Alleviating pain on the battlefield is an enduring problem. Drugs have evolved; yet yesterday’s tincture of opium is not vastly different from today’s fentanyl, morphine and oxycodone. With addiction and dependency rates soaring, it makes sense to investigate other means for pain alleviation.

Navy Lieutenant Ryan Hollins, a physical therapist assigned to Naval Hospital Twentynine Palms (NHTP), became interested in battlefield acupuncture (BFA) after seeing an Air Force physical therapist use it during his physical therapy internship. Hollins weighed attending an acupuncture course versus bringing an acupuncturist to his remote Navy hospital. Located aboard the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Naval Hospital Twentynine Palms supports medical readiness on the largest air-ground live-fire training facility in the country. Hollins reached out to providers in multiple disciplines — physicians, chiropractors, physician’s assistants, nurse practioners, dentists, physical therapists, nurses, independent duty corpsmen and corpsmen.

Hollins endeavored to get Dr. Richard Niemtzow, who invented and developed the protocol for Auricular Therapy (ear acupuncture), to teach the seminar at NHTP. Dr. Niemtzow being unavailable, Hollins found former Navy corpsman, physician’s assistant and acupuncturist, John Howard, who had trained under Dr. Niemtzow. With 35 medical personnel attending the course on Sept. 10, Howard treated one volunteer patient to demonstrate the technique, and course participants then practiced on volunteer patients.

Howard demonstrated the use of auricular therapy using tiny needles not much larger than a bee’s stinger. The single-use needles are designed to stay attached to the outer ear for a few days or until they naturally fall out.

“When I had battlefield acupuncture performed, I saw an immediate reduction in pain,” said NHTP physical therapist assistant and former Navy corpsman, Ben Clark. “The process was not really painful, especially compared to injections that give the same results.”

Hollins noted he has many patients who don’t like to take pills, at all. “They would rather be in pain than use pain medication,” Hollins said. “Battlefield acupuncture allows for the potential of decreased pain without having to take medication; plus there’s the added benefit of minimizing limitations. Medications restrict a patient’s ability to operate vehicles or handle firearms. Battlefield acupuncture imposes no such restrictions and thereby contributes to readiness.

Family-practice provider, Cmdr. Marddi Rahn, NHTP Primary Care Medical Home Port, said she likes having an alternative to pain meds and feels the treatment is beneficial. She uses battlefield acupuncture to treat chronic pain, headaches, back pain, knee and foot pain.

Lt. Cmdr. Ben Ruddick, NHTP anesthesiologist, said he uses it with a post-operative patient in the post-anesthesia care unit under the supervision of a BFA-credentialed physician. “The patient was a post-hysterectomy and experienced moderate pain relief from the BFA application,” Ruddick said. 

Hollins reiterated the benefit of having another option to treat pain. “Especially with the opioid misuse epidemic that has been in the news lately, I’ll use it with patients experiencing severe pain to help tolerate their physical therapy; or I’ll use it post treatment if their pain increases to severe levels,” Hollins said.

While not a mandated program in Navy medicine, battlefield acupuncture is widely recognized as a viable option for pain alleviation. Navy providers who are certified in BFA are adding to the growing amount of data hospital administrators and medical professional can use to make informed decisions regarding alternatives to opioids and other pain-reducing medications.

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