Even 18th-century pirates were convinced of the value, piercing their lobes with earrings "to improve their night vision," Niemtzow said with a grin.
He calls his procedure battlefield acupuncture because it's easily learned and requires no cumbersome equipment. A pack of needles can easily be carried in a pocket.
The method can be taught in a few hours to doctors, medics and combat troops, most of whom already have learned traditional battlefield first aid.
Col. Anyce Tock, chief of medical services for the Air Force Surgeon General, said yesterday that the service has authorized 32 active-duty physicians to begin "battlefield acupuncture"' training.
Doctors at Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany are using the practice to treat severely wounded troops in transit from the battlefield to Andrews and on to Walter Reed Army Medical Center or the Bethesda Naval Hospital for long-term care.
Battlefield acupuncture has been especially effective among patients suffering from a combination of combat wounds, typically a brain injury or severed limbs, burns and penetrating wounds along with severe disorientation and anxiety.
For these patients, the alleviation of pain is a critical step in their eventual healing and recovery.
"We get damaged and psychologically troubled people here, and our approach is to turn down their pain, let them relax, get some sleep, and then they can focus on their healing," said Air Force Col. Stephen M. Burns.
Burns, a physician who is chief of the acupuncture clinic here, makes weekly rounds treating wounded troops at Walter Reed.
He said badly injured patients might be coping with three or four levels of painkillers, "and all they can do is sit in bed or in a chair."
"God bless 'em, they've already had too many surgeries and too much pain," he said. "We can knock down that pain so they can begin to get on with their lives."
"Acupuncture has been very helpful for people for whom other treatment has failed," said Lt. Col. Terri L. Riutcel, an Air Force psychiatrist who deployed to Iraq last year where she treated victims of roadside bomb blasts, among other injuries.
Acupuncture "is very well tolerated and there are very few side effects," apart from occasional bruising, she said. "I think it has tremendous potential for military medicine."
Battlefield acupuncture caught the eye of U.S. Army Rangers, who often operate in remote locations. At their invitation, Niemtzow and his team trained some Rangers last summer.
Nonetheless, advocates of the practice recognize that they must overcome skepticism within the ranks of military doctors.
"Oh, sure, some haven't gotten the word," said Burns, the clinic chief. "We are very much ahead of the curve."
