Aviation Medicine

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…

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

I am a traditional reservist and coming up on my annual PHA. The med group did a search for my previous Tricare authorizations/referrals and based on that, it sounds like they want me to sign release forms so they can access those medical records from my civilian doctors. I have seen several different types of doctors for varying issues over the past year, but not diagnosed with anything, so I don't have anything to hide; however, it concerns me to just sign blanket waivers for these records. One reason is I know how ridiculously long it takes for them to request the records, receive them, look them over, send to HQ to look them over, realize there is a required test t…

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 "…

Hello all I have a pilot slot with an AF Reserve unit, and I am currently processing a waiver with the Air Force Reserve Surgeon General. I have been told it is a waiverable issue, although sometimes doesn’t go through unfortunately, and this may be the case this time. My question is, do Air National Guard and AF Reserve both use different waiver approving authorities at the Surgeon General level? I was told, that both Reserve and Air National Guard use different waiver approving authorities (AF Reserve uses AF Reserve Surgeon General, and ANG uses State Air Surgeon) I am looking at the worst case scenario, in case it doesn’t go through, …

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…

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.

Hello, I was disqualified during my Class I Flight Screening after selection, and I'm currently applying for a Class III now to try and be an ABM. I understand that some conditions are permanently disqualifying from rated positions, but I have no idea if mine is (esophoria). Any idea where I can find out if I can even apply again? I've tried calling AFPC/AETC, and the base that performed the physical, but I haven't gotten much apart from the issue that DQ'd me the first time. If anyone has any info, thank you!

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…

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.

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 ]

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. …

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?

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?

Was at Brooks last week and found out I have a DQ condition known as Fleck dystrophy...basically little opaque spots on my cornea. They don't effect my vision at all, and they took a whole extra day to put me through every eye test I think ever invented, so I'm hoping the waiver process won't be too difficult. I also need a waiver for near acuity, but they were able to correct both my eyes down to 20/10. Also, the eye doc said the spots will not likely progress and get worse, so combined with that and the fact that my vision is correctable to 20/10, do you think I'll get the waiver pretty easily?

Alright, first off I used TFSF and no hits, with that being said... I have a family member (said individual) that talked to the AF Enlistment recruiter today and the recruiter had to do some digging in his regs because said individual took Xanax for a while for depression. Any medical types know where I could find (or a have a link to) the document that MEPS or the AF would reference regarding this topic. I would like to know if it disqualifying or not. Thanks in advance. Planephlyer

I have a question concerning hypoxia; I did a search on this site and couldn't find any previous threads on this subject. I retired from the USAF in 2001 after many years of flying on the AC-130U Gunship; big fun, I still can't believe they paid me to do that job, haha, I would have paid them. Since my retirement I've been doing "contract" work flying over the friendly skies of Kosovo for the US KFOR and NATO. Lately we've been spending a lot of time around 13K MSL for up to 6+ hours unpressurized while flying over our targets. We have the wimpy civilian nasal cannula type O2 system on board. I've noticed that I'm experiencing hypoxia while climbing through 11.5 for 1…

I am enlisted ANG & hired for UPT by a reserve unit in another state. My travel date is this Sunday to go to Wright Patt. Obviously, my current unit is not going to sponsor me to go get my FC1, but I was informed today by my gaining reserve unit that I don't have to be on orders to obtain my flight physical. Does this seem accurate? This goes against what I've learned from the Air Force since I've been in. I'm just going to assume the unit knows what's correct, seeing as they have pilots working there now, and I am not one, but I want to avoid getting to Ohio and then being refused to be examined.

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?

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…

I tried searching and I couldn't find anything on it but I was just curious if Type 1 or 2 diabetes is disqualifying for flying status in the AF. Thanks

I was hoping any flight docs out there could fill me in a little bit about the process of transitioning from being a flight doc or a general internist to a specialy in the AF such as a Diagnostice Radiologist. My brother is a soph in ROTC and wants to pursue something like this but wants to get more info before he goes to Field Training and incurs a commitment to the AF and find out that its something that he can't pursue after all. We really don't have any med groups in CO that have specialties such as that so if anyone else has any ideas of med groups that he could get in touch with would be great as well. Thanks! also, sorry for an grammaical errors and the like... …

Hello, In 2017 I got a pilot slot as an ROTC cadet, went to medical screening and was medically qualified. Later that year, I had a bad sinus infection. My doctor said I might have mild chronic sinitus and recommended sinus surgery. I advised SG of the situation and was DQ'd from all rated duties with mention that I could be evaluated in one year after the surgery and attempt to overturn the DQ. I was reassigned to a different AFSC. I recently commissioned and will EAD in two weeks (although I still don't have my orders haha). I had a CT scan last week that shows I would be good to go as per the AFCENT waiver guide (showing ostea of sinuses to be patent, reliev…

My son is 17 and talks daily about signing up for the service (he's leaning Air Force...yeah!). The reality hit me the other day that he was diagnosed with Protein S Deficiency as a child. We had him tested ten years ago after I had multiple blood clots and was found to have the disorder. He has never had a clot and is NOT on anticoagulants. In fact, the hematologist always told us to not alter his lifestyle or restrict his activities because the probability of him getting a clot is less than 3%. The course of action is to do nothing different until he actually gets a clot, which will likely be never. Will this 11 year old diagnosis make him medically disqualified? If so,…

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…