SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - Vietnam veteran Grant Dorothy has tried just about everything to manage the pain he’s lived with since 1970, when he was wounded in combat.
He drank heavily to self-medicate until 1986. He tried pain management counseling and physical therapy, the Argus Leader reported .
Until recently, he took five Hydrocodone pills every day.
“Now, I’m down to one at night,” said Dorothy.
The difference-makers for Dorothy were pins and yoga poses, not pills.
He’s among hundreds of vets using a VA Health System program called Integrated Health, which has quietly become one of the most comprehensive centers for Eastern medicine in South Dakota since its inception in 2014.
An eight-person team on the first floor of the sprawling VA campus offers massage therapy, acupuncture, tai chi, yoga, energy therapy, meditation, aromatherapy and other nontraditional options to any veteran who uses the VA in Sioux Falls.
Health coaches weave the concept of mindfulness and day-to-day wellness into the treatment of chronic pain, diabetes, insomnia or post-traumatic stress disorder. The program has taken more than 2,000 referrals so far.
“Everybody wants to do traditional acupuncture and massage therapy,” said Scott Dover, the Integrated Health program supervisor. “Those went like gangbusters.”
Now, the state’s largest veterans hospital hopes to expand on the program’s success with the opening of a 3,000-square-foot Integration Center.
The center’s being built in four modular pieces. When complete, the center will offer the mind-, body- and spirit-based therapies in a dedicated space.
The space is an important part of the program, even in the modified offices used now.
The smell of eucalyptus and tea tree oil wafts into hospital hallways from rooms adorned with warm lamp light to supplement the fluorescent overhead bulbs, themselves covered with panels that mimic cumulous clouds and blue sky on a sunny day.
“It’s always a nice day in here,” says Dr. Jenny Miller, a chiropractor and acupuncturist.
Patients are screened by registered nurses, but the questions go beyond a patient’s health history.
The first question is: “What really matters to you in your life?”
“It’s looking at your whole person and their whole lifestyle,” said Marie Boetel, a registered nurse and wellness coach who teaches tai chi. “It’s about different options, versus the traditional Western pill approach.”
Indeed, pills are a frequent reason for a referral to Integrative Health. Like Dorothy, many vets are looking to reduce their medication intake.
The goal-setting helps determine which therapies might work best, with an eye to techniques and tools to use at home: Calming lavender combined with deep breathing at bedtime might be prescribed for insomnia, for example, or meditation as a response to stress.
Losing weight through yoga makes a big difference for patients who are diabetic or overweight.
The idea is not to replace traditional medicine, said coach Wendi Crawford, but to change a patient’s lifestyle in ways that help therapies take hold.
“If you’re doing the right things, a lot of times the body can heal itself,” Crawford said.
The acupuncture comes in two forms. Miller does traditional, long-needled acupuncture in a series of 20- to 30-minute sessions for several weeks.
The VA also uses battlefield acupuncture, a program developed by a doctor with the U.S. Air Force that inserts tiny spikes at five points in the ear. The spikes stay in for four to five days, falling out on their own.
So far, the VA has done more than 4,000 battlefield acupuncture sessions, even training some nurses in the regular clinic.
Both forms see about 80 percent of patients reporting a reduction in pain, the Integrative Health team claims.
Dorothy has tried nearly every option. He attends weekly yoga sessions, still gets both forms of acupuncture and was surprised at his body’s response to energy therapy, which he called “hocus pocus” until he walked out of the session.
“It was the first time in 30 years that I didn’t feel any pain,” he said.
Like Dorothy, Marine Corps veteran Patrick Blake wanted to be less reliant on his prescription-strength naproxen. Blake needed relief from a shoulder injury in order to do his job as a custodial supervisor.
“They said it could damage my liver, but I was like, ‘Well, I need my shoulder to do my job,’ ” Blake said.
After a handful of acupuncture treatments, he said, “I hardly need any pain relievers at all.”
“I would recommend it to anyone who doesn’t want to take medication for mobility issues, or possibly have surgery for it,” Blake said. “At least give it a try.”
___
Information from: Argus Leader, https://www.argusleader.com
Please read our comment policy before commenting.