Acupuncture & the Military

Studies show about 50 percent of Americans have tried alternative medicine like acupuncture. So the man who pioneered acupuncture in the military says it should be an option for the men and women serving their country. And he's now in our area, treating thousands of military men and women and their families with acupuncture.

Col. Richard Niemztow, a radiation oncologist, received a brochure on acupuncture in 1994. At first he threw it out, but then he decided to learn more about the ancient practice and attended a conference on acupuncture. He was sold. Niemztow started the first acupuncture clinic at McGuire Air Force Base in Ohio and now practices acupuncture at Andrews Air Force Base, the Pentagon and Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Three or four doctors at Walter Reed practice acupuncture on their patients. Niemztow visits each week, to help relieve the pain for amputees back from Iraq. He says he helps 50 percent of amputees suffering from phantom pain.

I had the opportunity to sit in on patient visits who were referred to acupuncture at Walter Reed and received the treatment for the first time. I witnessed men and women finding relief in a matter of minutes after suffering chronic pain for years.

Niemztow used various techniques on the patients he developed and are now taught throughout the country. In one technique, he places acupuncture needles into the ear, since the ear is integrated to the central nervous system.

Niemztow says you interfere with the processing of pain and in a way, turn off the pathway and that's why pain may go away. Each of the patients he saw were referred back to the clinic for follow-up treatments. He says it is possible their pain will come back.

Niemztow alone has treated 11,000 patients in the military with acupuncture. He says the cost of the most expensive needles are 38 cents and a very cost-effective way to treat pain. He's the only acupuncturist at Andrews Air Force Base and the Pentagon and hopes the program will be expanded.