February 9, 2009

The U.S. Air Force is starting a pilot program to train active-duty physicians in the use of acupuncture for personnel on the front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to the Air Force Medical Corps Winter 2008 newsletter. Many promising studies over the last few years have shown the effectiveness of acupuncture for treatment of conditions like low back pain and depression–two illnesses that often plague armed service personnel.

Officials at the Air Force Surgeon General’s office had this to say, “Over the past few years, acupuncture has been found to be quite effective in ameliorating some of the complex pain syndromes affecting many of our severely wounded warriors.

The purpose of the pilot program is to

a) more formally evaluate the effectiveness of acupuncture in reducing pain and facilitating an earlier assessment of TBI [traumatic brain injury] in seriously injured patients, and

b) to assess the effectiveness (and practicality) of using acupuncture as a medical adjunct in a deployed setting.”

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