Scratched Cornea?

[sickboy]

Yesterday at work I was raking sand traps (I'm a groundskeeper at a golf course for the summer) and I got some sand in my left eye. Since then, my vision from that eye has been blury at best. I think I may have scratched my cornea, I have an apointment with an Optamatrist tomorrow to get it checked out. I'm just wondering how this would affect NOMI/NAMI in the future?

 

[FLYTPAY]

Yesterday at work I was raking sand traps (I'm a groundskeeper at a golf course for the summer) and I got some sand in my left eye. Since then, my vision from that eye has been blury at best. I think I may have scratched my cornea, I have an apointment with an Optamatrist tomorrow to get it checked out. I'm just wondering how this would affect NOMI/NAMI in the future?

You should be fine. Me personally, as long as there are no recurring effects, I would keep mum to MONI/NAMI. Of course the usual disclaimer of me not being a doctor applies.

 

[Amall]

Yesterday at work I was raking sand traps (I'm a groundskeeper at a golf course for the summer) and I got some sand in my left eye. Since then, my vision from that eye has been blury at best. I think I may have scratched my cornea, I have an apointment with an Optamatrist tomorrow to get it checked out. I'm just wondering how this would affect NOMI/NAMI in the future?

This is interesting because the same thing happened to me last week. I had to delay a second physical to MEPs and a flight physical because of it. Initially, it was scratched cornea....then it never healed....then they thought I had herpes (yes, herpes) in my eye...then they determined it to be some other odd infection and gave me more drugs. It was a 2 week long pain in my a@#. My eye doctor was a retired AF Lt.Col and both he and my recruiter told me not to physical...and after it healed not to tell ANY military doctor it had happened. But, yes go to the doctor. If it doesn't get better in a day, go back. Don't mess around with this.

 

[Cavrone]

I scratched my cornea at TBS during land nav. Doc gave me some anti-inflammatory cream and some lube drops and it healed in a week. You cant even tell it was there. Seems like a scratch from a grain of sand should be able to heal up no worries.

 

[TheBubba]

I got my cornea scratched about a week after I got PRK.. I'm fine. Healed up in about 3 or 4 days.

 

[nugget81]

I got my cornea scratched about a week after I got PRK.. I'm fine. Healed up in about 3 or 4 days.

Same here. The eyes heal quicker than you'd think, but make sure there is no more sand in your eye and use the drops the doc gives you. You'll be fine and the Navy doesn't need to know unless you like extra paperwork and headaches.

 

[TheBubba]

You'll be fine and the Navy doesn't need to know unless you like extra paperwork and headaches.

The Navy knows about mine, but only because I got looked at by Navy docs. When I went back for the follow up to make sure all was good, the doc just wrote "Eye healed normal, no lasting effects or damage" on the exam report and that was that. Last flight physical, they saw the note and the optometrist just took another look in my eye. Added about 60 seconds onto the physical.

The accident... caused by some idiot throwing a salad dressing packet, happened in '04.

 

[TheGreatWaldo]

I think on the Navy side, the eye portion of the flight physical isn't quite as in-depth as some of the other services. I went through the Air Force FC1 pilot flight physical (which takes 3 days, one day being solely on the eyes) and they found a scratch on my cornea that I had no clue I even had. The docs talked it over for a while and said that as long as it didn't affect my vision, it was okay. On the Navy side of the house, they didn't do half the tests I went through for the FC1.....but then again, maybe it's because I already passed the Air Force one. I would go with everyone else and say not to disclose it, but if you've got blurry vision in the eye I think it will be hard to keep it a secret. Hope the appointment helps and it gets cleared up.

 

[TheBubba]

The Navy one isn't that in depth. Whole thing takes about 5-10 minutes.

 

[sickboy]

The doc said I did scratch it, but I should be good to go in about a week. Thanks for getting me to relax on this one, my first thought was the NAMI Whammy.

 

[Cobra]

I know this is a pretty old forum, but did you ever end up needing to get a waiver for the scratched cornea? I scratched mine a couple years ago at work and they sent me to the ER to get it checked out. I got some steroid drops there to put in my eye and after a few check ups at the eye doctor everything was back to normal. I still have 20/20 uncorrected vision and the eye doctor said my eye looks completely normal. I'm just a little nervous about this since I want to apply as an air contract.

Thanks, Jake

 

[Swanee]

Shouldn't be an issue. You'd have to put it down on your flight phys anyway because you were treated in the ER for it. If everything repair itself just fine and you're vision is 100% I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[sickboy]

Shouldn't be an issue. You'd have to put it down on your flight phys anyway because you were treated in the ER for it. If everything repair itself just fine and you're vision is 100% I wouldn't worry about it.

This. Happened again in API and it was a no factor (but I could/can see fine)

 

[Cobra]

Thanks for the quick response guys. It's good to hear that you didn't have any issues with this. I'm still a senior in high school so I haven't contacted an OSO yet. I was just curious about what you guys had to say about it. This forum has be an awesome resource for me.

Thanks again, Jake

 

[jbweldon04]

The only way a scratched cornea could ever affect anything is if it was deep enough to never heal and to be in your central part of your cornea where you look out of. Most corneal abrasions clear up in 1 to 2 weeks depending on your body's response to NSAIDs.