Veterans Offered Acupuncture

 Veterans Offered Acupuncture

After serving in Afghanistan and Iraq, Army veteran Vanessa Lavoie said loud noises, such as a rumbling garbage truck, can stir up anxious thoughts of bombs and mortar shells.

Lavoie said she had a couple of concussions and was sexually assaulted. She saw a girl die in front of her. “Things like that you will never forget,” she said.

Lavoie found relief recently at Paul J. Suchcicki Veteran's Acupuncture Clinic when five needles were inserted into each ear as part of the clinic's standard treatment.

“I felt a pinch big time in the right ear and nothing at all (in the left ear). As soon as the needle went in, everything was slow and relaxing,” Lavoie said.

Opening night of the free clinic at Family Tree Acupuncture drew 35 veterans and their family members. Older men in wind breaker jackets walked in with canes while an elementary school-age boy also got poked in the ear before his basketball game.

Lavoie, 25, is a vegan who wore a yellow “Nor Cal” T-shirt for Northern California. She is originally from San Diego but “loves San Francisco.” She said she is returning to Afghanistan in a week to serve as a civilian air traffic controller.

Lavoie is very much into alternative medicine, but “anything we can get is helpful. It's really nice of them to do this.”

Bob Pepe, 65, of Port Orange, sought relief from the post-traumatic stress of serving in Vietnam.

“I have a lot of anxiety. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night. I don't know if it's a heart attack or anxiety,” Pepe said. “I've learned to roll with it. I realize I'm not having a heart attack, but it's hard to control the head sometimes.”

Source of the story is here.