Aviation Medicine

About 14 yrs ago (as a 10 yr old boy) I had a neuro-anyeurism operation. The problem was completely resolved, and now, 14 yrs later I'm 100% healthy, with 100% neuroogical function intact. My medical records were sent to MEPS for a determination; not wanting to make a determination MEPS is now forwarding my records to the AF SG. I'm hoping that something that happened over a decade ago (and is resolved w/o any affects) will not stand in my way of being selected for OTS. Do you folks recommend I provide the SG with a letter from the neurosurgeon saying that I am fully neurologically OK? (since the SG will never see me, all he sees is my records from 14 yrs ago, i feel …

This may be more or a procedural question than an medical question, but it has a couple of facets. Background: I'm a 34 year current and qualified USMC tactical jet aviator with no USN waivers. I have 20/17 vision and am currently in a flying status. I'm in the process of ending my current contract and switching to either the an AFRC unit or an ANG unit. I've been offered a job with an AFRC unit, so they are running my flight physical up through AFRC(as far as I understand it). When I completed my flight physical the optometrist identified that I demonstrate a topographical pattern suggestive of keratoconus in one eye. Considering that I'm already a "trained" avi…

Alright I'm going insane here... My mom just sent me a file with my medical records and going through them, I found a doctors report from about 7 years ago that I had completely forgot about and made no mention of at MEPS. What happened: I was extremely dehydrated (nothing to drink for >12 hours), had not eaten anything for nearly 24 hours, and was laying in bed for around 8+ hours watching movies... My mom knocked on the door and I jumped up and got dizzy and fell over into a table and chairs. My mom made me go to the doctor just to make sure nothing was wrong. My doctor incorrectly labeled it a loss of consciousness (I remember hitting the table and chairs) and was "…

Question for medical folks. I have been told and I have read (in newsletters from ARPC and the medical community) an unattributed saying which is repeated quite regularly such that no one questions it. That saying is "You must be in a military status to use the MTF." I do not believe this is correct nowadays. The reason is because I have Tricare Reserve Select regardless of my military status, something that was not possible before around 2005 or so. TRS is basically Tricare Standard and people on Tricare *can* use the MTF on a space-available basis. How is it determined if space is available? No one can tell me that either. Their go-to is that space is unavailable. …

Does anyone here have experience with dry eye and getting your pilot physical at Wright Patterson? I've got symptoms of dry eye that are unconfirmed by a doctor, mainly that I just have to use eye drops after waking up because my eyes are dry, or after hours looking at a bright computer screen in low humidity. I have my physical scheduled in a few months, and I want to tackle this so it has the least chance of causing me to get DQed. I've read the Air Force Waiver guide on dry eye and it offers a grading system for which grade 1 seems to be hardly an issue, but grade 2+ is unwaiverable for FC1. It doesn't offer a ton of guidance on allowable treatment. Since my sympt…

Does having a hard cast on your hand definetly DNIF one from all AF aircraft until it's removed?

Plan to claim ptsd on my va claim when i separate but trying to go guard. I know you can have a disability rating and be in the guard but how do you know which ratings would be disqualifying. None of them impact my ability to do my job. The guard unit is concerned with me being disqualified/needing a waiver planned to claim: ptsd knee lower back edit: mq-9 guy with no plans of flying outside of the air force

I searched. Apparently no one else wanted to fess up. For the past six or so months, I periodically have some kind of crap around my tonsils. I've gotten to where I can hack it up after a while, sometimes as one big chunk--little bigger than a pencil eraser, Skittle, or M&M--or sometimes as little chucks. Disgusted yet? Today I hacked up one and took a whiff of it. Lawdy, lawd it was awful. Bad breath x3. I don't have bad breath according to "trusted friends;" regardless, I don't like this junk back there. Anyone else had this? Reckon' having my tonsils extracted will help?

I wore contacts for a couple years as part of the program for aviators, but now I'm in a non-flying billet and wish to continue wearing contacts. I'm perfectly content to purchase them myself if I have to, but does anyone know if pilots in non-flying billets can still receive contacts for free under the program? Thanks in advance for the help.

Hello everyone. I have been trying for almost seven years to get picked up by the ANG, AFR and Active Air Force for a pilot slot. Last year, I was having a lot of problems with my employer. They owed me over 6 months of back pay and weren't paying me. I was looking for a new job, any job to get out of it and no luck. I was also in a fight with the Department of Labor, the IRS and my State's labor department to get one of them to do something and get my back pay owed to me. My employer even went as far as to try and claim I didn't work there but I had pay stubs and W-2/W-4 proof. I got into a lot of credit card debit, had to move back in with mom and dad, and did feel…

Well I just got word on my flight physical and the doc told me I need to get my hemoglobin redone because it was "a little low." I remember the doc that did my physical saying it was a bit low, but OK and it was probably due to stress/lack of sleep...both of which are probably true. Well I am to do it again next week and it will probably be one of the most sleepless and stressful weeks of my college career because I am a slacker and have to finish my senior project in a few days. What can I do other than sleeping and eating right to ensure that I pass with flying colors?

Will a Varicocel DQ me at MEPS or my Flight Physical? I am really concerned and thank you for your help in advance!

Anyone know if Plantar Fasciitis is a DNIFing condition? A few weeks ago I hurt my foot playing volleyball and ever since I've had a slight pain in my heel. It doesn't affect me on a daily basis, just when I try to run or do any physical activity that involves my feet. I'm planning on going to the Flight Doc, but I'm just wondering if there is any written guidance on this.

So sometimes when I shower or wash my face my nose will start to bleed. Also, during my PFT a couple of weeks ago I was doing the push ups and my nose started to bleed, I didn't even hit it or anything. This happens every couple of days and it's easy to stop the bleeding. I had this problem when I was in college about 3 years ago but it stopped and I didn't pay any attention to it. This recent problem with it has been going on for about 2 weeks now. I'm hoping the problem will go away so I don't have to see a doc. Any suggestions or help?

I don't want to get DQ'd for bad hearing, but with little ones running around the house screaming in my ears I'm getting a little worried. I'm starting to wear earplugs more around the house and especially during diaper changes when they start screaming like banshees. Has anyone had any significant hearing loss from kids screaming?

Anyone know where I can find the latest waiver guide or medical standards directory?

Hello everybody. I'm trying to become a pilot either in the Reserve or ANG. I'm planning on spamming out lots of apps to different units, but have also been working with an enlisted recruiter for the ANG as a backup plan (their unit does nearly all their UPT recruiting internally from people already enlisted with them). My recruiter sent me to MEPS to get my physical last week and I didn't really understand the results until a Reserve officer recruiter pulled my physical and told me I'd failed both depth perception (weird since I've never had an issue with that in my life) and hearing (but just barely, I'm 5 db over the limit at 2000HZ in my left ear and everything else i…

Walk for 1 hour at least 2 hours before you go to the doctors’ office to have your blood pressure checked. Your pulse may be high but your blood pressure will be low. When I say walk, I mean walk. It's BEST to walk on a treadmill, if you are breaking a sweat that is good. Can the flight MD back me up on this idea which has worked for me? It helps me to get that extra adrenaline out of my body. I wouldn't advise running before hand. [ 04. January 2007, 09:30: Message edited by: Tlicious1020 ]

I have been lurking on the forums for a while now and I finally got the ball rolling on applying for the lifelong dream, and it has come to the point where I need to determine if this is an issue. To make a long story short at some point when I was young my spine grew slightly faster than my neck and damaged some nerves in my hand. I therefore have slightly reduced grip strength in one arm. This condition is rare and I am one of the lucky ones, as apparently it can be a lot worse to the point of really impacting overall hand strength/motion. I can still play all the sports I played before this started appearing and still go to the gym keeping everything as strong as possi…

With MHS Genesis being rolled out about 6 months ago, will those of us that have already gone to MEPS before that be subject to some scrutiny regarding new medical records they can pull? Do they use MHS Genesis for FC1, when you arrive at OTS or UPT? Most information I can find involves people just going through MEPS.

I received some terrible news from my ANG recruiter today: "The doctor at MEPS has Permanently Disqualified you for military service, reason: Acute Pericarditis" What does this mean exactly? Is this a deathblow to a career in military aviation? I'm really in a state of shock right now and am looking for some answers... Some background: I was picked up for a pilot slot with an ANG unit last year and have been in the process of trying to get clearance to get my MEPS physical (a physical I've passed no problem in the past) so that my Brooks physical can be scheduled. Unfortunately, I saw a doctor last fall for chest pain, and they diagnosed it is an acute pericardi…

Hey everyone! I'll start off with the essential "sorry if this post is incorrect I'm a new guy." I'm looking to get some answers I've been hard pressed to find on VA disability ratings and whether mine are passable or overall what needs to be done in my circumstance; as well as for anyone that has medical records accessible in the military system. Essentially, I was a former paratrooper in the Army. As is to be expected with paratrooping (and the infantry in general), your body gets rocked a bit, and I left the service with a 90% disability rating. With that, I'd like to say I'm still in excellent condition and am active; even leaving with a class 1 medical sta…

In regards to being selected as a military pilot and starting IFS, is it a required to have a FAA Medical certificate to fly there? Or is the military flying class 1 med certificate they issue you sufficient? The reason I ask is I am very confident I can pass the Air Force's requirements to fly, however I've had some issues with a DWI a few years ago and the FAA is wanting me to jump through tons of hoops and drop a ton of cash. I have my private pilot license, however the FAA wants me to do there stuff to get the 3rd class medical back. Any advice would be appreciated! Thank you.

Would a fractured coronoid process keep someone off of flying status? My friend has seen two dentists and an oral surgeon with regard to this, they all said there is really nothing you can do except let it heal on its own. Which should take about 6 months. I know that he has trouble eating foods that require a lot of tearing, but other than that he still gets along with no other physical issues. But again is this something that would cause him to be placed DNIF and if so for how long?

Hey y'all. Got a situational question that probably doesn't have a right answer. I'm a civilian pilot, been applying/interviewing for fighters for about 2 years now. I've got spondylolysis (previous stress fracture in my back) that I'm pretty sure will hang me up medically. My understanding is that it's waiverable, but on a case by case basis, with the main focus being on the ejection seat. I don't want to give up the dream of fighters, but the Civil Path to Wings (CPW) application came around and I decided to apply. This would skip T-6s and go straight to T-1s, meaning my back may not be a problem becoming a pilot in the USAF. So, if anyone has experience gett…