Friday, 19th of December 2008 Acupuncture has been widely used for over 5000 years in China for the treatment of various health conditions ranging from headaches to severe pain. In fact it is so powerful for treating pain that the military in the US are going to use acupuncture on their troops. Col. Richard Niemtzow, an Air Force physician, has developed a technique which can relieve severe and chronic pain with acupuncture. The Air Force is now teaching ‘battlefield acupuncture’ to physicians so they can use it next year in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The technique involves the use of tiny needles on the patient’s ear to interfere with the pain signals going to the brain. Severe pain can be alleviated for days at a time. “This is one of the fastest pain attenuators in existence – the pain can be gone in five minutes, said Niemtzow”. Though the needles cannot replace powerful drugs such as morphine, acupuncture doesn’t have the adverse side effects, allergic reactions and potentially addictive properties as those associated with the powerful drugs used to alleviate pain.
This is a very big step for the acceptance of acupuncture into the traditional and conservative military medical field. “We use acupuncture as an adjunct to traditional therapy, said Niemtzow. The Chinese have used it for 5,000 years. It works, and it’s powerful” (Baltimore Sun, Dec.11 2008)
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