Aviation Medicine

Hello I am currently a loadmaster and have a hearing waiver until 06 for a class three flight physical. I am applying for a nav slot and need a class two. Will the waiver for the class three slide over or will a new workup have to be done? Can I get a waiver for the class two? Can anyone give me some insight? Thanks

So I injured my right knee skiing about a year ago. Now its time for me to go to MEPS for OTS and I've got a predicament. The ortho I was seeing sent me for an MRI which returned with a possible ACL rupture. I was told to exercise it and come back to see him if the knee continued to bother me. I haven't had it give out on me since and am running appprox 20 miles a week on an indoor track. Doesn't hurt to run, but I can tell its not as good as my left knee. So I was doing my research in prep for MEPS and came upon the DQ for ACL injuries. I know the reconstructions can be waivered, but has anyone heard of a waiver for a previous knee injury without surgery? I'm run…

Hello all, I searched the PRK/LASIK thread and was unable to find an answer to this question as the reference I have is only 2 years old, but sorry if it has been asked before. I'm an Army guy and got LASIK in my right eye almost 5 years ago to get in standard for my Army flight physical. I am in the process of submitting applications to ANG/AFR units. I've seen the LASIK checklist with the required pre and post-op exams. I had post-op exams after I got my eye done, but the timeline was different the the Air Force's (if I remember it was 1, 2, and 3 months then I got the waiver, not 1, 3, 6, and 12 months). I can probably get a copy of all of the paperwork, but while…

A friend woke up in the AM with bad tooth pain today at an AD base where the base clinic (including dental) is closed today so they can be extremism-trained. The Tricare "nurse advice line" suggested going to an ER since dental work isn't covered unless referred to by a mil dentist. I wonder if that's true. It's probably a root canal situation. Can you show up to any dentist and be covered?

Hey, I was just wondering if finasteride or minoxidil is banned in military aviation? I am going to apply into Air Force.

Hi everyone, can't find any other threads about kidney stones. Do they screen for kidney stones at flight physicals? I had a kidney stone during the summer of 2019 and reported it to DoDMERB and they let it slide without the need for a waiver. According to this MSD, "History of recurrent renal colic or single episode of renal colic with retained stone(s)" is disqualifying but a single stone is not disqualifying. I'm currenty an AS200 in AFROTC about to be an AS300 and I want to go for the pilot board. I'm afraid that if I get a pilot slot, I'd get DQed at the flight physical if they find I have retained stones. Getting DQed from rated is fine with me, but I want to s…

Hello, by chance is there a pollen allergy waivers to be a Navy aviator?

I know this topic is in the “Aviation Medicine” category but I don’t really know where else to post. So I have been picked up for a guard unit and I am going to go to MEPS in the next few weeks. I am pretty healthy overall but when I took a look at my weight on a scale, I am about 3 lbs under the max for my height (max weight for my height is 180). I understand the AF says that you need to be at least 5 lbs under to join. I am not sure what my BMI is but I am relatively muscular, so I am guessing that is a contribution to my overall weight. In the scenario that you are either slightly under the max or over the max weight when you process through MEPS (say +\- 2l…

I went through IFC-1 at WP more than a year ago with dry eye that did not need a waiver. Currently a few months out from EAD and reporting for UPT. I am wondering if punctal plugs are allowed to alleviate dry eye symptoms or if I would run into issues with flight medicine after reporting to UPT? Thanks for any help in advance!

I've passed my flight physical, but I see once one arrives at your UPT base you have to go through a few more medical exams before you're officially medically qualified. I see the list as "Audiogram, Optical, PHA, and Dental". Is this experience pretty similar to getting your initial flight physical done all over again, or more like a typical check-up with your doctor? I'm not a huge fan of things completely out of my control, so some more information on this process is appreciated. It's been a while since I had my flight physical so hopefully I'm still able to pass all those tests the same.

I don't have the specifics number but is there a regulation against having a thin Cornea? It's only on one eye and my eye doc told me "it wasn't nothing to worry about" because in the two years he's checked it, it has not progressed. Anyone run into this hurdle before? Were you able to still fly?

Hey all. I was picked up by a guard unit pre-covid. I am MEPS complete no waivers or anything needed and scheduled for FC1 next month. In my glorious stupidity I was playing basketball with a couple friends and messed up my ankle pretty bad. Had an MRI and doc said I need surgery... Torn ligaments, but he says he can have me back running and cutting in 4 months fully cleared. Yes I am communicating with my unit, but just wanted to get some advice from ya'll. Anyone have any knowledge or experience if I will require a re-check at MEPS or once I'm healed go to wright patt and get the sign off there? Second if I do have to go back to MEPS is the wait time 6 months or can I g…

I went to an ENT specialist and he said I have a deviated septum. He suggested a Septoplasty and a Tubinectomy. My concern is I am about to take the FCIA exam in the near furture. Will the surgery have a negative effect on getting the physical certified? Would it be best to have the surgery before or after the physical? Also if the surgery is completed before the physical is there a specified time for recovery before the physical can be completed.

Looking at rushing ANG squadrons or doing AFRES "Civil Path to Wings" once I finish my degree. I had weird palpitations at night and went to a cardiologist to get it checked out, who was adamant that I had severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea and referred me to an ENT to do a sleep study. In the meantime I did a holter that showed some scattered PAC's and some runs of AVNRT SVT that had no clear trigger and weren't solely at night. I did the sleep study which showed an AHI of 9.5, "mild" OSA, and the tech also wanted to diagnose me with restless leg syndrome but it's never bugged me and I don't want to take benzos. DoDi 6130.03 (the MEPS manual) says that Current…

What's the current regulation on hypertension meds? I am currently on Lisinopril and Amlodipine for controlled essential hypertension and was wondering how this would affect flight qualification. I know monotherapy does not require a waiver, but how about combination therapy? With a #1 nomination to the Air Force Academy, I'm looking at my chances of me showing up to Colorado already knowing I'm not even close to pilot qualified before I even take the flight physical years later.

I let my Flying Class II physical lapse (I'm in a non-flying/no fly pay job, currently). How many years can I go without a Class II exam before I have to do a Class I or initial to get back to flight status? IOW how many years beyond expiration before I have to jump thru hoops?

I work in the healthcare field and my last TB skin test was positive, I went through all of the appropriate xrays and I am completely clear. I have never had any signs or symptoms. Is this going to be an issue at a physical? And do I need to do the Prophylactic treatment regimen? Thanks in advance for anyone that can help out. Taylor

Does anyone know the process for prior enlisted? Do we still have to go to MEPS even though we had to when we enlisted? Does the FC1 staff just take our medical history from when we enlisted? If there are any enlisted guys on here who went through the process or if anyone knows that would he great.

Good Evening! This week I received the unfortunate news that I got DQ’d for Hearing Loss, History of Cholesteatoma (rare ear disease for those interested) and History of Chronic Back Pain. Now I’m not one to give up that quickly so for those of you interested or willing to help out I’ll give a quick background on my situation. Last October I was picked up for a pilot slot in a heavy unit flying KC-135’s. After submitting a lot of paper work for the known medical issues above, I was finally accepted to MEPs. While at MEP’s I was unable to pass the hearing test (barely) and was DQ’d for the same 3 things, but with the option for a waiver. So I Immediately scheduled an ap…

Has anyone read the updated 48-123. I am a RPA pilot select, according the AFI I am only required a IFCIII and MFS (phycological). All IFCIII items can be processed as all FOMC and BOMC locations. I have completed all IFCIII requirements and they are packaging my stuff to send to Wright Patt for a 2808 to get signed. Wright Patts response is that the Regulation is wrong and RPA pilots need an IFCII and that everything will need to be done at location Wright-Patt. DAFMAN date 8 December 2020, so anyones educated thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Hey everyone! I am currently filling out my Civilian LO application, and the last thing I need to do is decide my top rated AFSCs. I am super worried about not passing the flight physcial due to a microdestomy I had. As much as I want to be the one behind the stick, serving as an officer means so much more to me. Between Pilot, RPA, CSO, and ABM, do any require flight physicals that are going to give me the best odds of getting around the microdestomy? Thank you so much for yall's help, and if you have any experience with getting a microdestomy, I would love to hear it.

Currently AD and diagnosed with Sleep Apnea and considering going guard/reserve. Going through an MEB which I was told wouldn’t be an issue for me to “pass”. Would a Sleep Apnea diagnosis or a disability rating associated with it (if there is one) prevent me from going guard/reserve? Considering not taking continuation to 20 but don’t want to find myself not in AD and not be able to go guard/reserve.

I’m leaving AD Army (non-aviation) for an AF ANG unit. I have a couple mild medical issues linked to rucking which could garner some disability. Are they worth claiming prior to FC1 and ANG service? I suspect claiming them would cause more trouble than they’re worth. Obviously the ANG slot is much more important to me than x amount of disability, but any input is appreciated.

From the time I’ve contacted my AFR recruiter to submitting all my medical records for Meps, it’s been a solid 6 months and I have yet to be scheduled for a physical. Every response from Meps took over two weeks, sometimes 20+ days. Long story short my medical records weren’t in order and I had sent duplicates. Everything has been corrected since then and that was almost a month ago. I am contacting my recruiter weekly and I’m getting the same response from him, waiting on guidance from Meps. Is anyone else experiencing this issue? When I was going for the Navy they cleared me for a physical in about a month. Where do I go from here? I’m so eager to serve my country as an…

I got out at ADSC after flying for 12 years and have been out completely for 1.5 years now (not in IRR). I just got hired for a flying position at a ANG unit and have just begun the process with their recruiter. I'm looking for advice on navigating the process smoothly, especially the medical part. Since I have 10% VA Disability for Tinnitus and 10% for knee pain the recruiter asked me to get an independent evaluation by my current doctor. I plan to submit those findings and hopefully will be approved to go to MEPS. I'd appreciate any gotchas specific or general that come to mind with medical and navigating the break in service. Thanks in advance!