A NEW STEALTH WEAPON ACUPUNCTURE GOES TO WAR..AIR FORCE DOCTOR HAS BEEN TRAINING MILITARY DOCTORS IN BATTLEFIELD COMBAT ACUPUNCTURE

---

ACUPUNCTURE TO REDUCE PAIN IN COMBAT

I have read that some medical centers offer acupuncture but I was amazed to read that the U.S. Military has enlisted acupuncture into combat and will start to train combat doctors to use acupuncture. The military plans to enlist acupuncture in the battle against war time pain. Military doctors will learn battlefield acupuncture.




"Acupuncture involves placing very thin needles at specific points on the body to try to control pain and reduce stress. There are only theories about how, why and even whether it might work".



Colonel Richard Niemtzow of Andrews Air Force Base developed and named the battlefield acupuncture technique in 2001. "It is a radical departure from classical Chinese, French and German ear acupuncture. He said he realized its possible military value and the events of the World Trade Center influenced him to name it battlefield acupuncture.






As an Air Force acupuncturist, Colonel Niemtzow has trained hundreds of his military counterparts. Battlefield acupuncture focuses on locations on the ear that he said have been known for hundreds of years as effective areas for pain control. The ear is also practical because it can be readily accessed whether on the battlefield or in a hospital bed".




"Now the Air Force, which runs the military’s only acupuncture clinic, is training doctors to take acupuncture to the war zones of Iraq and Afghanistan. A pilot program starting in March will prepare 44 Air Force, Navy and Army doctors to use acupuncture as part of emergency care in combat and in front line hospitals, not just on bases back home".

Battlefield Acupuncture Introduced

Acupuncture for Acute and Chronic Pain in Air Force Personnel

Air Force to Train Combat Docs to Use Acupuncture