OCS and injuries

[tperng]

I've heard that those who attend Officer Candidate School will get disqualified for injuries. I was wondering if someone can tell me the types of injuries and how serious it has to be before being OCS will disqualify a candidate.

I'd like to know because ever since I intensified my running training for OCS, I've been nursing minor ankle and knee aches. I've seen the doctors and they say that the injuries are nothing that can't be cured with adequate stretching, some ice and some Ibuprofen or Advil. I can still run with the injuries. I'm kind of concerned that if something similar happens while I'm at OCS, I'll get instantly disqualified.

[Admin_USMC]

I know from what I've been told by other officers and OSO's that the most common injuries are knee injuries. Your injury would have to be bad enough that you are put on light duty for an extended period or the doctors find you unfit to continue. You will be put through even more intense workouts once you get to OCS so you may find that your knee and ankle injuries may worsen. Personally before I went to bootcamp I had absolutely no problems with any part of my body. Then after a week at PI, walking everywhere,wearing boots, and carrying the H harness and all the extra weight I ended up with tendonitis in my knees which is still aggravated today with more intense workouts. I have found that stretching, strength training, anti-inflamitories and adequate rest, if the flair ups are to bad, seem to do the trick. I made one two trip to medical for my knees and the second time around my doc gave me a prescription long enough to last me through boot camp so I didn't have to return to medical. I still experienced pain when I ran, much worse at teh beginning of the run and at times my knees locked up at night while I was sleeping (I was there during colder weather and that seemed to make it worse), but I just sucked it up and went on through boot camp. I knew that if I visited medical too often then I would be targeted so I tried to limit those visits as much as possible. Also once you are out of the training environment, I found that my knees were fine until I started training for Corporal's course. It is just something that in the COrps especially that we all have to deal with. Females tend to fare better with their injuries because we have a higher threshold for pain and can endure it more than males. My suggestion is that you really get some good stretching in both before and after the run and also stretch on your off days. Alternate longer run days with shorter days and some bike work, and also try to run on a softer surface as much as possible. I would invest in some ankle weights and start wearing them around and walk in them to get tused to the added weight you'll have to carry around at OCS. I would also suggest that you start parking further away and take the stairs and increase your amount of walking on a daily basis. You will be walking everywhere at OCS and TBS. I hope this helps and don't forget to focus on upper body strength as well as this is the area in which us females tend to struggle at OCS. I would also try to get a pair of combat boots and walk in them as well since you will have to get used to that added weight and hard sole! Best of luck!

Semper Fi,

[tperng]

Thanks for the info! I'm sorry to hear that your injury is chronic. Have you tried going getting it examined by a Podiatrist who specializes in Sports Medicine? My personal trips to the doctors were not that useful until I found a Podiatrist who specializes in treating runners. Those types of Podiatrists analyzes a person's running gait to find flaws (however minute) that contribute to knee or ankle pain. They should also be able to tell you if your knee pain is really a problem in your knees or whether the source of the problem is somewhere else and that causes you to subconciously overexert your knees to compensate for other joints or muscles. They can then prescribe medicine or orthopedics that are custom made for you. You should give it a try. It might help with your injury.

As for me, I'm still running. However, I am much more careful with my legs and follow my Podiatrist's suggestions to the letter. My injuries are recovering slowly but steadily even as I continue to run, so I have no complaints. I'm planning on doing everything possible to be at 100% by the time I start my OCS training. If OCS allows it, I'll also try to bring some off-the-shelf orthotics recommended by my Podiatrist to insert into my running shoes and boots. They correct my running gait enough to at least prevent further injuries.

Thanks again for your advice!

[Admin_USMC]

Check with your OSO, but I believe that you can bring these along to OCS as a matter of fact we were recommended to add some type of insert to our boots for added support. Also you should be able to bring your own running shoes and you can already have you orthotics in place. You can also go ahead and purchase your boots since your are responsible as an officer to pay for your own uniforms, so that you can have them good and broken in before you get to OCS with inserts. Just check with your OSO, to make sure that nothing has changed in these two areas. As for my knees, it is mostly realted to the fact I have fallen arches, so I went to a New Balance store and they pointed me in the direction of the best shoes to support my arches. Even with those in place I still had some problems, but since I gave them a little rest, they seem to be doing fine. Thanks for your advice! Best of luck at OCS and keep us up to date!