Home > News > Article Display

Battlefield Acupuncture; fighting the pain

By Airman 1st Class Sahara L. Fales, Minot Air Force Base Public Affairs / Published July 28, 2014

PRINT | E-MAIL
MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. -- No one really knows how it began. The most common story is about an Army surgeon in Ancient China who was treating a soldier for chronic back pain. During battle, his patient was shot in the leg by an arrow, and strangely enough his back pain disappeared. Shortly after, another soldier was shot in the same exact spot and too was relieved of pain. From that moment on the surgeon began sticking patients with arrows to treat pain. Thus began acupuncture.

Regardless of where it came from, battlefield acupuncture is becoming more popular every day. It was more thoroughly developed in America approximately 10 years ago for use during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, hence its name.

"It is a quick, simple and easy method of pain control that can be used on the battlefield," said Capt. Laramie Richmond, 5th Medical Operations Squadron physician assistant in the personnel reliability program clinic. "It is convenient because Airmen can still wear the studs without having to remove their helmets, Kevlar and other important pieces of armor."

Battlefield acupuncture is used to treat many different types of pain caused by surgery, acute injuries, sprains, broken bones, neuropathic or even long term pain.

This treatment is provided at Minot Air Force Base for all Department of Defense beneficiaries who aren't pregnant or on PRP or flying status.

"We have 65 patients currently enrolled in this program," said Richmond. "Our results show that 80 percent of our patients get some form of relief."

Master Sgt. Nathan Carlson, 219th Security Forces Squadron health technician, is one of the patients receiving treatment. He was in a motorcycle accident in 2007 that left him with injured vertebrae and chronic back pain.

"Acupuncture provides immediate relief and no pain for about 5-10 days," said Carlson. "The best part is there is minimal to no pain during the procedure."

It begins with testing a position that typically causes the patient pain. After allowing the patient to rate the amount of pain, the physician assistant will clean the ear and insert the first stud. The studs are placed in five key points in the ear that stimulate nerve pathways to disrupt the pain, causing temporary relief. The provider then has the patient walk around to check for any signs of faintness. Lastly, they will test the position again to see if another stud is needed.

Carlson has seen a chiropractor and physical therapist for years, but battlefield acupuncture seems to be the go-to treatment for him.

"Battlefield acupuncture is great," said Carlson. "It is like a reset button on my pain in life."

USAF Comments Policy
If you wish to comment, use the text box below. AF reserves the right to modify this policy at any time.

This is a moderated forum. That means all comments will be reviewed before posting. In addition, we expect that participants will treat each other, as well as our agency and our employees, with respect. We will not post comments that contain abusive or vulgar language, spam, hate speech, personal attacks, violate EEO policy, are offensive to other or similar content. We will not post comments that are spam, are clearly "off topic", promote services or products, infringe copyright protected material, or contain any links that don't contribute to the discussion. Comments that make unsupported accusations will also not be posted. The AF and the AF alone will make a determination as to which comments will be posted. Any references to commercial entities, products, services, or other non-governmental organizations or individuals that remain on the site are provided solely for the information of individuals using this page. These references are not intended to reflect the opinion of the AF, DoD, the United States, or its officers or employees concerning the significance, priority, or importance to be given the referenced entity, product, service, or organization. Such references are not an official or personal endorsement of any product, person, or service, and may not be quoted or reproduced for the purpose of stating or implying AF endorsement or approval of any product, person, or service.

Any comments that report criminal activity including: suicidal behaviour or sexual assault will be reported to appropriate authorities including OSI. This forum is not:

  • This forum is not to be used to report criminal activity. If you have information for law enforcement, please contact OSI or your local police agency.
  • Do not submit unsolicited proposals, or other business ideas or inquiries to this forum. This site is not to be used for contracting or commercial business.
  • This forum may not be used for the submission of any claim, demand, informal or formal complaint, or any other form of legal and/or administrative notice or process, or for the exhaustion of any legal and/or administrative remedy.

AF does not guarantee or warrant that any information posted by individuals on this forum is correct, and disclaims any liability for any loss or damage resulting from reliance on any such information. AF may not be able to verify, does not warrant or guarantee, and assumes no liability for anything posted on this website by any other person. AF does not endorse, support or otherwise promote any private or commercial entity or the information, products or services contained on those websites that may be reached through links on our website.

Members of the media are asked to send questions to the public affairs through their normal channels and to refrain from submitting questions here as comments. Reporter questions will not be posted. We recognize that the Web is a 24/7 medium, and your comments are welcome at any time. However, given the need to manage federal resources, moderating and posting of comments will occur during regular business hours Monday through Friday. Comments submitted after hours or on weekends will be read and posted as early as possible; in most cases, this means the next business day.

For the benefit of robust discussion, we ask that comments remain "on-topic." This means that comments will be posted only as it relates to the topic that is being discussed within the blog post. The views expressed on the site by non-federal commentators do not necessarily reflect the official views of the AF or the Federal Government.

To protect your own privacy and the privacy of others, please do not include personally identifiable information, such as name, Social Security number, DoD ID number, OSI Case number, phone numbers or email addresses in the body of your comment. If you do voluntarily include personally identifiable information in your comment, such as your name, that comment may or may not be posted on the page. If your comment is posted, your name will not be redacted or removed. In no circumstances will comments be posted that contain Social Security numbers, DoD ID numbers, OSI case numbers, addresses, email address or phone numbers. The default for the posting of comments is "anonymous", but if you opt not to, any information, including your login name, may be displayed on our site.

Thank you for taking the time to read this comment policy. We encourage your participation in our discussion and look forward to an active exchange of ideas.