Mental and Physical Relief for Veterans

Military service shapes people in profound ways through discipline, loyalty, courage, and resilience. However, your nervous system might not know that your service has ended.

Are you struggling with pain, tension, and lingering stress that followed you home after deployment? You’re not alone, and we’re here to help you toward recovery.

This Veterans Day, we honor not just your service, but your healing journey. Acupuncture and herbal medicine provide a gentle, natural way to support your mind, body, and spirit while reconnecting with calm, belonging, and health.

Worried about your ability to afford care? We’re a VA Community Care provider, meaning you can use your VA benefits in our clinic. Next time you’re at the VA for an appointment, talk to your provider about a referral to our clinic, so you can get started on your path toward healing.

Are you wondering what to expect when you come in for acupuncture? Here are some of the most common problems we help veterans overcome.

Emotional Pain and PTSD

During your time in the military, your nervous system trained for survival and now has trouble remembering how to relax.

This response served you well once, but it’s likely keeping you from returning to peace in your body now that you no longer need it in your current life.

If you’re struggling with:

• PTSD

• Constantly feeling “on alert”

• Anxiety and panic

• Depression

• Loss of interest

• Irritability, anger, and startle response

• Intrusive memories or nightmares

• Trouble concentrating

• Brain fog

• Insomnia or restless sleep

• Social withdrawal

There are ways you can overcome these symptoms and regain a more peaceful sense of normal.

Acupuncture is an incredibly powerful medicine that taps into where your nervous system currently is, and where it needs to go. Your body possesses an electromagnetic field that influences how your nervous system acts. Think about this system like a telephone tower – the electromagnetic field needs to work properly to successfully send signals that control your body’s behavior.

When this field becomes too active from the hypervigilance that comes with service, it will need external help to return to a calm state. That’s where acupuncture comes in. The needles influence the field to work properly, so your nervous system can work in a more functional way.

It’s normal to experience emotional discomfort and cognitive blocks after serving in the military, and everyone’s journey looks different. Adding acupuncture to your healing plan will help you feel more like yourself in a shorter amount of time.

Physical Pain and Functional Issues

Your body undergoes a lot of physical stress during military service. The repeated stress from heavy gear, injuries, training, and combat can leave a lasting impression on your physical health.

These symptoms might include:

• Chronic back and neck pain

• Migraines

• Tension headaches

• Joint pain or arthritis

• Neuropathy

• Muscle tightness or limited mobility

• Fatigue

• Digestive issues

Your body remembers the weight of these physical stressors long after your service is complete. It needs help letting go of the tension that’s causing uncomfortable and painful symptoms.

Think back to the electromagnetic field that affects your nervous system. This same field affects your muscles, nerves, joints, and organs. When a muscle holds too much tension, or an organ begins to falter from carrying too much stress, you’ll experience symptoms like these.

Acupuncture helps release the tension in your muscles and relieve pain by releasing endorphins, reducing inflammation, and improving blood flow. These processes are controlled by your electromagnetic field and can be corrected with well placed acupuncture needles.

Remind your body how to find calm again. You can honor your experience with acupuncture and herbal medicine to allow the tension and pain in your body to release.

Fight or Flight and Stress Patterns

If you’re still struggling with stress after you’ve completed your service, your body is locked in “fight or flight.” It moved into high alert to keep you safe, but now that the danger is gone, it’s time to allow yourself “rest and heal.”

The symptoms you might feel are:

• Racing heart

• Night sweats

• Nausea

• Chronic tension

• Difficulty relaxing

Long-term “fight-or-flight” can lead to even more difficult symptoms and chronic health conditions. By giving your nervous system, the means to heal now, you can prevent chronic stress from doing further damage to your body.

Acupuncture can target your heart and nervous system to rebalance your automatic responses to a calmer state. It can also regulate your stress hormone, cortisol, pulling your body out of a long-term state of panic.

This medicine reminds your body that it’s okay to rest. It gives you a means to connect your mind, body, and emotions in a way you can process and release. You’ll always have your strength, but it gives you a way to calm the hypervigilance.

Veteran Identity Related Issues

Transitioning from military service back to your regular life can come with a difficult learning curve, leaving you worn out and feeling not yourself.

You might feel:

• Loss of routine, mission, and structure

• Feelings of isolation after service

• Difficulty asking for help

• Difficulty trusting

• Unsafe in civilian environments

• Emotional numbness

Your service led to strength, purpose, and discipline, but now that you’re home, your nervous system needs help learning softness again. You need a way to re-teach your body safety and belonging.

Acupuncture helps restore the disconnect you might feel from your body in a safe and gentle way. The restoration of your electromagnetic field promotes the connection between your mind and body, helping you release emotional and social blocks.

Many times, emotional processing becomes stuck in muscle tension and an erratic nervous system. By calming these systems, your mind can begin emotional processing without re-traumatizing.

When acupuncture becomes a normal part of your routine to heal and maintain good health, you create a new ritual that offers stability and grounding. You’ll have routine in your life again, but in the context of healing. Your body is ready for a new mission, one of healing and learning how to feel safe at home again.

Getting Help

Acupuncture is one of the few medicines that combines treatment for your nervous system, physicality, and emotions at the same time. This unique trio is beautifully equipped to help you handle your complex health issues.

If you have questions about how to use your VA benefits in our acupuncture clinic in Lakewood, CO, please give us a call. I also offer free consultations, so you can ask questions and learn more about what acupuncture can do for you. If you’re ready to get started, schedule an appointment today. I look forward to helping you on your journey toward healing.