I flew almost 2 years ago, in which I had
a headache (very,very rare for me) when I
got off (Plane had to land , drop altitude
quickly because of storm). Several days
later, my wife noticed my right eye seemed
bigger. I went to an othamologist, who
confirmed my right eye was bulging out
aprox 3-4 mm than my left eye. He did the
works / B Scan ultrasnd, thyroid, blood
with another opthamologist at regional
hospital and endocrinologist over the next
few months. No Graves disease / no
abnormalies found, other than some optic
nerve swelling. I've flown 2 times since
then (job required), no symptoms UNTIL
cabin was pressurized, then headache and
pain / pressure in that eye only almost
instantly, until about 30 minutes after I
get off flight. He says he can see no
corrl. between flight pressure and eye
pain. My company wants me to fly again
soon, and am worried about this again. My
eye is still the same as 2 years ago
(checkup 3 weeks ago, same bulge), no
worse, but no better. My eyes are NOT dry.
I can go by some other means of
transportation, but need medical 'release'
to not fly. He has never seen this before
so he cannot give a medical reason for the
symptoms. Any ideas??
Thanks,
BUC
|
peterg
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 06 Sep 2007 Posts: 5 Location: Leeds, UK
Re: Flying And Eyes Posted: 09-06-07 03:26am
bucrepus
wrote:
I flew almost 2 years ago,
in which I had a headache (very,very rare
for me) when I got off (Plane had to land
, drop altitude quickly because of storm).
Several days later, my wife noticed my
right eye seemed bigger. I went to an
othamologist, who confirmed my right eye
was bulging out aprox 3-4 mm than my left
eye. He did the works / B Scan ultrasnd,
thyroid, blood with another opthamologist
at regional hospital and endocrinologist
over the next few months. No Graves
disease / no abnormalies found, other than
some optic nerve swelling. I've flown 2
times since then (job required), no
symptoms UNTIL cabin was pressurized, then
headache and pain / pressure in that eye
only almost instantly, until about 30
minutes after I get off flight. He says he
can see no corrl. between flight pressure
and eye pain. My company wants me to fly
again soon, and am worried about this
again. My eye is still the same as 2 years
ago (checkup 3 weeks ago, same bulge), no
worse, but no better. My eyes are NOT dry.
I can go by some other means of
transportation, but need medical 'release'
to not fly. He has never seen this before
so he cannot give a medical reason for the
symptoms. Any ideas??
Thanks,
BUC
Your ophthalmologist may have considered a
'blow out fracture'? Have you had any
previous trauma to the eye region? The
bones around the eye (esp. on the inner
wall near the nose) are very thin in areas
and any tiny old fracture can be
associated with this problem that you
describe. Various imaging techniques might
pick this up.
I'd also ask whether you had had this
problem if flying before, ie could you
previously fly without these symptoms.
