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Rebecca Halstead began supporting the idea of utilizing alternative medical treatments, such as chiropractic care and nutritional supplements, after being diagnosed in the year 2005 with fibromyalgia, a condition distinguished by widespread musculoskeletal pain along with fatigue, sleep, memory, and mood issues.
However, throughout the time the retired Army brigadier
general discovered her own solutions for the chronic symptoms of her condition,
she was amazed by the recent studies indicating the troop’s use of alternative
medical therapies at much higher rates than their civilian counterparts. Rebecca
Halstead became curious about the way troops recognized the availability of
these benefits. “How do they find out about it and pay for it? It was not a
high priority when I was in the military”, she quoted, acknowledging complementary
and alternative medicine, or CAM.
A new research in the Journal of Alternative and
Complementary Medicine revealed that active-duty members utilize several
alternative therapies for stress management up to seven times higher than
civilians. The study also noted that among both troops and civilians, the most
common complementary medical therapy was prayer. Although, troops also resort to
massage therapy, meditation, and guided imagery therapy, a treatment that
focuses on positive and soothing mental images to promote relaxation, at higher
rates than their civilian counterparts, according to the study.
For the researchers, the reasons still remain unclear.
Christine Goertz, the lead study author and vice chancellor of research and health
policy at Palmer College believed individuals in the military may possess a
greater motivation for achieving high levels of fitness or they may be involved
in situations of high stress that could be influencing these elevated rates of
CAM use. Goertz also mentioned in her statement how troops also show higher
rates of musculoskeletal injuries, which can be treated with chiropractic. A
combination of many possible factors could be the reason behind the results of
the study.
The Army-backed study needed to understand whether further
research was required to determine the cause for use of alternative therapies
among troops, especially because the therapies are considered to be widely
understudies, even though troops are using a wide range of them.
According to the study, more than 55 percent of individuals
reported using CAM in the former year, including prayer. Not including prayer,
44 percent of troops reported using CAM while 36 percent of civilians reported
the use of nontraditional medical treatments. Of the therapies listed within
the survey, one is offered frequently through the military health system,
chiropractic care, and it is available at about half of the military treatment
facilities.
Troops may be more involved in these different types of
therapies because they are often managed outside traditional mental health clinics
or carried out by civilian practitioners not involved in military health care. This
indicates that service members may turn to CAM to sidestep the stigma
associated with mental health care, retired Col. Elspeth Ritchie, a former Army
psychiatrist wrote in the journal Psychiatric Annals.
Rebecca Halstead was greatly encouraged by the end results
of the study. Back when she was diagnosed, Halstead received various
prescriptions for pain, including two antidepressants. “I believed the doctor
had made a mistake because I wasn’t depressed. He said, ‘Maybe not now, but you
will be.’”, she stated.
After seeing a chiropractor and following a strict diet
including whole food supplements, Halstead has not taken any prescription
medications. CAM may not be well-researched and many individuals claim its
expensive to use, but people could pay a much higher price if their bodies are
not properly healed after suffering an injury or condition, during service and
everyday life alike.
By Dr. Alex Jimenez
For more information, call us at (915) 850-0900
Call: (915) 564-6100 or (800) 672-3782
