Naval Hospital Adds Acupuncture to List of Available Service
No matter what treatment she tried,
chronic pain troubled Sierra Praiswater — until a 5,000 year old technique finally
brought her relief.
The 19-year-old hospital apprentice
in the Navy suffered from chronic back pain, whether she was sitting, standing
or laying down. But after receiving a total of 10 acupuncture needles in her
ears, she is nearly pain free and immediately saw an increase in her range of
motion and flexibility.
“I feel really good right now
because the sharp pain is gone,” said Praiswater, a general duty corpsman in
the labor and delivery department of the hospital. “I feel a definite
improvement. It’s not as uncomfortable. The worst area of pain was the middle
of my back, but now that has completely subsided.”
Praiswater was among dozens of
patients who lined up Tuesday at Naval Hospital Camp Lejeune in the Pain
Management Clinic. Medical providers from across all branches of the military
honed their newly-learned acupuncture techniques. The service member's new
acupuncture skills were immediately available to patients upon the completion
of training.
Acupuncture, according to the Mayo
Clinic, is a technique involving the insertion of extremely thin needles
through the skin at strategic points in order to minimize pain. Medical
providers at the Naval Hospital can suggest acupuncture for pain management but
patients also have the opportunity to request the procedure.
The Samueli Institute, a
Virginia-based non-profit organization that researches and advocates for the
integration of acupuncture and other complimentary procedures into modern
medicine has worked with the Air Force Acupuncture Center at Joint Base Andrews
in Maryland for 10 years. On Tuesday their team of clinicians and researchers
introduced their Battlefield Acupuncture Program, a program that can be used in
a clinical or field setting to alleviate acute or chronic pain.
To read more, click here.
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