Hello I am specialist in the US Army and I've been in the service about 3 years now and I'm seeking some advice.
My pain started in my left knee almost 2 years ago, not long after arrival at my unit. The pain feels like it is inside my knee. I went and got seen for it and have been put on medications and physical therapy for it but nothing seems to help. After about 6 months of continued repeated treatment they decided to write me a permanent profile and call it a day, the profile limited me to run only 2 miles with a 48 hour recovery period and I was not to run on the PT Test. The goal was to hope that I would "get better" due to the lack of high impact on my knee.
Months down the road my limp and my pain has risen and only gotten worse over time, I have been escalated from basic pain killers to Mobic and muscle relaxers sometimes. I have also been having lower back and hip pain due to the fact that I limp so much and so badly, they sent me to a chiropractor about my lower back and hip and I have to see them once ever week or 2 weeks. I've reached the point I can maybe run a few minutes without worsening it and most days I can't even go up stairs without excruciating pain, I had to quit trying to do leg workouts because it only made it worse, I've fallen out of ruck marches and other strenuous events due to the issue.
I recently started going back due to the worsening condition and they found a fibrous lesion on my femur in my knee and my doctor says "that isn't the cause of your pain, and that I'm going to give you another month to recover and if you don't you're getting medically chaptered"
I'm not saying the fibrous is the cause of my pain but can it be ruled out so easily if I've had these problems worsening for so long?
I've done some research on chapter 5-17 (the code he would chapter me under) and from what I have seen it seems to relate to a lot of issues that aren't caused by the military but I never had these problems before in my life. I know it isn't mental because it hurts worse doing high impact/strenuous activity.
I'm looking to speak to a legal representative and ask for a referral to see a orthopedic specialist and I wanted some advice on what to do/say or who I should talk to about my options.
My pain started in my left knee almost 2 years ago, not long after arrival at my unit. The pain feels like it is inside my knee. I went and got seen for it and have been put on medications and physical therapy for it but nothing seems to help. After about 6 months of continued repeated treatment they decided to write me a permanent profile and call it a day, the profile limited me to run only 2 miles with a 48 hour recovery period and I was not to run on the PT Test. The goal was to hope that I would "get better" due to the lack of high impact on my knee.
Months down the road my limp and my pain has risen and only gotten worse over time, I have been escalated from basic pain killers to Mobic and muscle relaxers sometimes. I have also been having lower back and hip pain due to the fact that I limp so much and so badly, they sent me to a chiropractor about my lower back and hip and I have to see them once ever week or 2 weeks. I've reached the point I can maybe run a few minutes without worsening it and most days I can't even go up stairs without excruciating pain, I had to quit trying to do leg workouts because it only made it worse, I've fallen out of ruck marches and other strenuous events due to the issue.
I recently started going back due to the worsening condition and they found a fibrous lesion on my femur in my knee and my doctor says "that isn't the cause of your pain, and that I'm going to give you another month to recover and if you don't you're getting medically chaptered"
I'm not saying the fibrous is the cause of my pain but can it be ruled out so easily if I've had these problems worsening for so long?
I've done some research on chapter 5-17 (the code he would chapter me under) and from what I have seen it seems to relate to a lot of issues that aren't caused by the military but I never had these problems before in my life. I know it isn't mental because it hurts worse doing high impact/strenuous activity.
I'm looking to speak to a legal representative and ask for a referral to see a orthopedic specialist and I wanted some advice on what to do/say or who I should talk to about my options.