Arthritis:

Caused through turns of the heavy labour that is dragonriding, combined with the extremes of temperature inherant in flight and travel between, arthritis is a crippling inflammation of the joints resulting in loss of mobility and chronic pain. The hands are a frequent site of arthritis, but other highly used joints such as the hips can be affected too. Arthritis can't really be prevented, but gentle exercise can help maintain joint mobility. Treatment is presided over by the weyrhhealers, and can involve daily doses of willowsalic tea to ease pain and some of the inflammation, parafin wax dips for the hands that use heat to restore mobility, and several other treatments.

Frostbite:

Dragonriders fly at high altitudes, exposed to the wind, in all weathers. Think of the challenges facing the early aviators in their open cockpits, and you've got what a dragonrider is dealing with. Unprotected fingers and toes, noses, cheeks and ears can all become frostbitten, hence why riding leathers, gloves, a helmet and goggles and a scarf are such critical equipment. Frostbite first shows itself as a whitening of the affected skin (frost nip) and soon disappears with warming at this stage, although the skin can remain reddened for some hours. More severe stages feature numbness and loss of feeling, and eventually tissue death. Treatment involves slow warming of the affected areas to restore circulation, and occasional amputation if tissue death has occurred. Do not rub an area of frostbite! It can make the tissue damage even more severe.

Hypothermia:

Another hazard of high altitude temperature and weather is hypothermia, when the body's core temperature drops below normal. The fact that symptoms include disorientation and losses of consciousness can prove especially fatal in dragonriders, and losses of otherwise healthy and experienced dragonpairs between can often be attributed to this. A key warning sign that a normal chill is turning to more dangerous hypothermia is when a case of shivering suddenly stops, without an increase in body temperature to accompany it. Treatment involves, simply enough, warming the patient up. Immersion in warming baths, sharing body heat with another person, wrapping in warmed blankets… all are effective treatments for hypothermia. To prevent hypothermia, never fly while wet, and be sure to wear adequate layers of warm clothing. Hot drinks are also useful.

Hypoxia:

Caused by a prolonged exposure to the thinner air at altitudes over 10,000 feet, (Although night vision is impaired at 4000 feet.) hypoxia is another leading cause of death for dragonriders outside of Fall. With a wide range of individual symptoms similar to some seen in drunkenness (dizziness, apprehension, euphoria, belligerence, blurred vision, tunnel vision, confusion, poor judgement, muscle uncoordination) and others more normally associated with conditions such as stroke or heart attack (air hunger, fatigue, headache, hot and cold flashes numbness, tingling, hyperventilation, cyanosis.), altitude hypoxia is dangerous because of its' very slow onset, and the confusion caused to the dragon as its rider slips deeper into the hold of the condition. Commonly seen in those flying sweeps over mountainous regions, treatment is as simple as getting the affected rider down to low altitude, where recovery is prompt. Prevention is likewise simple: avoid flying too high. Even if your dragon can manage it, you can't.

Infertility:

While lingering between doesn't affect male fertility too noticeably, male dragonriders spend long hours in heavy leathers, strapped between the neckridges of their dragons, with very little padding to some sensitive areas. While no pain is associated with it, except perhaps in some weyrlings new to the experience of flight, some men may find a decrease in their fertility due to the compression of the aforementioned sensitive areas causing a lowered sperm count. For female dragonriders, infertility is a much greater concern, bar for goldriders. This is partly due to the repeated system shock of jaunts between during Threadfall, and also partly due to the psychological stresses of flying Threadfall causing irregular or absent monthly cycles.

Kidney/Urinary Tract Problems:

Another set of disorders caused by the cold of flight, as well as the binge drinking that often comes with the dragonriding lifestyle.Symptoms include pain localized to the lower back, painful urination, an increased feeling of need to urinate, but without an increase in actual urination. Lovely, no? Treatment generally consists of various herbal remedies, drinking a lot of water, and drinking pressed cranberry juice. Prevention takes the form of moderating drinking habits, keeping well-dressed against the cold, and drinking adequate water.

Miscarriages:

Like female dragonrider infertility, miscarriages are a common side-effect of travel between. While the mechanisms causing it are not well understood, it is well-known that betweening during the first trimester of a pregnancy can induce miscarriage. Because of the risk of uncontrolled bleeding, this is not a Healer-approved method of birth control, or even abortion, compounds such as pergin berries offering a much safer alternative. It is, however, a socially-acceptable method.

Muscle Injury:

Dragonriding is hard work! Between tossing firestone, the twists and contortions needed to stay centered on a fighting dragon, heavy hauling, climbing up and down straps, and a myriad of other tasks, dragonriders end up pretty ripped indeed. Unfortunately, they also end up with strained, sprained, torn and sore muscles on a regular basis. Treatment is standard: hot soaks, massages, rests, numbweed or pepper salves and the like. Prevention? Well, some muscle injuries are unavoidable, but stretching before exertion can help keep them a little farther apart.

Scarring:

From horrific threadscoring to mishaps with belt knives, or an awl gone awry during straps making, dragonriders are sure to amass quite a collection of scar tissue. Not normally a health issue, scarring can become problematic when it forms in joint locations, restricting movement or causing lingering pain. Prevention takes the form of good after-care of an injury site, while treatments involve physical therapy from a Healer specialist.

Sinus Troubles:

Yet another thing related to flying out in the cold and the windy! Sinus headaches, a chronically stuffed or running nose… charming stuff, but another thing that can affect dragonriders. Willowsalic can relieve pain, and some time in the baths can help ease congestion, but as long as there's a temperature shift between ground level and the high thermals, there will be dragonriders pinching the bridge of their nose and looking pained.

STDs:

While the Pernese colonists were all medically screened and healthy, Pern has been colonized for over two and a half millennia. Sexual transmission of various viruses and bacteria is such a successful mode of transport on Earth that it seems ridiculous to think that Pernese microorganisms wouldn't take advantage of it too. Accordingly, whether it's Bitran Crotch Rot or the Fortian Rash, or even plain ol' genital warts (Human papilomavirus, which causes them and other warts, probably hitchhiked along with the supposedly squeaky-clean colonists.) there's something to catch if your character decides to run around sleeping with anything human and over age fifteen. Mating flights would no doubt be a common method of spread, since a single infected greenrider could possibly infect at least three or four others per turn thanks to flights, who would then pass it on to others, who would then… You get the picture. Pern lacks antibiotics, so best not to assume that our homegrown STDs are as nasty or contagious as Terran ones, but if you ever want to send your character to the Healers for something embarassing, here's your chance.