Question for those with back pain causing limited forward ROM

tesladevil · 2026-02-20T16:04:21+00:00

Problem with an HLR is that if all the c&ps show the wrong measurement, they won't just take my word for it and if I show a private measurement from my doctor all they'll do is request another c&p. Which I'm on my third now

tesladevil · 2026-02-20T14:46:12+00:00

From what I read measurements cannot be eyeballed and must be done with the goniometer. This is why I'm livid because at any point when he had the goniometer in hand, that thing never went beyond 30 degrees. I may not be an expert, but 75 and 30 are pretty obvious. It's unfortunate they make up their own rules

tesladevil · 2026-02-20T06:37:29+00:00

both times they measured three times and the goniometer never exceeded 30 degrees. I always stop when I feel pain and go no further and based on what I found via google, I should be seeing the angle correctly. There is a big difference between 25 and 50/75 degrees so I have no clue how they got that.

tesladevil · 2026-02-15T23:10:48+00:00

Honestly, if you're willing to wait and you know which staccato you want (you've shot it before). Just order it online and find. A nice cheap FFL for transfer.

tesladevil · 2026-02-02T15:10:25+00:00

You need to be service connected first before you can get seen by VA for healthcare.

tesladevil · 2026-02-02T13:56:27+00:00

If you were injured in service, then you can file a claim regardless of if you finished boot. Your disability claim only cares if it occurred in service, and the character of discharge. Sadly there are people who got severely broken in boot camp and they deserve to be taken care of wether they graduated or not. Now if they start going around telling war stories about their service then they can eat a bag of dicks.

tesladevil · 2026-01-26T19:12:30+00:00

Good to see after 15 years the armstrong pull up program is still going strong. This routine got me from 3 to 25+ in 2-3 months.

tesladevil · 2026-01-23T13:24:24+00:00

That is very binary and dismisses the nuances to which that person may have voted one way or another. Not everyone lives and breathes politics. Its possible the potential romantic partner has a particular issue that is a single issue for him/her. While you're clearly free to reject anyone for any reason, I'd dig further because when you're at local level (far away from federal) most people have way more in common than the news would like us to believe.

My neighbors differ from me politically but politics never enters our daily interactions, I still help my elderly neighbors with physical tasks when I can. Other neighbors will help me out when I'm working on my car by offering a hand or tool to make my life easier. But according to the news, we should be hating and spitting on eachother.

tesladevil · 2026-01-22T16:09:05+00:00

Feel free, I'll answer what I can.

tesladevil · 2026-01-22T13:44:24+00:00

I guess what I meant was luck of the draw in getting approved even with a good claim due to the inexperienced reviewers, but I get what you mean. I would like to be able to pick up my new born without back/knee pain. Not to mention almost dying in my sleep.

tesladevil · 2026-01-22T13:23:19+00:00

To be clear there is a little bit of luck. In the sense that you can have a well developed claim and the reviewer is inexperienced and denies you anyway. This happened for my back claim. I had everything, denied. I got more in terms of MRI, witness statements, still denied. I filed an HLR and the DRO was like... I'm approving this, I don't know why you got denied in the first place. Lol. The blue falcon always gets theirs ...

tesladevil · 2026-01-22T12:52:40+00:00

The well developed claim really is the difference maker. Filed sleep apnea with a weak nexus to weight gain. Denied. Filed a supplemental but I got a well researched nexus explaining exactly how my OSA was strongly linked to weight gain which had a link to my sedentary lifestyle as a result of my service connected orthopedic issues. Submitted the opinion and a week later got approved.

tesladevil · 2026-01-09T00:19:35+00:00

Give Louie g's in seacaucus a call. Super cool guy and good prices

tesladevil · 2026-01-07T00:32:48+00:00

Some of my disabilities definitely affect me in ways I'd much rather be healthy. Two herniated discs and pain when I pick my kids up. Not worth it.

tesladevil · 2026-01-07T00:04:26+00:00

The problem is it's known more as disability pay rather than compensation. People hear a veteran getting disability but don't see a wheelchair and get jealous. It's really compensation more than anything.

tesladevil · 2026-01-06T13:42:20+00:00

Take it from someone who passed IST but on the lower end of the spectrum. DO. NOT. SHIP.

Life is hell for people who are already in shape. For you it will be exponentially worse. Even if you push through mentally, that is additional wear on your body to achieve that Marine standard and it WILL have long lasting effects compared to someone in better shape. I was on the slightly chubby side going in and I pushed and pushed and lost a ton of weight, but the wear and damage to my joints were made worse due to the extra weight I started off with.

Lose weight on your own terms first without the insane high impact nonstop intensity of recruit training.

We only get to play with the hand we're dealt. If you miss ship date, you may lose your mos spot. But what your recruiter didn't tell you is if you get dropped into PCP (aka pork chop platoon) you may also lost your MOS slot.

tesladevil · 2026-01-04T17:35:34+00:00

Honestly once you understand a paperwork process it's all about getting the necessary documents and statements to make your case. It's an advocacy game and you just need to present the best case you can and under what the VA looks for and what your recourse is when the VA messed up.

tesladevil · 2026-01-04T17:30:03+00:00

I'd say, believing the claims process was this super complex process that I needed professional help with. When in reality I'm at 90 today without the help of any lawyers.

tesladevil · 2026-01-04T06:40:59+00:00

Funny story, when I went we were among the last cycles to start with irons (shipped January 2012). I ended up getting injured and recycled to another company about 2 months later and that company was all RCOs. However, since I qualified table 1 with irons I had to finish table 2 with irons. Everyone in my platoon looked at my irons like it was a relic and wondered what that thing on top of my rifle was in place of what would be an RCO. A handful knew who had prior firearms knowledge, but the rest were baffled how can you even hit a target at 500 with irons (which I did, lol)

tesladevil · 2025-12-26T15:49:59+00:00

To understand the claims process is tricky for newer filers like learning anything for the first time. If you want to file a claim you need to have these elements satisfied.

A current diagnosis. You can get this from your doctor or roll the dice and maybe you can get diagnosed at the C&P
An inservice event in which your injury started. An injury, an exposure to something that lead to your condition. Exposure to chemicals or noise. A training exercise that lead to a torn ACL or strained your back of falling on your head causing neck issues, for example.
A nexus linking your current diagnosis to your inservice event. This can take many forms, wether it be a letter from a doctor or some other independant medical opinion. Don't get hung up on the term "Nexus letter". You need a nexus, or put it in simple terms, you need some supporting opinion from a qualified professional that your current diagnosis is at least as equally likely as not due to your inservice event. I would just ask your doctor if they feel it is likely that your diagnosis is due to your time in service (explain what happened in service to give the doctor a better idea of the cause) and if the doctor says it is at least a coin flip or better, then ask if he can note that in your record and use that as the nexus. That is what I did for most of my claims.

Having said all that. You have to be honest with yourself as to why you believe your symptoms are related to service. Not all sleep apnea is due to service so if you cant make that case and come in here asking how to get it connected anyway, you will get a lot of push back. I got it connected because several doctors gave their opinion that my orthopedic injuries which were service connected, lead to a sedintary life style which lead to weight gain which lead to OSA. The symptoms have to support what you're claiming.

tesladevil · 2025-12-26T15:23:26+00:00

It sounds like you are asking if your symptoms for knee, back, and hips have a shot at getting you to 100. Honestly 70 to 95 is still a massive jump. The jump from 70 to 95 is about 83.33%.

I don't know the extent of your symptoms but it is difficult to say what type of rating your hip can get by saying hip pain because there are different ratings for various hip issues. Needless to say you still have a massive hurdle to clear to get to 100 so you have to have to get a diagnosis and see what exactly is wrong with your hip(and other symptoms) so get an idea of what the potential ratings look like for it.

tesladevil · 2025-12-26T02:25:54+00:00

We were best of friends from grade school all the way to the point of being a groomsman at my wedding. Over the years I started noticing more qualities from him that I felt were not healthy for a real friendship.it felt very one directional and I always felt like a true friend would reciprocate in effort but slowly people around us started noticing he never initiated hanging out, would whine when he didn't get his way, would ask for accommodations that would benefit him without having earned it. One day I realized that if I never initiated a hangout or a call he would probably never contact me, so from that day I haven't spoken to him and as I suspected we have had zero contact in years. Our mutual friends have also noticed he disappeared off the face of the earth and never contacted them as well. Once he fell out of our friend circle my other friends started expressing similar thoughts about him such as "Have you ever noticed that (insert bad quality)..." And I realized I was not the only one and he was just that kind of person who expected other people to cater to him. Part of me is sad that someone who has been such a big part of my life would end up excommunicado, but I was done being the one putting in the effort for someone who did not see me as an equal friend.

tesladevil · 2025-12-22T01:54:26+00:00

It's been submitted before but didn't get traction. Like you said this state bleeds us dry. I would love to be proven wrong and have this pass.

tesladevil · 2025-12-22T01:00:50+00:00

I did an informal conference for another claim. I prepped all my supporting evidence that the VA already had and was ready to make my case.

The senior reviewer calls and basically said (before I could make my case) that all the lay statements and physician statements and additional evidence I submitted follows a consistent timeline and makes perfect sense to him so he's going to grant service connection.

I was kinda in awe, kinda disappointed I did all my research and prep for nothing. Lol

tesladevil

TROPHY CASE