Good topic, one that affects me. I've been flying T-45's & F/A-18's since 2001, with only a year and a half off from flying when I got tagged for a non-flying staff gig. I started having chronic lower back pain in 2009 but so far I haven’t talked with the flight doc about it due to the fear of being “med down”.
I will retire in three years and I fully understand that I need to get it documented, along with a few other minor issues, in order to get it in my medical record for the VA post-retirement.
My (probably stupid & fear-based) question to ya’ll is how do you go about getting it documented without having some knuckleheaded flight doc try to “med down” you? Sad to say but I haven't had much trust in my flight docs over my career. I have generally stayed away from them except for my annual flight physical. Any advice?