Wear and tear, then and now???????

alelks · 01-30-2012, 21:22

Here's a question.

Back in the old days we would jump in and walk for days to get to either the objective or our area of operation. Since then the groups have extensively mechanized.

I know from my generation while serving and in particular our later years after retiring we suffer from many problems associated with those long walks with heavy rucks on and jumping out of aircraft. Most of the problems seem to be with our backs and knees.

I'm curious to know in this time and age if those in the medical field are seeing the same problems that plagued the older generation while they were serving in GP.

**Peregrino** · 01-30-2012, 21:58

Al - I think we're going to see an even worse problem as time passes for this generation. Their "fighting load" is as heavy as some of the non-como rucks we used to carry. Add wearing it all day, every day and include the wear and tear of bouncing around in those vehicles you mentioned, and I hope the "kids" are documenting the damage better than we did. Arthritis, especially spinal, is a royal PITA as we both know. What they'll get from the VA when they've finished (after the current administration and its successors get through gutting it) doesn't bear thinking about.

01-31-2012, 00:49

I wonder if being mechanized might take its toll in other ways such as not having built up the body over time and endurance to withstand the wear and tear eventually brought on by war and the duties you ground forces perform. They don't call it the last hard class for nothing...

Please note I am not making comparissons in skill or ability to wage war mechanized or not.

**The Reaper** · 01-31-2012, 20:28

I see the SEALs and their Mk. V injuries being very similar to what our guys get in armored vehicles, especially being IEDed.

TR

MILON · 02-01-2012, 03:42

I'm a medic currently working in a BAS in the middle east and have been since last summer. Soldiers coming in with lower back/sacroiliac joint issues is a daily occurance with the majority of those patients running convoy missions for days and sometimes weeks on end. Acute problems center around muscular and neurological signs and symptoms that we usually treat with rest, pain medication and physical rehabilitation. There were also plenty of cases where soldiers with previous deployments would come in and complain that the back pain they felt during their first tour has been made worse this time around. Most of those patients had been through physical therapy and other treatments in between with mixed stories of success.

We try to do our best with these soldiers, but frankly, the body isn't designed to carry the amount of weight our gear amounts to. Some have argued, well, maybe these soldiers should do more PT and stretch and that would solve the problem. "If they were just in better shape!" Our sister BN had their medics come up with a mission stretching routine to be done during breaks in the route. Great idea and certainly not couter productive, but its not the golden ticket. We see soldiers of all shapes and sizes with the same problems.

Those are acute issues and I haven't read enough research on problems in the long term, but I would suspect this will be a problem our VA will be addressing in the next couple decades.

Milon

JJ_BPK · 02-01-2012, 04:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by MILON

Some have argued, well, maybe these soldiers should do more PT and stretch and that would solve the problem. "If they were just in better shape!" Our sister BN had their medics come up with a mission stretching routine to be done during breaks in the route. Great idea and certainly not couter productive, but its not the golden ticket. We see soldiers of all shapes and sizes with the same problems.

Treating the symptoms, not the cause is counter productive..

But then Mother Army has always had a problem distinguishing between the two..

If all you have are size 6 boots and you need size 11,, fix the feet...

Vinny_ND · 02-02-2012, 23:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by MILON

I'm a medic currently working in a BAS in the middle east and have been since last summer. Soldiers coming in with lower back/sacroiliac joint issues is a daily occurance with the majority of those patients running convoy missions for days and sometimes weeks on end. Acute problems center around muscular and neurological signs and symptoms that we usually treat with rest, pain medication and physical rehabilitation. There were also plenty of cases where soldiers with previous deployments would come in and complain that the back pain they felt during their first tour has been made worse this time around. Most of those patients had been through physical therapy and other treatments in between with mixed stories of success.

We try to do our best with these soldiers, but frankly, the body isn't designed to carry the amount of weight our gear amounts to. Some have argued, well, maybe these soldiers should do more PT and stretch and that would solve the problem. "If they were just in better shape!" Our sister BN had their medics come up with a mission stretching routine to be done during breaks in the route. Great idea and certainly not couter productive, but its not the golden ticket. We see soldiers of all shapes and sizes with the same problems.

Those are acute issues and I haven't read enough research on problems in the long term, but I would suspect this will be a problem our VA will be addressing in the next couple decades.

Milon

I wish you guys had a chiropractor. Back pain happens over long periods of time where the spine takes a toll from the wear and tear. Using pain meds to treat the symptoms will only aggravate the condition even more.