Aviation Medicine

I have a quick question regarding Thalassemia Minor. It's a gene that I've received from my family that shows wacky blood levels. I produce more blood cells than normal. It does not affect me at all, just shows up in my blood and I've always had it. I was recently picked up for a pilot slot and I am waiting to see when I go to Brooks for my flying class I. I'm no longer anemic, I've been taking folic acid to raise my hemaglobin/hematocrit levels and they are normal. Is this condition waiverable? I'll provide more details if needed, but I can't stress enough how it does not affect me at all. Thanks.

April 27, 2005 This thread will serve as my personal diary to help me follow my progress in improving my vision with the help of eye exercise introduced by the See Clearly Method program. I thought it would be a good idea because it seems there are many on these forums who wonder a lot if this stuff really does work. I haven't been to an eye doctor in over a year and a half so I can assume my vision is somewhere in between 20/50-20/70 with slight astigmatism. Last time I checked it was 20/40 but it probably got worse by now. Whatever it is, by the end of this year I will correct my vision to 20/20 or better, with no astigmatism (this program claims to be able to correc…

I'm a non-prior who has completed the initial flying class 1. I posted a while back about floaters in my eye that started occuring after my initial flying class physical. I went to an opthomologist who said not to worry about them, but to get them checked out annually just to be cautious. I know floaters are not disqualifying as long as they don't disrupt normal vision. I would like to keep watch of the floaters as the doc said, but I also know I'd never want to outright mention a medical issue to the AF that didn't inhibit performance. My question is, once you're in the AF, can you go to a private doctor or opthomologist for an opinion, or are you at the mercy of the…

What are the rules regarding flying, DNIF, etc if someone loses consciousness? Hoser

Back in May when I had my FC1 the flight surgeon told me that I have a right bundle branch blockage after reviewing the EKG. However, she said it was nothing to worry about and my physical was approved with no waivers or hold ups. I'm wondering if I have anything to worry about when I go to Brooks for my Medical Flight Screening following OTS.

Howdy everyone, Nice forum btw, im glad I ran across it. Anyways, just wondered if the aforementioned condition would cause any problems if I wanted to become an F16 pilot. Little background on this thing, I had the operation when I was about 6 months old. It is a very intrusive operation (brain could be seen). But this was over 21 years ago; I have not had any side effects because of this operation. The only thing that it did was give me a sweet scar right down the middle of my head. There are also some abnormal dips in my skull, but nothing to bad. But no mental side affects what so ever. I am an honor student who should be transferring to the University of Texas …

Anyone know if Omeprazole, the generic Prilosec, is waiverable. Thanks.

So I'm trying to enlist in the Air Force so that I can attend the Defense Language Institute. I just graduated from college and am more interested in learning a new language and possibly going to OTS later. I've passed everything except that last August I passed a kidney stone. I have retained stones in my parenchyema. I knew the MEPS would disqualify me and that a waiver would be required. I found this: https://www.brooks.af.mil/web/consult_servi...nal%20Colic.htm It says that retained stones are waiverable providing conditions are met. I believe I meet those conditions but understand that I should see an Air Force urologist. The recruiter came back and said the …

I was diagnosed with viral myocarditis 3 years ago and had my afrotc scholarship snatched out from under me for it last year, is all lost? Also, I have something like 20/25 vision with a slight astigmatism which evidently put me into the not ppq catagory. Anything I can do about either problem? I am currently not connected to the military in any way shape or form, fyi i guess.

Ok, last question haha. Well I had been DQ from AFROTC becuase I thought I had eczema. Turns out its not Eczema its Seborrhera. Is this still a DQing condition? Or can I get a wavier for it? Thanks for the help

So, about a month ago I hurt my left knee at PT. I went to a local urgent care center, they x-rayed it and said no worries its a bad sprain. I just got back from an orhopeodist. Apparently I have what they call an osteochodral defect, which is basically a big (roughly marble sized?) piece of bone has chipped away from the end of my femur at the knee. I'm getting an MRI this Friday which will most likely be followed by surgery (not the orthoscopic variety) to screw said chip back in. I just got picked up for a pilot slot 2 weeks ago... give me good news doc.

About a year ago I had a dull pain in the left side of my chest. I passed it off for a couple of months then one day I decided to go to the hospital to have it looked at. The doc had blood work, ekg, chest xrays and found nothing other then saying it could have been attributed to some medication I was taking at the time. I since have stopped taking the medication and have not had the chest pains again. My question is do you think that I will have any trouble with the Brooks physical? How should I go about telling the docs there? Any advice would be appriciated. Thanks

I hear that if you have cavities will you not have a shot for a pilot slot? Is this true? Thanks.

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?

Hey Everyone, Any input/advice on my issue will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance! I am currently a high school junior (almost 18 years old) and am applying to the Academy and ROTC. I got accepted for a SAME (Society of American Military Engineers) Summer Camp at the Air Force Academy which I will be attending. Not to brag but I have a tremendous record and stand a very good chance of getting into the Academy OR getting an ROTC Scholarship. Situation: Back when I was 11 or 12 years old I saw a psychologist for about 2 months. The shrink basically told me that I suffered from "panic attack disorder" and that I would have to take medication, etc. My f…

Any of you military pilots have any experience with having a hip replacement? Did you get back on status? Please drop me a line if you did.

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?

Well I had PRK 2 yrs ago and when they were doing the corneal topography for the surgery they said that from what they say that I might be at risk for keratoconus. My Dad does have it so I guess I would be at risk. They said I've got about 20% chance of it developing. Now my question is I'm pretty much DQ'd from pilot right? I cant see the Air Force risking it with this eye condition. I just wanted to hear it from the doctors in this section to be sure.

Is Speech Impediment from past hearing loss consider DQ'd? And if so, can I get it wavied?

Big questions here... I did a search but couldn't find exactly what I was looking for. I am here at my training base for UPT and have noticed bright red blood in my stool twice. The first time was a week ago and it was a fair amount. Then today I noticed a little again but nothing like last week. When it happened last week I had worked out for two hours and then was outside in the heat for three hours when I started to get some stomach pains and then noticed the blood in my stool a short time later. Now, I have been experiencing certain things like this for a couple years. (No blood or not much to my knowledge in the past though.) I went to the doctor a whi…

what are the legal requirements concerning immunizations? i.e. can your legally decline immunization when you commission?

I recently found out I have esotropia in my left eye. Now it sounds like I have to go in for 3 different depth perception tests, the red lens test, and something else. I did a search for this topic and didn't get any hits. I know the reg has lots of references to diplopia, but my optometrist said it isn't the same and there are no references to esotropia in the reg. I've passed the five horizontal dot depth perception test (after a few tries), and am concerned about taking all these tests. Should I be terribly concerned? Please advise... What [ 09. August 2006, 21:28: Message edited by: JLoweCSU ]

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

I am not in the military yet. However, I plan on applying for a flight slot. Basically, I was wondering if I had this mole removed would it pose any problems later. In other words, would I be disqualified? Would I need a waiver? Does it matter how I have it removed? I was thinking about laser removal, however, does it matter that the technology is fairly new? Any help on this would be very helpful. Thanks.

I am trying to find out how serious a varicocele is when pulling high g-forces. I recently overheard someone talking about his friend who had surgery to fix this same problem before going on to high g force aircraft because of the possibility of it rupturing. Somehow I have made it through all of my physicals without the doctors noticing that I do in fact have a varicocele (have had it since I was an adolescent). I am very hesitant to go in to the Flt Docs now. How much should I worry about this, and if I go back to a high g force aircraft do I need to get this fixed before going back to the centrifuge? Is it threatening to my career as a pilot.. ie could I lose …