Expert: Cynthia Bedell - 1/19/2010

Question
My son is waiting to start an army ocs class next month. He has been having pain in his hip and groin and saw the army doctor, they did an x-ray and did not find anything. A stress fracture is suspected but not confirmed. The doctor put him on crutches for two weeks and then will consider doing a bone scan. The next OCS class will start in Feb. He is serious about a military career and would like some advice about how to handle this possible injury along with the ocs class. What are his options? Thank you.

Answer
Dear Greta --

If your son has a stress fracture in his hip, please have him delay OCS until he is healed.  If possible, have him volunteer to do office work for the training battalion while he is on "profile."  Profile is medically directed limited duty to allow a Soldier to heal before returning to training or any strenuous missions.  If he tries to do OCS while healing, he will re-injure himself and will not perform to the capacity he is able.  That could hinder his ability to earn his commission.

Meanwhile, tell your son to stop drinking all soft drinks and sports drinks.  The carbonate and phosphates in both types of drinks leach out the calcium from bones and make young people more prone to stress fractures, especially unexpected fractures of large bones like the pelvis.  If he stops drinking those drinks and increases his good calcium ingestion, he should be able to overcome this injury and pass OCS.

In short, if he does have a stress fracture of the pelvic bone, I would recommend he voluntarily defer OCS until late spring.  Meanwhile he should ask to serve as a training clerk in the training battalion offices.  This will keep him busy, allow him to see officers at work, and give his hip time to heal.

Please write back, if you have additional questions.  Best of luck to your son.