Acupuncture To Be Used On Bases, Battlefield

[livvy]

Acupuncture To Be Used On Bases, Battlefield

By Michael Hoffman - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Dec 25, 2008 14:31:23 EST

ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE, Md. — Sitting in the Defense Department’s only acupuncture clinic with needles sticking in his ears and wires wrapped around his feet, Staff Sgt. Samuel Darwin admitted the acupuncture was his big idea.

He suggested it to his doctor after sharp foot pain he’s suffered since February just wouldn’t disappear.

Darwin goes twice a week for treatments and sometimes draws stares from airmen in his squadron when he returns with the acupuncture needles still in his ears.

His doctor first prescribed traditional pain medications, but Darwin wanted to try acupuncture since he’d grown up with it — his mother was a fan — and found it worked.

“The guys in my squadron want to know if it works, which I tell them it does,” said Darwin, assigned to the 316th Comptroller Squadron. “Some guys, though, joke that I just want to have earrings in the military.”

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http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2008/12/airforce_acupuncture_122308w/%2e

[Rhiannon12866]

1. Terrific idea! K&R.

Actually, the efficacy of acupuncture was discovered on the field of battle a couple of thousand years ago when horses were shot with arrows (or so my doctor told me...). :shrug:

I've found that acupuncture worked for me, was desperate to try anything for chronic pain, was trying to avoid surgery. And it worked for my mother when she had problems with her sciatica. :-)

It's an inspired idea because it can be used to anesthetize, reduce pain and to heal, with only a collection of needles which are certainly more handy to transport than medical equipment. It's wonderful that the military is embracing it, since it can deliver relief from pain and also save lives... :-)