Rotator Cuff Injury

USNAmomBGO
Wed, 15 Apr 2009 12:22:17 +0000

Do you have a current USNA catalog? It specifically addresses a lot of the disqualifications. (P. 168 is musculloskeletal)

Disqualifications: “history of surgery to a major joint within six months, history of derangement of any major joint not corrected by surgery or evidence of instability subsequent to surgery”

So - don’t know what “partially tore my rotator cuff” means. It could be minor. It could be major.

One thing I would make clear – verbage… For medical billing practices, sometimes medical injuries are labeled one thing because it’s easier to bill for treatment. (You couldn’t bill for therapy or some repetative expensive imaging studies unless it had a higher level diagnosis.) SO - you make sure you have what you truly say you have. “partially tore rotator cuff” is usually non-surgically treated and could be minor (healed with rest) or cause problems for a long time. Go to your records - do you have a regular doctor who treated this - or was it an Emergency Room with an unknown doctor? Just let them know BLATANTLY that you don’t want to mess up anything medically, so you want realistic diagnoses – BUT, you also don’t want any verbage being thrown out that would harm your USNA entry if what you have is not truly a torn rotator cuff. (I’ve known many a diagnosis worse than it actually was.) If your doctors know your background and goals, they are generally more likely to be a little more “soft” in their diagnoses and treatments (if they can be) and “wait and see” (if it’s still doable). They won’t feel so under pressure to do every imaging study, treatment, etc. for something minor that may end them up with a lawsuit if they didn’t do it all.

As for treatment – cannot say highly enough to not lift anything heavy and let it heal. Physical therapy works wonders on rotator cuff injuries. Worth every penny paid. So, if you are good to go and starting this summer, I couldn’t suggest more highly some physical therapy (go once and get the exercises if cost is an issue) to get your fully prepared for plebe summer. (You will be doing a lot of overhead lifting so if you’re not up to par it will be a problem.) If it’s not this summer you’re coming – only applying… then start thinking about things in relation to your injury. I do know of one applicant who had an injury but was ok to gain entry. This applicant specifically stopped his beloved spring sport his last year of high school because he was worried about reinjuring his joint and not getting to be good to go for plebe summer. His doctor said he ideally needed a few months of rest - so he did the rest instead of playing. It was a sacrifice but long-term was the right choice.