inguinal hernia

Colleges and Universities A-Z Naval Academy - Annapolis
1

<p>Sorry for carpet bombing all the service academy boards but I'm trying to get a quick answer on this. I just posted this over on the West Point forum but maybe someone here will see it first.</p>

<p>Just got a call from my son (HS Sophomore) who went in for a physical today in preparation for running Cross Country next year. Doc wants him looked at for what sounds like a possible inguinal hernia. No symptoms and the doc says he can continue to work out, run, go to BSA camp etc for now.</p>

<p>My son's obvious concern is what will this mean down the road when it's DoDMERB time. I found a copy of AR 40-501 Standards of Medical Fitness. It says, in part:</p>

<p>2–3. Abdominal organs and gastrointestinal system
The causes for rejection for appointment, enlistment, and induction are an authenticated history of: ....
h. Abdominal wall.
(1) Hernia, including inguinal (550), and other abdominal (553), except for small, asymptomatic umbilical or asymptomatic hiatal.</p>

<p>That doesn't sound good.</p>

<p>Does anyone have any experience with this? Does "history" mean "ever"? Not a problem if corrected before age X? Waiverable? </p>

<p>Son is going to to be all over me when I get home wanting to know what this means for his Army career and USMA dreams.</p>

2

<p>A "history" of an inguinal hernia means the existance of. If one is found then the potential for disqualification exists. If one is not found, there there is no history of one and you are safe. Even if one is found, still pursue the academy since a waiver is possible.</p>

3

<p>I would recommend having him thoroughly examined by the best doc you can find. My daughter has astigmatism; the Dodmerb physical indicated a potential problem with her eyes. Our doc did some amazing tests, send color scans of her corneas to the board and the waiver was granted. Sounds simple, but it was a long, tense couple of months waiting for the waiver.</p>

<p>good luck to you and your son!</p>

4

<p>First, get things checked out. Find out exactly what you are dealing with.
Second, there is a lot of stuff recently reported re: inguinal hernias concerning intervention- most say that most do not require intervention as previously thought- which is not to say this is license to just ignore the problem if it exists.
again, the first step is to see what is going on and go from there.
Best of luck.</p>