Here's my query on what appears to be a slightly odd policy that I've now experienced at three airports.
Due to recurring bursitis problems, my doctor has instructed me to always wear a compression sleeve on my elbow (particularly, one of
these). This isn't really an orthopedic device (really, it's just like a thick sock with some padding), and isn't a medical necessity, but it does bring up some interesting issues:
I've learned that wearing the sleeve visibly through checkpoints is pretty much guaranteed to get me wanded and patted down (MHT, SLC, and MSP being the most recent data points), even if I remove the sleeve and hand it to them. So for the past six months my general policy has been to remove the sleeve before the checkpoint and put it in my carryon.
But then I had the following incidents recently in situations where I
didn't even wear the sleeve going through the detector portal:
1. At MHT, the TSO saw me remove the sleeve as I was approaching the checkpoint, and informed me that having the elbow sleeve required a pat-down and wanding,
even if I had removed it before coming to the checkpoint. So apparently I have to remove the sleeve before I come into sight of the checkpoint...
2. At MSP earlier this month, upon seeing the elbow sleeve during a hand-check of my carryon, they then informed me that the had to do a pat-down and wanding.
3. Yesterday at SLC, I had a repeat of the MHT incident.
I'm suspecting that there's a recent procedural change that some TSOs and supervisors are incorrectly interpreting.
What strikes me as most odd about this is that if I simple wear long sleeve shirts, it's never a problem.
There are plenty of people out there with more substantial bandages and braces than a simple compression sleeve... does this happen to anyone else?