-
Please take a moment and update your account profile. If you have an updated account profile with basic information on why you are on Air Warriors it will help other people respond to your posts. How do you update your profile you ask?
Go here:
Edit Account Details and Profile
The Doctor is in! Ask a Flight Surgeon!
- Thread starter FlightMD
- Start date
Randomranger900
New Member
So how do I heal my condition? What options do I have?
None of us (as far as I know) are doctors here.
We’re people with first hand military medicine experiences and know where to find administrative standards for entry.
———
But as a fellow chronic pain sufferer, I’m sorry you’ve been in pain for so many years. Chronic pain is beast.
Dry needling is an option some PTs can do state by state. It’s not usually offered by default.
Acupuncture has some real merit.
And a pain management doctor isn’t on your list of people you’ve tried. They don’t typically send young people to them bc “you’re too young to be in chronic pain” is a common mentality in medicine. But these guys/gals are the pain experts.
What exactly is your condition? When did the pain start, what provokes it, where is it located, rate it on a scale of 1-10, what is the quality (burn, sting, etc.) does it radiate? Do you have full range of motion? What have you tried that your useless doctors and PTs suggested? What is your weight? Overweight? Diet? Eating well or junk? Exercise plan?
Randomranger900
New Member
it’s plantar fasciitis. It started in 2020 when I first tried to seriously run. The pain is in the arches of both feet now, and it’s a brief sharp stabbing that occasionally occurs when my foot hits the ground (once every 5-10 minutes).
I am 6’0” and 150 pounds, so not remotely overweight. I eat healthy, and I haven’t ran in a year due to the pain
As for treatments, I tried calf raises, calf stretches, orthotics, steroid shots, icing, rolling a ball under the foot, picking up marbles with my foot, and scraping the plantar fascia. None of these helped in the long run
Do you have pain getting up in the morning? Or is it really "a brief sharp stabbing that occasionally occurs when my foot hits the ground (once every 5-10 minutes)" i.e. not continuous?
Couple of ideas...
Have you done eccentric exercises for the plantar fascia and achilles tendon? Not calf raises, but calf lowers. Step onto the balls of your feet, hold some weight, then lower, stretching the tendons under load. Google on "eccentric loading plantar fasciitis".
Your mileage may vary on this one, and you have to get into it slowly because it stresses the foot in a way you are not used to at first, but I wear what are basically barefoot shoes all the time. Even my work shoes are thin soled. I like the Xeros shoes, for example. Even my trail hiking shoes have just enough thickness to avoid bone bruises from rocks, and no more.
I started switching over to barefoot shoe running after dealing with some knee and back pain aggravated by the jarring of heel striking. I switched over v e r y s l o w l y to barefoot style, which makes you run more on the balls of your feet and absorb the impact there. It helped. Now it is all the time. Zero drop thin-soled shoes.
You really have to acclimate to it, otherwise you will give yourself something like plantar fasciitis or achilles tendon problems (and certainly make them worse at first if you have them), but 22 years on and I have no feet or ankle problems.
If your pain is not continuous right now, maybe ease into them. Get a pair and walk short distances, shorter than you think you need to.
Biggest thing: you ultimately need to take charge of your own health. There's enough information out there for discerning consumers to build a plan. Don't blame it on the doctor, there is no magic cure and everyone is unique. Take charge.
Randomranger900
New Member
1. Thank you for being one of the few who actually try to help.
2. Yes, I do both calf raises and lowers. When I was running, I do focus on landing on my forefoot, so I don’t think that’s the issue. My pain is in the arch, so I do believe that pain came from forefoot striking
3. I don’t have the first step morning pain. I feel pain throughout the whole day whenever standing or walking, and the pain is discrete and not continuous
Blastyshotgun
New Member
Hey y'all! Recently found out I was picked up for an SNA slot, and super excited! I've been trying to go through the NAMI waiver guides and all the info I can find on here and other websites to try and make sure I have as much ammo as possible so that I can get waivers I'll need for the initial flight physical at OCS. I could use some help with a few items though that I can't seem to figure out, just wondering if anyone has any experience.
For reference, no waivers needed through MEPS.
1. Allergy Immunotherapy Shots: The NAMI waiver guide talks about how Allergic Rhinitis is NCD when it meets a few criteria, one of which is being off of allergy shots for 12 months. My allergies aren't bad at all, I rarely take medication and when I do its with one of the approved medications on the waiver guide. I meet all the other required criteria for NCD. However, I took allergy shots electively after my spouse wanted me to get better around pets (pet dander is my biggest issue), recently finished those successfully and will probably have been off them for 6 months by the time I get to OCS. Obviously this doesn't meet the requirement of 12 months, so I'm curious if anyone has any experience with getting waivers for this and how possible that might be. I know other allergies like insect allergies are WAY more strict with their immunotherapy, so I'm curious if this is a similar standard, and I might need to ask for a later OCS date if available to try and meet that 12 month rule.
- Similarly, have some mild reactions to ibuprofen, but can't find much info on medication allergies. The waiver guide says any reaction "cannot associated with anaphylaxis, limited to skin manifestation, and currently asymptomatic without need for therapy", I check the box to be clear of all of those, but just curious is anyone has any experience with this or other medications.
2. Childhood asthma with a completed PFT and MCT: Have been off medication since the age of 12, and got both of those tests done out of my own pocket to make sure I had a good case for the flight docs, mostly just curious if they will pursue a waiver for that without additional testing if I already have the tests done within the required 12 month time span, or if I should plan for an extra long stay in Newport (the spouse would like some answers).
Really appreciate the help! Go Navy!
For reference, no waivers needed through MEPS.
1. Allergy Immunotherapy Shots: The NAMI waiver guide talks about how Allergic Rhinitis is NCD when it meets a few criteria, one of which is being off of allergy shots for 12 months. My allergies aren't bad at all, I rarely take medication and when I do its with one of the approved medications on the waiver guide. I meet all the other required criteria for NCD. However, I took allergy shots electively after my spouse wanted me to get better around pets (pet dander is my biggest issue), recently finished those successfully and will probably have been off them for 6 months by the time I get to OCS. Obviously this doesn't meet the requirement of 12 months, so I'm curious if anyone has any experience with getting waivers for this and how possible that might be. I know other allergies like insect allergies are WAY more strict with their immunotherapy, so I'm curious if this is a similar standard, and I might need to ask for a later OCS date if available to try and meet that 12 month rule.
- Similarly, have some mild reactions to ibuprofen, but can't find much info on medication allergies. The waiver guide says any reaction "cannot associated with anaphylaxis, limited to skin manifestation, and currently asymptomatic without need for therapy", I check the box to be clear of all of those, but just curious is anyone has any experience with this or other medications.
2. Childhood asthma with a completed PFT and MCT: Have been off medication since the age of 12, and got both of those tests done out of my own pocket to make sure I had a good case for the flight docs, mostly just curious if they will pursue a waiver for that without additional testing if I already have the tests done within the required 12 month time span, or if I should plan for an extra long stay in Newport (the spouse would like some answers).
Really appreciate the help! Go Navy!
Last edited:
Congrats on gaining a spot! But…lol at injecting things into your body so you can be around your spouse’s cat.
I had those same shots before I went in the navy. I had a ferocious case of hay fever. They pretty much fixed it. This was last century, though, so I forgot to tell the navy about it.
Best of luck!
For the childhood asthma, you will have to do the PFT and the MCCT again once you get to Newport. For childhood asthma, the waiver is pretty easy to get, most of the time. There was a recently someone in my class that was stuck in medical hold after we graduated for almost four months because of childhood asthma. They ended up having to do a ultrasound and CT scan of their heart as result of a discrepancy on their tests. That was a rare case though, most of the other asthma waivers were able to graduate on time with no problem.
For being stuck in medical hold in Newport, it really is just random. Some people with five waivers were able to leave on graduation day, while other people with no waivers were still stuck in medical hold waiting to processed.
Blastyshotgun
New Member
You're totally right to lol, never would I have thought I would have done that until we got married. The in-laws literally live with a barn, so it was pretty rough to try and do holidays there for a while haha!Congrats on gaining a spot! But…lol at injecting things into your body so you can be around your spouse’s cat.
I had those same shots before I went in the navy. I had a ferocious case of hay fever. They pretty much fixed it. This was last century, though, so I forgot to tell the navy about it.
Best of luck!
Thanks for the insight, appreciate you!