Ocular muscle balance

[peppl]

I put this on Wannabees but just realised it may be better here - I just thought today would be a tick in the box but no, I failed my initial class 1 due to I Ocular Muscle Balance. Apparently on my right eye when I look up and right I have slight double vision. The AME said that I would most probably have been born with it and that unfortunately the JAA class it as a fail. He added that I would probably be okay to fly (his opinion not the JAA's). I do not think it has sunk in yet, I had marked this year as the one to start turning things around and finally be in a position to do what I have always wanted. It's like the rug has been pulled from under me.
Anyway, I just wanted to know if anyone else had been in this position? I did not get my medical denial form today, so I do not have the details on paper, but they are going to send it to me through the post.

[john_tullamarine]

No medical background here .. but if your problem relates to the eyes operating in parallel then this may be amenable to training. For instance, I have a quite pronounced exophoria in the right eye .. can't recall the dioptre measure but, in the absence of retinal fusion, the right eye swings out quite noticeably, adding materially to my schoolboy visual facial charm.

The problem is easily controlled due to lifelong eye muscle training (I was aware of the phenomenon as a child although I thought it a bit of a game in the absence of knowledge) and some more specific directed training when it was first diagnosed formally.

Mind you ... control gets a bit difficult under the standard problem conditions ..

(a) blind drunk

(b) very bright ambient light

(c) excessive fatigue

[peppl]

Thanks John. I am going to go to a specialist and see what they say. Maybe those excercises will help, it does seem to happen when I use both eyes. I still cannot believe that I may not be able to fly commercially.

[thebdct]

Hi peppl. I'm sorry for your fail. Anyway, by reading the JAR, the problem is the double vision and not the muscle balance itself. (also if they are connected). My advice is to talk with your eye specialist and see what can be done. As extrema ratio, you can consider a surgical correction of the muscle balance.

[peppl]

Hi - yes he did mention that but said that he would not recommend.