Eleven doctors and nurses learned how to reduce pain with semi-permanent needles during the first Battlefield Acupuncture (BFA) training at Naval Health Clinic (NHC) Corpus Christi, Jan. 27.

Developed in 2001 by Air Force Col. Richard Niemtzow and also called Auricular Acupuncture, BFA consists of inserting five tiny, sterile 2mm needles into specific points of each ear, where they can remain for up to three days.

According to an article co-written by Niemtzow and published in Medical Acupuncture in October 2015, "BFA produces rapid pain relief in a few minutes with almost no side-effects. This is an ideal technique to use when pain has not responded to narcotics or when habit-forming drugs are not desired, especially during critical military missions."

NHC Corpus Christi is located at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, which has been home to naval pilot training since 1941. Today, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and foreign student pilots earn their wings training in the four squadrons of Training Air Wing 4.

For many pilots and student naval aviators, pain is an accepted consequence of military service.

Lt. Rachelle F. Wilbur, a Navy nurse at NHC Corpus Christi, said BFA is a valuable asset for flight training because aviators can avoid being grounded due to the side effects of pain medication.

"We want to treat their pain, and hopefully treat the conditions that have persisted for long periods of time where no other treatments have been effective," said Wilbur. "Treatments like this may be their shining glimmer of hope out of a situation of pain and multiple drugs."

Wilbur arrived in Corpus Christi June 2016 and has served in the Navy for nearly six years. She is currently the manager for clinic support services and is responsible for researching and introducing the two, four-hour BFA classes.

The idea began after a visiting physical therapist credentialed in Auricular Acupuncture performed BFA on several patients at NHC Corpus Christi. One of those patients requested a follow-up because it was so effective.

Initially Wilbur reached out to Niemtzow, whose secretary put her in touch some course providers who contacted her.

But Army Col. Dean Hommer, chief, department of pain management at Brooke Army Medical Center, who has trained over 100 personnel in this methodology, was Wilbur's top choice because of proximity and cost-savings to the command.

"When I reached out to Colonel Hommer, I was first interested in sending our new physical therapist to San Antonio; but then the idea arose to bring the colonel here because it would cost the same and we could get more providers credentialed," said Wilbur, who added, "When I say credentialed, I mean credentialed in the clinic -- the class really only provides the certification. So we are thinking about a month until they get their initial evaluations completed so that they can be credentialed to provide this service."

After laying the groundwork for Hommer to teach at NHC Corpus Christi, Wilbur collaborated with clinic leadership to ensure it was going to be safe for patients and the facility would be ready.

"The whole clinic really came together to pull this class together," said Wilbur.

Wilbur said BFA, open to all patients, is not a one-time "fix all," and some patients will require extra treatments until whatever is causing their pain is resolved. In the physical therapy (PT) world, Wilbur said it is an advantage; the treatment blocks the pain so therapy can be completed to treat the cause.

"If we can treat somebody that is having pain while they are in PT, we are able to help them move, help them with their mobility and muscle strength without them doing their exercises in pain," she said.

Wilbur was a civilian emergency room nurse before she joined the Navy in 2011, and she's been deployed to Afghanistan for eight months where BFA is regularly performed. She said she has high hopes for this new modality.

"I just really wanted to help people; I want it to get right out across the whole Navy because I really believe in the initiative," she said. "I've seen it work for people! Our providers will eventually transfer and they can take it with them wherever they go, even across the area of responsibility. And my hope is to have at least one person at each branch clinic, as well as all of the providers here who will be certified to do it for people. The fact that we can have such a close relationship with the education center in San Antonio is wonderful!"

NHC Corpus Christi and its Naval Branch Health Clinics Kingsville and Fort Worth provide ambulatory care services to over 13,000 enrolled patients comprised of military active duty, their family members, retirees and their family members in south Texas and Dallas/Fort Worth. In addition, the command's detachment in San Antonio provides primary care services to Navy students at the Medical Education and Training Campus at Fort Sam Houston, and case management services and medical board management to Navy and Marine Corps wounded, ill, and injured (WII) warriors at San Antonio Military Medical Center (SAMMC).

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For more news from Naval Health Clinic Corpus Christi, visit www.navy.mil/.