Hi there,
TL;DR: MEB denied because of no objective findings when i have an MRI that shows a labral tear in my hip, hip pain and locking/ clicking. cant run, walk too fast/far, bike, or do situps. 2 years of issues with physical therapy, steroids, PRP injection, and not a candidate for surgery. Mental health being affected due to stress. PCM recommended P2 profile and then just fail it so it becomes administrative. What should I do?
I've had left hip pain for the past 2 years right out of basic. I seeked help once I was unable to walk from it locking towards the end of basic because my Drill Sergeants didnt want me to have a hip fracture. Xray came back negative, put on crutches, pushed and (barely) passed the pt test run.
In 68K phase 1 AIT i start seeing physical therapy, they look at my xray and do a bonescan: negative. MRI was negative, HOWEVER (spoiler alert: ), the reviewer had noted "exam protocol is suboptimal for evaluation of the labrum." They put me on motrin, it wasnt working, then Naproxen and it was a little better. The diagnosed me with hip pain and hip strain. I was constantly on a renewing profile, got back on crutches, eventually got off and was able to march without them, just not run.
Phase 2, kept doing physical therapy on my own and had a lag where i developed something called Erythema Nodosum which gave me systemic joint pain and weird bumps that turned to bruises. Put me on 20mg Prednisone for a week, came back, put me back on Prednisone but a clerical error made it so they gave me 80mg and I started having heart palpitations, panic attacks, cold sweats, etc. So I was on profile for that. Bright side, the steroids killed my hip pain. I tapered down and once my heart was cleared, i started doing PT again, eventually getting to being able to run without it hurting too much. By the time for the Pt test, I was in pain but doable. Took the test, passed, but worsened my hip from the impact. To a point where it would lock and click even more than it did prior. got it checked and they gave my naproxen and a temp profile for a few weeks before i went to my first duty station.
Arrive to my duty station and (stupidly) try to start jogging (still in pain even with naproxen). Didnt work so I went to my new PCM first week here and told him about history, etc. Start physical therapy and then refereed to pool therapy. Pool therapy became to strenuous after a certain session, pain worsened. I told my PT that the pain worsened and referred me to ortho. Ortho gave me an MRI, and TA-DA! They found an anterior superior labral tear in my left hip. Referred my to physical medicine for a therapeutic and diagnostic steroid injection into my hip. it worked for 2 weeks but then the pain came back. Still doing the physical therapy, reviewed with an Ortho to talk surgeruy and he told me I was not a good canditate because of the low chances of it working and taking my pain away and my age. Referred me back to Physical Med, they injected steroid into my trochanteric bursitis and spoke to me about PRP injection for labral tear. Later went back, got the PRP injection and reacted VERY negatively to it. I mean, I laid there for a good while crying and had to be wheeled out. very embarrassing and apparently was the doctors first time dealing with that amount of pain.
So now, my Doctor put me up for a P3 profile after him and I discussed that maybe medboarding would be the best decision since the PRP seemed to worsen things and not make them better. I can't run, bike, or walk too fast without locking and jarring my hip. Hell, i cant get out of bed without being careful or it'll painfully pop. If I do the swim, I will surely fail and situps are a no go because of the hip pains. HE sent the P3 up and MEB came back saying I'm not ready for a medboard. After talking to my PCM, he said there reasoning was because after looking back 2 years, all the findings were subjective and not objective even though I have an MRI with the diagnosis. He recommended taking the APFT and then failing so then it would become administrative but i don't want to fail a test and go out that way.
What do i do?? I didnt want to medboard at first because i made a commitment but I've been seeing three different people for BH because of the stress and maritual problems I've been having due to my injury and being in the military. I have weight issues because I'm unable to run like I used to and although i eat healthy, I've always had a slow metabolism (family history of Hashimotos but i have not been diagnosed yet). My hip is limiting me from doing the things I love and causing me knee pains along with pain in my other hip from compensating so much.
TL;DR: MEB denied because of no objective findings when i have an MRI that shows a labral tear in my hip, hip pain and locking/ clicking. cant run, walk too fast/far, bike, or do situps. 2 years of issues with physical therapy, steroids, PRP injection, and not a candidate for surgery. Mental health being affected due to stress. PCM recommended P2 profile and then just fail it so it becomes administrative. What should I do?
I've had left hip pain for the past 2 years right out of basic. I seeked help once I was unable to walk from it locking towards the end of basic because my Drill Sergeants didnt want me to have a hip fracture. Xray came back negative, put on crutches, pushed and (barely) passed the pt test run.
In 68K phase 1 AIT i start seeing physical therapy, they look at my xray and do a bonescan: negative. MRI was negative, HOWEVER (spoiler alert: ), the reviewer had noted "exam protocol is suboptimal for evaluation of the labrum." They put me on motrin, it wasnt working, then Naproxen and it was a little better. The diagnosed me with hip pain and hip strain. I was constantly on a renewing profile, got back on crutches, eventually got off and was able to march without them, just not run.
Phase 2, kept doing physical therapy on my own and had a lag where i developed something called Erythema Nodosum which gave me systemic joint pain and weird bumps that turned to bruises. Put me on 20mg Prednisone for a week, came back, put me back on Prednisone but a clerical error made it so they gave me 80mg and I started having heart palpitations, panic attacks, cold sweats, etc. So I was on profile for that. Bright side, the steroids killed my hip pain. I tapered down and once my heart was cleared, i started doing PT again, eventually getting to being able to run without it hurting too much. By the time for the Pt test, I was in pain but doable. Took the test, passed, but worsened my hip from the impact. To a point where it would lock and click even more than it did prior. got it checked and they gave my naproxen and a temp profile for a few weeks before i went to my first duty station.
Arrive to my duty station and (stupidly) try to start jogging (still in pain even with naproxen). Didnt work so I went to my new PCM first week here and told him about history, etc. Start physical therapy and then refereed to pool therapy. Pool therapy became to strenuous after a certain session, pain worsened. I told my PT that the pain worsened and referred me to ortho. Ortho gave me an MRI, and TA-DA! They found an anterior superior labral tear in my left hip. Referred my to physical medicine for a therapeutic and diagnostic steroid injection into my hip. it worked for 2 weeks but then the pain came back. Still doing the physical therapy, reviewed with an Ortho to talk surgeruy and he told me I was not a good canditate because of the low chances of it working and taking my pain away and my age. Referred me back to Physical Med, they injected steroid into my trochanteric bursitis and spoke to me about PRP injection for labral tear. Later went back, got the PRP injection and reacted VERY negatively to it. I mean, I laid there for a good while crying and had to be wheeled out. very embarrassing and apparently was the doctors first time dealing with that amount of pain.
So now, my Doctor put me up for a P3 profile after him and I discussed that maybe medboarding would be the best decision since the PRP seemed to worsen things and not make them better. I can't run, bike, or walk too fast without locking and jarring my hip. Hell, i cant get out of bed without being careful or it'll painfully pop. If I do the swim, I will surely fail and situps are a no go because of the hip pains. HE sent the P3 up and MEB came back saying I'm not ready for a medboard. After talking to my PCM, he said there reasoning was because after looking back 2 years, all the findings were subjective and not objective even though I have an MRI with the diagnosis. He recommended taking the APFT and then failing so then it would become administrative but i don't want to fail a test and go out that way.
What do i do?? I didnt want to medboard at first because i made a commitment but I've been seeing three different people for BH because of the stress and maritual problems I've been having due to my injury and being in the military. I have weight issues because I'm unable to run like I used to and although i eat healthy, I've always had a slow metabolism (family history of Hashimotos but i have not been diagnosed yet). My hip is limiting me from doing the things I love and causing me knee pains along with pain in my other hip from compensating so much.