An article on the use of auricular acupuncture to combat acute pain was published in October 2006 in the American magazine ‘Military Medicine’. Drug treatments for acute pain “can cause unfavorable side effects and logistical difficulties”, say the authors, as they “adversely affect physical and mental performance”. You cannot place a military pilot on a narcotic and let him or her fly. Administering intravenous morphine injection on a battlefield can prove equally tricky. Therefore alleviating pain quickly in order to allow military personnel to return to duty “thus allowing critical missions to proceed” is a big issue.

This study compared the effects of combining auricular (ear) acupuncture with standard emergency medical care to using just emergency medical care in patients with acute pain syndromes. The study, conducted in the emergency room (ER) at Malcolm Grow Medical Center, Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, involved eighty-seven active duty military personnel and their dependents with a diagnosis of acute pain. Participants in the acupuncture group experienced a 23% reduction in pain before leaving the ER, while average pain levels in participants in the standard medical care group remained basically unchanged.

According to the authors, acupuncture on the battlefield is certainly worth exploring. “Many combat environments permit needle insertion into the ear”, they say. They also call for further research to “investigate whether it could be self-administered and/or whether accurate needle placement could be achieved via the buddy system on the battlefield”.