(stigmatism) in each eye with dialation drops. The day after the drops i was still a bit light sensitive, and near vision was more blurred than normal. The light sensitive prob was gone by the second day but the blurring seems to still be there slightly. Ive never had any problems before, and yesterday I almosted busted an FAA first class medical. The doc said i was borderline 20/20. Im wondering how long do the effects of the dialation drops take to wear off.

[Guest Broncopilot943]

When I went for my FC1, they gave me a sheet that said it could take "24 hours or longer" before my eyes were back to normal, with no specified end time frame. Within a couple of days, however, they were fine. Did you ask the FAA examiner?

[Guest pilot2B]

Took me about a week to get back to normal after my initial FC1...

[Guest ericvano]

does anybody know what other tests are done when they dilate your pupils? I assume it is just the check for scratches on your cornea and retina? reason i ask is because while i had my vision checked already, i have to go back for the dilation. on my pressures, i had one reading on that was high. the second reading however, was a pass. was wondering if they will re-check eye pressures, basically.

[Guest ChrisH]

Is there any way at all of getting an idea of what your eye refraction is, before getting an eye exam? I am within the 20/70 limits, but my concern is about eye refraction. I have no idea what mine is. I understand one can have 20/20 vision, yet still their refraction can be out of limits, yet one can have 20/70 and be in limits.

My vision is about 20/30 in my left eye and 20/40 in my right eye. The last time I had an eye exam was in 2000. My eyes are not any worse since then. At this exam I got a prescription for eye glasses, but I do not know what prescription they are. Any way of figuring this out? I know the prescription is not strong and it seems like it didn't take much to correct my vision to 20/20.

[Guest utsandman28]

let me see if i can help clarify a little...your refraction is the spherical error in your eye (either too long or too short) - for instance, you will see numbers like -2.25 or +5.50, etc. Although numbers like 20/70 and -1.25 aren't exactly related they do have a high correlation, meaning, someone that see's 20/40 will never have a refractive error of -5.50, because the closer to 0.0 you are, the better you are, just as the closer to 20/20 you are, the more 'normal' your eyes are.

If you are within the 20/70 limits then your refraction should also be well within the limits, so don't worry too much. The only way of really figuring this out is talking to your eye professional, or if you have contacts, check the box. Hope this helps a little...

[Guest ChrisH]

Thanks. I actually found a website that correlated your vision (Ex. 20/30) with what the estimated refraction for that vision is. If this site is accurate, you are correct in that I am within the limits. I was just curious, because as I read through this board, I have found a few posts from people who had refraction numbers that were out of limits, yet had vision acuity within limits.

[Guest sleepy81]

Hi!

I've just started flying T-38's now and the last two weeks I've noticed that I very often (mayby 2-3 times an hour) have involentary "twitching" of the musles around my eyes. Almost like a cramp... (Don't know the english word for this but...) It does not hurt or anything, just annoying, and it only lasts for 3-4 contractions.

I was just wondering if this has anything to do with the relative high G load I am under every day now, since I never had that problem in T-37's (and g's are about the only physical factor changed)?

I've also heard that the mucles can be "saturated" with O2 if you breath more than you should, and this could cause "cramps". I don't think I breath to much, but to avoid jetfumes, our procedure is to go oxygen 100% after we pop the canopy. Therfore I breath pure oxygen for about 5-10 min a day. Can this have anything to do with it?

Thakns in advance!

[Guest doctidy]

All sounds pretty normal. Would either just see how it goes for a couple more weeks, or have a quick exam w/ your FS.

Have not heard the 100% 02 causing twitching story...and since I've been doing this job for 18+ years...

You can get in trouble breathing 100% 02 for long periods of time (we are talking 24 hrs a day, several days in a row).

[Scooter14]

Sleepy,

After a few months in AETC, things begin to break down. Twitching, involuntary flatulation, drooling. Kind of like the movie Airplane when Capt Over gets sick, but much worse. Just look around at the FAIPS, you'll see what I mean.

In all seriousness, I had the same thing happen to me twice in the last week or so, and it drives you nuts, and I would love to know what causes it.

[Guest KillYourself]

I've heard its due to stress.

Entirely mental and uncontrollable.

[Guest Raccoon]

https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000756.htm

Maybe this article could help