The past fifteen years of warfare has generated an enormous number of wounded veterans and service members suffering from chronic pain, post-traumatic stress (PTS), and traumatic brain injury (TBI). Of the approximately 50,000 active duty and veteran service members with war injuries, 90% live with chronic pain. There are no accurate figures for those diagnosed with PTS and TBI, however, an estima
ted 200,000-300,000 suffer from combat-related stress conditions and impaired cognition. These debilitating conditions commonly do not respond adequately to pharmaceutical and other neurologic and psychiatric interventions. Research has shown acupuncture to be a highly successful treatment for acute and chronic pain, headache, sleep disorders, as well as stress and anxiety symptoms, including PTS. Medical acupuncture, as primary treatment or complement to conventional therapy, has been enthusiastically embraced by military patients, veterans, and military physicians.
