Opthalmologist question

U

Unregistered

Guest
Here's a question for the doc, this is not for a "friend of a friend", this is for me and I'll state that up front.

I've always had perfect 20/15 vision in both eyes and still have excellent visual acuity in my early 40's, no other health issues - but I'm getting "floaters" in my eyes and want to get that checked out to see if it's correctable and how. I'm perfectly capable of keeping this off paper until/unless I know what I'm dealing with, and it may or may not be any kind of issue at all. I've got a 3rd class medical and no plans for ever going beyond that. No prescription drugs (and no street drugs either!), good health otherwise and active. Light EtOH use but heavy on the caffeine.

My question is - can you tell me anything that I should definitely DO or NOT DO in the process of getting this looked at, prior to it becoming an official paper trail?
 
You should run to an AME..tell him everything and beg him to deny you..anything else Is being dishonest as you will shortly find out. :rolleyes2:
 
Can't answer your question but in the best of POA style I can pass along to you what I've been told. For me there is a family history of detached retina so I've asked about the symptoms. Floaters may be normal but can be an indication of other problems. A sudden increase in floaters is a warning to be checked for sure. Flashes in the eye (not an external source) are a reason to be seen immediately. Last time I had noticeable floaters the doctor concluded that it was associated with aging and the vitreous pulling on or away from the retina or words to that effect. He said the floaters indicated the eye was aging normally and there was less of a likelihood of a detached retina. The picture I got was that small/normal floaters were okay/good and big floaters may not be so good.

There is at least one optometrist on POA who can probably describe it better than I have.
 
Health first, fly later.

You use your vision for more than flying... Be a darned shame that an inflated desire to keep a 3rd did harm to future life.

Get checked out by the optho. Based on what was found, work with your AME on what sort of documentation is needed from the visit.
 
Floaters are common and rarely a sign of underlying bigger problems. As said above, sudden increase in floaters, wavy lines, flashes require immediate attention.

See an ophthalmologist, have it looked at, sleep better.
 
Same commentary here. I have had floaters that are extremely visible when lying on my back staring at a white ceiling since I was a kid. Doc says they're from the fluid in my eye not quite being fluid enough and there are some little protein clumps in the fluid. In my case, nothing to worry about but like the others have said, changes are more important than the floaters themselves. If you're just getting them now, get checked.

Mine haven't moved in decades. You can do the same sort of mapping they do to see if your blind spot is growing (glaucoma test where you look straight ahead and announce when a light in your peripheral vision appears and disappears) and find one of my more noticeable floaters. It doesn't move. I can also easily see it when operating an iPad or computer with black on white text if I think about looking for it in my peripheral vision. It's down and right of my center of focus.

The new laser retina scans are wicked cool, by the way. Especially if your doc shows ya the images on a monitor later in the exam room. Way cool. Find a Doc that has one. They're spendy machines, so he'll probably add a surcharge to do it. Most vision insurance won't cover it. Let's him see a much larger area of your retina, places he can't see with a penlight and a magnifier. Also let's him remove various light wavelengths from the resulting images to see some "depth" to the blood vessels in the retina.

And one other thing with floaters... You'll forget they're there most of the time and them some dude on the Internet will remind you and you'll look for yours and then you'll see them again for a week. LOL.

Jerk. Haha. Kidding.
 
Could be a partial vitreal or retinal detachment. Either way, you get to the eye doc and find out what it is ASAP.

In my case, it was a partial vitreal detachment, which is a no-big-deal for the FAA as long as there are no resulting restrictions to your field of vision. I have to get a full eye evaluation documented on an FAA Form 8500-7 every year before my FAA medical exam, and the AME has to send it in with the 8500-8 paperwork (and there's a hassle with the FAA if the AME fails to do that - BTDT), but other than that, it's not a problem.

In any event, as noted above, find out exactly what the problem is, and then worry about how it affects your aviation medical status, because the potential consequences of not addressing any problems up front are loss of your eyesight, not just your FAA medical certification.
 
unreg, there is no What you should/should not do here other than promptly get GOOD MEDICAL CARE from an ophthalmologist (not an optometrist). To quote Yoda, "There is no try. There is only DO".

(1) Vitreous detachment: As we age, the vitreous contracts. The retina is but a windowshade being held in place by live jelly that is shrinking. When the Vitreous contracts off the retina, that leaves the retina free to suddenly "curl up" like a windowshade. It is NOT glued to the back of the eyeball.

When that happens you lose all vision better than 20/200 or so, in that eye and it is not recoverable.

(2) Or this could be a Retinal detachment, where it already IS coming off the back wall of the eyeball and doing the "precurl-up" routine.

(3) Or it could be nothing.

But since the potential vision loss for possibilities #1 and #2, is ABSOLUTE and unrecoverable, Get thine derriere into an ophthalmologist ASAP. No hacking around. Do it NOW. The ONLY way to tell is with a good dilated exam, and if there something needing fixing he can do it with a laser.

There are easy SIs (#3 or #2, I get 'em on the phone) if caught early enough. It not....you'll be very sorry you didn't go in time, and not just as a pilot.

Dr. Bruce
 
Last edited:
Concur with others. Get it checked out.

I've had floaters for many years (some of mine are long, like tiny thin hairs). A number of years ago I had flashes. I've also had a dark spot appear in extreme edge of field of vision. None of it was signs of anything bad, according to the eye docs following the exam.

But apparently, all of those can be symptoms of something, so get it checked out.
 
Resurrecting this - I had a floater in my left eye in July. Got an exam, no treatment. Went away and seems fine to me (or at least no worse than it was).

Doctor notes from 7/18 say: Vitreous Hemorrhage - Acute PVD with Heme, no tear/no RD.
This was an issue with the vitreous gel, not a detached retina, and the floaters were tiny blood drops in the eye. Left eye only.

Followup exam 9/6 - all is well. No further treatment or cautions.

My Third Class Medical is due in December. What do I need to do to make this a non-issue with my AME?

Thank you.
 
jeepers.
Take a form 8500-7 with you and get him to fill it out. Get formal Humphrey24-2 and 30-2 visual fields. they'll be normal . Send them to the agency NOW so that they will have opined on your situation by December. Yes, do it now or it won't have been passed upon by December. sigh.

They are soooo far behind.
 
Resurrecting OP here:
Thanks, Dr. Chien. I'm grateful for your input.

How much of a mess is this?
Is it worth letting my medical lapse and wait for FAA reform?
That might be a long time with no flying.

I was planning to start my IFR training. I assume no medical, no IFR flying?
Simulator okay?
 
If your visual Fields are normal, you will be issued....it may be straight up but might be a special. This isn't going to denial unless the Humphrey visual fields are substantially abnormal....and if that is so you don't apply.
 
Thank you, Dr. Chien. Your info is helpful and reassuring.
Assuming the Humphrey tests are good, is there any way to encourage a standard issuance?
 
I'd have to review your documents to know that, and I am not here to hold out. Because your timing could be optimal, and FAA will make that decision anyway, not much value added here......
 
Old Thread: Hello . There have been no replies in this thread for 365 days.
Content in this thread may no longer be relevant.
Perhaps it would be better to start a new thread instead.
Back
Top