Page 940 - Total War on PTSD

Air Force base we were visiting. They cared for me and gave me a Plan-of-Action (POA) to give my Army Primary Care Manager (PCM) when I arrived home. My PCM then laughed at the POA, said no other treatment was necessary, and that I would be fine. In Basic and AIT you didn't have a choice on who you saw. Yeah...was not fine...I have lifelong lower flexibility levels...and that shoulder does not have the same range of motion as the other. My lower back muscles seize up because of muscle injuries in my back. Even with exercise my muscles seize up. As I age these injuries are just getting worse and I have bone spurs and have developed arthritis in my spine as well as other areas. Once I was in Active Duty, they started paying attention to what I said, especially as I got higher in rank. They started actually listening to what I was saying. They took me seriously. I finally got the physical therapy I had needed all along. That helped to a certain degree. However, the damage was already done after two to three years of that so, I still, several times a year, have to go back to physical therapy. My back and my knee are just not doing well.
The VA just started me on acupuncture now. And it is actually helping. I am trying to avoid surgery so this was a welcome option. It is really helping. I haven't had to take my pain pills in a couple weeks now, other than maybe Tylenol. I was very skeptical about this sort of treatment. It was like, yeah...I don't know about this. After two weeks...well I think I am on my 4th or 5th week now...I am just amazed. The sciatica issues I have had decades, it's like I can sit now and not have pain...I can walk and not have pain. It's amazing. I would lay on my stomach and they would place the needles, which were made from bamboo shoots, that were really fine, thin, and flexible. They are placed in different pressure points on your body where your paid in. They put multiple bamboo needles in different pressure points, and leave it for 10 minutes. It's a very
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